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belonging to this creation, or to any other creation, and with magnificent confidence
utters the triumphant "I am persuaded" with which the chapter closes.
It must now be our delightful task to descend from this mountain top, in order that we
may the more clearly understand the language of the Apostle, and so more truly enter into
these riches of grace. Let us first look at the opening challenge:
"If God be FOR us, who can be AGAINST us?"
The word "for" here is huper, and "against" kata. The two prepositions are used in a
similar way in II Cor. xiii 8: "For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth."
So also in Luke 9: 50: "He that is not against us is for us."
If anyone should ask "In what way has it been demonstrated that God is for us?" the
Apostle refers back, in the words "these things", to the whole chapter, and particularly to
verses 29 and 30. In His foreknowledge, He is most certainly "for us". To clinch the
matter, however, Paul adds one all-powerful argument:
"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8: 32).
The word translated "to spare" (pheidomai) is used in the LXX in connection with
Abraham: "Thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son" (Gen. 22: 16). The Hebrew
word chasak here translated "withhold" is rendered "spare" in eight passages in the A.V.
One of these references is solemnly suggestive of what it meant for God not to "spare"
His own Son:
"He made a way to His anger: He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life
over to the pestilence" (Psa. 78: 50).
When we remember that these words were spoken of the Egyptians at the time of
Exodus, the sufferings of Christ on our behalf stand out in even greater fullness. If Christ
was spared nothing, if He bore all our sins, with all their consequences, can there be any
argument better able to give the believer assurance before God?
"His own Son."--With these words the initial argument of 8: 1-4 is resumed. In
the first section, the utter inability of the flesh is answered completely and for ever by
"God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh", no condemnation to us being
the inevitable result. So in the closing section, the fact that "God spared not His own
Son", is the Apostle's answer to all doubts, fears and accusations. "With Him",
therefore, we may confidently believe that God will freely and graciously (charizomai,
cf. charisma, the "free gift" in Rom. 5: 16) give us all things.
We have already drawn attention in an earlier article to the difference between "all
things" (panta) which the Lord makes to work together for our good, and "the all things"
(ta panta) which He freely gives us with the gift of His beloved Son. The Apostle now