There’s a question that sits quietly beneath so many of our fears, disappointments, and struggles: Is God really for me? Not just in a general, theological sense,“God loves the world,” but personally, right now, in the middle of whatever you’re facing. Is God truly on your side?
Romans 8 was written for people who wrestled with that same question. People who loved Jesus but still battled sin, still faced trials, still heard accusing voices from their past, their circumstances, or their own inner critic. And into that swirl of doubt, Paul makes a stunning declaration: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
But those words don’t hit us with the force they should until we recognize how easily we slip into believing the opposite.
We’ve all had moments where life didn’t go as planned; moments that made us wonder if God was distant or disappointed. I’ve been there too. When I first went through my ordination exam, I failed it. After years of schooling, interviews, and preparation, I sat in front of a room of pastors and elders, stumbled through answers, and walked out with a deep sense of failure. And underneath the embarrassment was that nagging question: “Lord… where are you? Are you really for me in this?”
You’ve probably had your version of that moment. A prayer that felt unanswered. A relationship that cracked. A setback you didn’t see coming. A sin you can’t seem to shake. And suddenly the quiet accusation rises: Maybe God is done with me. Maybe I’ve gone too far. Maybe I should be further along by now.
That’s the fear Paul confronts head-on, because he knows that no Christian is immune to those doubts. But Paul also knows that our fears don’t get the final word. God does.
The Cross Settles the Question
Paul doesn’t argue with our feelings. He doesn’t tell us to toughen up or think more positively. He points us straight to the cross: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also… graciously give us all things?”
In other words:
If you want to know how God feels about you, look at Jesus.
God didn’t hold back His greatest treasure. He didn’t hesitate. He gave His own Son for you. That is the loudest, clearest declaration in the universe that God is not reluctantly for you. He is passionately, permanently for you.
If God gave you Jesus, Paul says, then of course He will give you the strength, grace, mercy, help, and forgiveness you need. He didn’t start loving you because you were doing well, and He’s not going to stop loving you because you stumbled.
No Accusation Can Stick
Then Paul goes further: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.”
Every one of us lives with voices that tell us who we are: old mistakes, past wounds, the criticism of others, the enemy’s whispers, even our own discouraging self-talk. But Paul reminds us: the only voice with the authority to define you is God’s.
And God has already rendered His verdict: Justified. Forgiven. Righteous. Beloved.
The case is closed. No accusation external or internal can reopen it.
No One Left to Condemn You
Paul piles on one more question: “Who then is the one who condemns?”
His answer? No one.
And he backs that up with four unshakable truths about Jesus:
How can condemnation stand against a Savior who gave His life, defeated death, rules in glory, and pleads for you this very moment? It can’t. And it doesn’t.
What Would Change If You Believed This Today?
Paul isn’t just giving theological comfort. He’s inviting you into a new way of living; one rooted in deep assurance rather than fear.
So let me ask you:
What might change if you actually believed, deep down, that God is for you in this very moment?
Maybe you’d face your struggles with courage instead of panic. Maybe you’d stop assuming God’s mood changes with your performance. Maybe you’d let go of the shame you keep carrying. Maybe you’d pray with confidence instead of hesitation. Maybe you’d see yourself not as the one who can’t get it right, but as God’s beloved child.
When the truth that God is for you moves from your head to your heart, everything begins to shift—how you pray, how you endure, how you fight sin, how you carry yourself, how you hope.
Because no matter what you’re facing today, this remains unshakably true:
God is for you. Christ died for you. Christ rose for you. Christ reigns for you. Christ intercedes for you.
And nothing, not even your own doubts, can overturn His verdict of love over your life.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Zac