“33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
I was up for jury duty in February. I was never called up, but I have plenty of experience. I’ve spent years on juries. I’ve also got decades of experience as both a prosecuting attorney and a defense attorney. If Lyon County ever needs me to pinch hit as a judge, I’ve got more than enough experience for that. I’ve played the judge. I’ve also been the defendant. I’ve been the accused. I’ve played the part of the defense attorney defending myself. In the same trial, I’ve risen up to play the part of the prosecuting attorney and poke holes in my own defense. I’m constantly the judge deciding my own case. I’ve done this all while walking through the grocery store. I’ve done it all as I lay my head down to sleep. I’ve tried myself ten thousand times for mistakes, for sins, for relationship blunders. I’ve weighed the evidence to see just how guilty I should feel.
I imagine that you’ve tried yourself in the courtroom of your own mind. You know what it’s like to defend yourself to yourself while simultaneously prosecuting yourself. I dare say that you’ve judged yourself innocent only to restart the case moments later. I dare say that you’ve judged yourself guilty and laid down penalties harsher than any friend would give.
Now why do we do this? Why do we hold court in our heads? The Bible has an answer for that question, and it is an answer that even those who dismiss the Bible would be wise to consider. We hold court in our own heads because, as 2 Corinthians puts it, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
You judge yourself because you know that you will, one day, be judged. You know there is such a thing as right. You know there is such a thing as wrong. You know that your actions must have consequences. Unless you are a psychopath or a sociopath, you know that you are accountable, and you know that your future hope hangs on being declared innocent. This is why you hold court in your own head. You hold court in your head to justify yourself. You do it even when and especially when you know that you are guilty.
In many ways, Christianity is admitting that you are guilty before God while simultaneously being certain that He will declare you innocent. Christianity allows you to acknowledge your guilt while still knowing that you will be declared, “not guilty.”
This is what humanity needs. This is one of the many reasons the Son of God came. He came for the sake of that moment when you stand before the judgment seat of God. He came so that you could stop holding court in your head every day. If you know how the final judgment will go, you can stop holding court in your head today. You can be declared righteous on judgment day. You can know and live by that declaration today. That’s the claim of this sermon: you can be declared righteous on judgment day. You can know and live by that declaration today.
We will study this in two points. First: the justification of God. Second: the intercession of Christ. We see the justification of God in verse 33. We see the intercession of Christ in verse 34.
First: the justification of God. We’ve been studying the ways in which all things are used by God for your good. Paul wrote these words so that the Roman Christians and you could be confident in God’s goodness and that He will use everything for your good. For you to have this confidence, you need to be convinced that God is for you. As we saw last week, “if God is for you, who can be against you?”
Until you are convinced that God is more for you than you are for yourself, you won’t have the confidence of Romans 8. You will interpret hardships as a sign of God’s frown. You will fear that perhaps God isn’t as good as He says He is.
You must learn to see the Father as Jesus did. As John Calvin put it, “The first and chief consolation of the godly in adversities is to be fully persuaded of the paternal kindness of God.” If you don’t truly believe that God is for you, then that is the place you must start.
Now if God is for you, then who is against you? Or, in the words of verse 33, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?”
This is courtroom language. This is final judgment language. Since it is God who predestined you, called you, justified you, and will glorify you, who will condemn you? What power can overturn what God has begun? The answer, of course, is that no one can condemn you successfully. There is no force that can stand in the way of God. As Luther put it, “if God be for us, who is Judge of all and whose omnipotence calls into being all things, no one can be against us, since everything that He has created must be subject to the Creator.”
No one will condemn you successfully, but many will try. Satan will try. He will bring charges against you. To paraphrase verse 33, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? Well Satan will, but remember that it is God who justifies.” Satan will remind you of your sin and tell you that on judgment day you will stand naked and ashamed before God. The world will tell you that your hope for justification is a myth. Your own flesh will give you all sorts of reasons to believe that you are hopeless. These forces bring charges against all God’s people, but they have no credibility with the Judge. “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.”
