God is for us

Romans 8:31-39 is Paul’s grand celebration of the triumph of God’s elect over all possible opposition, a song for certain victory in and through Jesus Christ. Of particular interest in it are Paul’s use of courtroom imagery and the Hebrew scriptures, his Christology, his examples of opposition, and his setting of the passage in space and time. In this paper we consider the text’s structure, its context in Romans, its message to his audience, and its theological significance. Quotations are taken from the NRSV or my attempt at a more literal translation. Biblical citations without book refer implicitly to Romans; verse citations given without chapter refer to Rom 8.

Paul’s opening question sounds like the introduction to a response to earlier material: “31What then will we say to these things?” Who are ‘we,’ what are ‘these things,’ and what will Paul say? Though the fact that Paul is introducing his own text may lead one to view the ‘we’ as papal (i.e., self-referential), Paul uses ‘we’ earlier in Rom (e.g., 5:1) to refer to all people God has justified, Jew and Gentile. I think this latter antecedent is preferable, especially considering that in the rest of the text he asks several questions; the response he elicits from his audience can then be part of ‘what we will say to these things.’

‘Tauta,’ however, is ambiguous: In “28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,” ‘all things’ may mean simply ‘everything’ or “18the sufferings of this present time.” The ‘things’ can also refer to the subject matter of 8:28-30, 8:18-30, ch. 8, chs. 5-8, or chs. 1-8:

• 8:28-30 immediately precedes 31. “28Work together for good” relates with God and Christ wor...

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...r Paul to direct his attention specifically to the Jews, as he does in the next section, chs. 9-11.

Rom 8:31-39 is an exuberant hymn in which Paul, steadily growing in enthusiasm, weaves together the major themes of chs. 1-8 in an almost musical, question-and-[implied ]answer sequence: God the judge is just, faithful, and loving, and has a plan for our salvation. Jesus Christ died and rose for us all and intercedes for us. We are justified, free for life in the Spirit, a life of union with Christ, sharing in his riches; this is our hope in the face of all opposition. With joy, together with Paul we look back to God’s work in Christ and ahead to its eschatological fulfillment, we see the present in the context of all space and time as under the Christ’s lordship, and we know with assurance that “nothing can separate us from the love of” the God who is “for us.”