What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who against us?
Paul reaches the end of a long argument and turns it into a question. His answer is a challenge that nobody in the universe can take up.
What "These Things" Are
The question looks backwards over everything Paul has been unfolding, and one writer traces exactly how far back it reaches:
The "things" are the grace and mercy he has been unfolding from chapter 3:21 to the end of chapter 8:30. It starts with the free gift of righteousness, held out to all. It runs on until God glorifies those He has justified. In all of it, God shows Himself to be for us. So the apostle asks, what is to be the reply of our hearts to this revelation of the grace of God.
Real Opposition, No Real Power
The verse does not pretend that nobody opposes the believer. It says opposition cannot decide the outcome:
But "if God is for us, who can be against us?" The world, the flesh and the devil are against us. Rulers and authorities are against us. The cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12), are against us... All these things, then, can be and are against us. But God is above these things, and He is for us. This is the immovable rest of faith.
That changes how we weigh the two sides:
We tend to overrate the forces against us, because we underrate the forces that are with us. We must not make light of the enemy's power. Instead we need to grow in our sense of God's power: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Rest That Rests on God
One writer describes the peace this leaves in the heart:
The result of all this for the soul is that God is for us. It is a sweet and glorious conclusion. It gives the heart a peace beyond words. It gives a rest that depends on the power and stability of God. That rest shuts out all anxiety about anything that could trouble it. For if God is for us, who can be against us?
Where The Assurance Is Found
When life is hard, the heart looks at its circumstances and starts to doubt. Faith looks elsewhere:
Unbelief looks at the trials, sorrows and difficulties of the way. Then the question rises in the soul: "Can God be for me after all?" Faith knows where the everlasting witness lies that God is for us. It is not in the circumstances we pass through. It is in the gift of the Son. If God "did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all", He must indeed be "for us".
For Us In Every Detail
Being "for us" is not distant goodwill. It reaches the smallest things, and even turns trials into proof of His love:
God is for us in giving. He is for us in justifying. He is for us in caring for us in everything. It was the same with the people of Israel: He took care of even their clothes on their journey through the desert... I learn in these very things the perfectness of the love of God. It comes out in the smallest circumstances, in every little detail... If it is difficulties and trials, I say, Well, it just shows what pains God is taking with me.
Nothing Left That Can Stand In The Way
Three short words carry the whole weight:
How much is wrapped up in these few words, "God for us"! ... We have "God" linked to "us" by that precious little word "for". This secures everything, for time and eternity... If God is for us, then one blessed thing must follow. Nothing can stand in the way of our present peace and our everlasting happiness and glory. Not our sins, not our wrongdoing, not our guilt, not our ruined nature, not Satan, not the world, not any other creature.
A Challenge Nobody Answers
Paul is not asking for information. He is throwing down a dare, and the silence that follows is the point:
"Who can be against us?" No one in the universe with the least hope of success... But every voice is silent. "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?" Silence throughout the universe. No voice replies. It is God who justifies. "Who is to condemn?" But the accuser hides himself, and there is no response to the challenge.
Summary
- The Review — "These things" gathers up everything from the free gift of righteousness to the glory of those God has justified. The verse is the heart's reply to all of it.
- The Proof — The lasting evidence that God is for us is not our circumstances but the gift of His Son.
- The Rest — This peace depends on the power and stability of God, not on ourselves, so it shuts out anxiety.
- The Reach — He is for us in giving, in justifying, and in the smallest daily detail. Even trials show the pains He is taking with us.
- The Result — Enemies are against us, but none with the least hope of success. When the challenge goes out, no voice answers.