Examining the Evidence: Romans 8:28-39
INTRODUCTION
The Enemy has long been in the practice of trying to accuse God's people before Him
as if he had some righteous motives, and as if God were at all ignorant of what goes
on in His creation. Perhaps to shift blame from himself, the Accuser constantly tries
to prosecute God's people before Him.
This, of course, does not work with God. He knows everything, is aware of all things
that transpire in the universe, from the orbits of stars to the division of cells; indeed,
He is in control of all these things. He certainly can track the actions of men.
Being a holy God, however, He cannot stand sin. Satan is all too aware of this (he
himself had received a guilty verdict from God and had been evicted from heaven),
and while he may have little truck with condemning God's people before him, where
he is successful is in condemning God's people to themselves. "If God is holy," he
whispers to us, "how can you ever expect to please Him? Look at all the horrible
things you've done!" Never mind that, while we do choose to commit sin, he is the
author of sin and is to blame for its existence.
Nevertheless, it is not he who is on trial; it is the child of God. Not because God is
interested in this trial; Christ has already paid the penalty and commuted the
sentence. Still, too many Christians live a life of defeat over this very issue: "How
can I ever expect to please God? Look at all the horrible things I've done!" It is one
thing for a lost person to think this--they have heretofore refused to accept the
propitiary work of Christ on their part, and deserve to be sentenced without
mediation. But the born-again Christian--for whom the debt has been paid in full, for
whom not only has the sentence been commuted, but the verdict itself changed to
reflect their imputed innocence--why do they insist on living as though the law of God
were still brought to bear on them? Why do they continue to live defeated lives and
forsake the overwhelming victory that is theirs in the finished work of Christ? This is
not some snappy colloquialism--Christ has finished the work necessary to set aside
our guilt.
Paul recognized that to convince the Romans of this, he had to put the whole process
"on trial," as it were--not only for those on the outside of redemption, but for those to
whom it had already been applied.
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