5 Questions Every Believer Should Ask

If Romans is the greatest letter ever written, then chapter 8 is the greatest chapter in the greatest letter. It’s the Everest of Paul’s monumental epistle.

In Romans 8, Paul makes several amazing claims about the gospel:

• God frees us from sin (Rom. 8:2)
• God raises us from the dead (Rom. 8:11)
• God adopts us as sons and makes us his heirs (Rom. 8:17)

Having made these claims, he hits the pause button to ask, “What then shall we say to these things?” (Rom. 8:31). In other words, What do you think? What does it mean? What conclusions can we draw?

And then Paul answers his question by asking…

5 questions every believer should ask

These five questions ought to be the first questions we ask when we come to Christ. And they are questions we should return to again and again, for they keep us in the grace of God.

These five questions are awesome. But don’t panic. This is not a test. These are rhetorical questions with obvious answers.

Q1: Who can be against us?

If God is for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31)

“God is for us” means your heavenly Father is totally committed to your success. Boom!

Some fear that God is against us, but the Scriptures declare that he is for us (Ps. 56:9, 118:6). Knowing that God is on your side and you can’t lose gives you confidence to take risks. You’ll walk into the lion’s den with a holy swagger and face the furnace without fear. You will say, “God is with me, I will not be burned” (see Is. 43:2).

Who is against us? No one, obviously, because anyone who picks on you is picking on a child of God. This does not mean you won’t encounter opposition. But those who oppose God’s children are picking a fight they cannot win. Those who rise against you will come from one direction and flee in seven (Deut. 28:7).

Q2: What good thing will God withhold from us?

He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

Paul’s letter to the Romans could be called the Christmas Epistle because it reveals God’s good gifts to us, including justification (Rom. 3:24), righteousness (Rom. 5:17), eternal life (Rom. 6:23, 8:11), perseverance (Rom. 15:5), spiritual gifts (Rom. 1:11, 12:6), the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), and his own Son. There is no good thing that God withholds from us.

Q3: Who can accuse us?

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? (Romans 8:33a)

Any accusations against you come from one of three sources: your conscience, the devil, or the world. You can be sure that no accusation comes from the One who is for you and justifies you.

God’s throne is a place of grace, not judgment (Heb. 4:16). Should any accusations come against you, you can be confident that a mighty Advocate will speak in your defense (see next verse).

Q4: Who can condemn us?

God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? (Romans 8:33b–34)

God is in the justifying business, not the judging business. He doesn’t condemn you for being wrong, but he removes all your sins, declares you innocent, and adopts you into his family.

Since God is for you and justifies you, no one can condemn you or bring a successful charge against you (Rom. 8:1, 33). In Christ, you are eternally unpunishable and uncondemnable.

Q5: Who can separate us from God’s love?

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:35)

No one can come between you and Christ’s love for you. If all the lawyers of the world were to present undeniable evidence of your wrongdoing and wretchedness, your Savior would still love you, defend you, and say, “You are mine.” If you were the only sinner who ever lived, he would still go to the cross for you.

The Good Shepherd will always come for the one lost sheep.

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The Grace Commentary is a great place to find answers to common questions, like these:

1. What is the sin leading to death?
2. Why was Paul eager to remember the poor?
3. How do we test ourselves to see if we are in the faith?
4. What does it mean to fall from grace?
5. Will God erase me from the Book of Life?
6. What does it mean to say “the women are to keep silent”?
7. Why did Jesus tell the high priest he would see the Son of Man in power?
8. What is “another gospel”?
9. Why does John say we are living in the last hour?
10. Why did Jesus tell the disciples to pack swords for their trip to the garden of Gethsemane?

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