The voices of the world, the flesh, and the devil hold no weight with God. It’s as if the judge patiently listens to their prosecution, which at times you find very convincing, and says, ‘okay, but nothing you’ve said is relevant. I’m startled that you even thought to bring it up. In fact, I’m holding you in contempt of court. I’ll deal with you after I show grace to my child here.”
If God has justified you, the arguments of the world, your own flesh, and the devil mean nothing with God so they should mean nothing to you. Remember, if you belong to Jesus, you can live today knowing that you will be justified on the last day.
So don’t take these charges lying down. Push back. Push back against Satan. Do what Luther advised, ‘So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: “I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”’
Push back against the world. The world’s opinion of you will not sway God one way or the other on judgment day, so it shouldn’t sway your opinion of yourself today. Even if everyone in the neighborhood lined up to condemn you for what you’ve done, it is in God’s power to justify you. That also means that if everyone in the neighborhood stood up to justify what you’ve done, it is in God’s power to condemn you. Stop being concerned about the opinion of people. Be concerned about the opinion of God. To use Biblical language, have no fear of man in you. Fear God.
Push back against your own flesh. Your own flesh is a wicked enemy. It will give you no rest because it is part of you. There is no way to finally escape it in this life, which means your life must be one long fight with yourself.
Every one’s flesh is different and, therefore, we need to beware. The overly timid man does himself harm when he takes medicine intended for the headstrong man. The woman who lives in constant shame does herself harm when she takes medicine intended for someone who never thinks twice about anything in her life. Knowing your own flesh is part of self-control. You need to know the charges your own flesh brings against you to most effectively argue back saying, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.”
Your own flesh will sound very convincing to you. The popular opinion of the world will doubtlessly hold weight with you because it holds weight with us all. Satan will outfox you. Their arguments will sound very reasonable. You need to come to terms with that and still remember that they hold no weight with God. It is He, not they, who justifies, and it is His decision and not your decision about yourself that justifies. “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.”
Paul asked answered his own question. “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.” This line of reasoning was not original with Paul. He borrowed it from Isaiah. Isaiah 50 was certainly Paul’s mind in these verses. “Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me?”
These were the words of the suffering servant in Isaiah. “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me?” Those were the words of the suffering servant. Those were the words of Jesus.
Jesus knew he would be accused. He knew he would be condemned. He also knew that his Father’s verdict was the only one that mattered. “Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me?” Paul borrowed those words and applied them to you. You can have the sort of confidence that Jesus for his own justification. Jesus died so that you could. He died so that you could become like him.
Christianity is about becoming like Jesus. You even see that in the word “chosen” in this verse. “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?” Two weeks ago, we saw that being chosen has to do with becoming like Jesus, “those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
Being chosen has to do with becoming like Jesus. People tend to philosophize about predestination, but Scripture rarely does so. Scripture speaks about it in terms of relationship. Scripture speaks about it in terms of belonging.
I know that some of us struggle with this idea of being “chosen.” If you find it difficult to have assurance that you have been chosen by God, if you find it difficult to know for certain that you are one of those against whom no charge can be brought because you’ve been chosen, ask yourself if you are becoming like Jesus. Ask yourself if you are willing to change whatever is necessary to become like Jesus. If that is the case, rest assured that you are chosen. The chosen become like Jesus.
If this is you, stop concerning yourself with any charges that Satan brings against you, that the world brings against you, or even that you bring against yourself. As Os Guinness puts it, “Those who are seen and sung by the Audience of One can afford to be careless about lesser audiences.”
That’s the justification of God. We now turn our attention to the intercession of Christ. That’s our second point: the intercession of Christ.
Now you might think that everyone and anyone who condemns you would shut their mouths by this point. Paul’s argument is certainly solid. You might think that Satan, the world, and your own flesh would leave you alone. That’s not the case. The fact that their accusations hold no weight with God doesn’t prevent them from accusing. It almost seems to spur them on to accuse all the more. So even though Paul has already proved that their voices hold no weight, he continues to prove it. That’s verse 34 ,“Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
It is at this point that Christ walks into the courtroom. If anyone has the right to condemn you, it is him. His life leaves you without excuse. If you don’t believe me, tell Jesus, who was in far more stressful situations than you, why the stress you are under excuses your sin. Tell Jesus, who didn’t retaliate against those who murdered him, why you were right to go tit-for-tat with your coworker. Tell Jesus, who washed the feet of the man who betrayed him, why you can’t seem to be kind to your fellow church member. Jesus’ life leaves you without excuse.
He would be a devasting prosecuting attorney. He would be more convincing than the devil. He would be more believable than every newspaper editorial and every social media post against you. He would be more persuasive in arguing against you than your own flesh is, and your own flesh is you against you.
Jesus would be a devasting prosecuting attorney, but remarkably, he decided to be your defense attorney. That’s verse 34, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Now we just saw that if Jesus were your prosecutor, your chance of acquittal would be zero. You would be declared guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. If, however, you have him as your defense attorney, you would certainly be acquitted. You would certainly be found, “not guilty.” You have the Son of God arguing your case and he is arguing it before his own Father who loves him.
Now you need to ask yourself if you put more stock in the final judgment or in the courtroom of your own mind. You need to ask yourself if you put more stock in God’s justification of you and Jesus’ defense of you or in the thoughts that you have about yourself. It isn’t that God declares you not guilty because he doesn’t see the full picture. No, when you as a Christian condemn yourself or accept condemnation, it is you who doesn’t see the full picture.
You have forgotten your defense attorney. You have forgotten your judge. You have forgotten that they are, in fact, one in the same. Paul made this clear by telling us that Jesus is making his defense of you at the right hand of God. This “right hand of God” language comes from Psalm 110 and it signifies that the Son of God shares God’s throne. Jesus isn’t merely the defense attorney. He is also the judge. You have the judge doing double duty as your defense attorney. That is the final judgment situation of the Christian. That is why you can know there is no chance of condemnation and no reason to accept any condemnation.
The evidence Jesus offers is far more compelling than anything Satan could present against you, any dirt that anyone else has on you, and even your own evidence against yourself. Jesus presents his own death and resurrection on your behalf as evidence. “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Your defense attorney has already served your sentence. Your judge has already served your sentence. When any sin is brought against you, Jesus simply gestures with his crucified hand and says, “this has already been dealt with. I don’t understand why you keep condemning him when that part of the case is already closed, and the punishment has been paid. I fail to see the relevance of anything you are saying.” That is a devastating argument and the devil, the world, and your own flesh really have no response which is why they keep blabbering about your sin. They have nothing new to offer.
Now, they might, at times, convince you to be ashamed. They might, at times, convince you to fear the final judgment. They don’t convince Jesus, who is your defense attorney and your judge. He is confident in your acquittal. He is confident that you will not only hear, “not guilty,” but that you will hear, “well done, good and faithful servant.”
Now you might know that you belong to Jesus and still be less than 100% confident about all of this in your situation. Okay, but recognize that you don’t understand the law as well as your defense attorney and judge do. The fact that you don’t fully understand your justification doesn’t mean your defense attorney and judge are confused about the way the law works. It shows that you are. Trust them more than you trust yourself, which is to say trust the Son and the Father more than you trust your own flesh.
God tells you His final judgment before the final judgment. Christians are the people who know today that they will be declared innocent on the final day.
If you are among that number, stop holding court in your own mind. Stop trying to justify yourself to yourself. “It is God who justifies.” Stop defending yourself to yourself. Jesus is defending you.
You can stop holding court in your own mind forever because there is nothing more you need to consider. Everything will work out for your justification. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is for you in Christ Jesus. Stop judging yourself for everything and anything. Leave it to God.
Now if you know that you have no peace with God, know that you can. You can retain Jesus as your defense attorney. You can know today that the judge of the living and the dead will justify you at the final judgment.
There is no reason for you not to retain Jesus as your attorney. Jesus will take all who come to him. The hold-up is not on his part. It’s on your part. People can’t bear to humble themselves. They would rather be guilty than humble themselves. They would rather be damned than humble themselves. Don’t be so foolish. Humble yourself. Admit what you and God both know: you are a sinner who sins. Stop trying to justify yourself. Humble yourself and have God justify you. Stop defending yourself. