Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 5 Study # 4
August 13, 2017
Humble, Texas
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1769 Translation:
34 Who [is] he that condemneth? [It is] Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1901 ASV Translation:
34 who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- I. The Second Step in Paul's "Who is against us?" Thesis.
- A. The question: Who [is] he who condemns?
- 1. The chief characteristic.
- a. The verb used is found in 19 texts in the New Testament and consistently means either "to pass judgment unto consequence" or "to provide the evidence that the court uses to make its decision as to the consequence of the judgment".
- b. The noun form of the concept is only used three times in the New Testament and they are all of Paul and all in Romans [5:16; 5:18; and 8:1]. It is used as the opposite of "justification" and signals the decision of the court to "declare guilt and impose the consequence(s)".
- 2. The place of the question in this context.
- a. It follows hard on the heels of the question of "who lays a charge against God's elect?" and the answer; "It is God Who justifies". This keeps it in close relation to Paul's other uses as the opposite of justification.
- b. It seems to be redundant since the declaration immediately before it is that the Judge in the court "justifies". There can be no "condemnation" after "justification".
- B. The answer: Christ Jesus [is] the One Who died.
- 1. The "Jesus" designation is bracketed by the Nestle/Aland 26 Greek New Testament, which means that its presence in the text is suspect. Paul's "point" is that it is Christ Who died. As "Christ" the Person Who "died" is God's anointed King of His Kingdom. None higher. The automatic inference is that the eternal kingdom of the Ultimate Executor of Power is characterized by the death of the most important of all persons, imagined or real.
- a. God, as the Ultimate Executor of Power, is beyond defeat. Period.
- b. If His own Anointed "died", the declaration of the nature of the Kingdom of God is that it is ultimately selfless, willing to sacrifice to the ultimate in order to provide for others.
- 2. That He "died" immediately calls for an understanding of the reason(s) for His death.
- a. The only sustainable reason for the death of the Ultimate King is embedded in the question: Who is he that condemns? Is that "condemner" demonstrably "selfless"? If not, he is in no position to condemn others for their selfishnesses. And, he is not.
- b. At the root of "condemnation" is the Justice of the Ultimate Executor of Power: the Gospel of the Christ is that the Ultimate Executor is fully satisfied with the concept of "one for all" [Romans 5]. Christ, as the second Adam, is fully qualified to be the "champion" of the people along the lines of the "David and Goliath" conflict where one warrior fights on the behalf of the entire army. The entire army participates in the outcome of the conflict, whether to victory and spoils, or to defeat and bondage. In the Gospel, it is the Christ Who not only "dies" to satisfy the requirements of Justice, He defines the character of His Kingdom as a kingdom of the selfless. The logic is inherent: no selfish person has any standing in "condemning" someone for selfishness.
- 3. But, rather, "raised"...
- a. The most crucial truth of all truths for humanity's sake is that the Christ died for our sins.
- b. However, the fact that He was "But, rather, raised..." is also essential in that it stands as the irrefutable proof in history that Jesus of Nazareth is The Ultimate Executor's "Christ" and every word He uttered is absolutely true down to the "jot and tittle" level and every action He took was absolutely righteous down to the "intentions" level.
- c. Additionally, His resurrection placed Him at the right hand of The Ultimate Executor of Power. As a figure of speech, the "right hand of power" is tantamount to equality with the power of the One Whose "right hand" it is.
- 1) In that position, "Christ...makes intercession for us".
- 2) This "intercession" has its parallels in Romans 8:27 where we were told that the Spirit is making intercession for us and in Hebrews 7:25 where, because of His resurrection, the Christ "ever lives to make intercession for us".
- 3) How can anyone "condemn" God's elect in the face of everything God has done to make us immune to "Law" and its judicial reach?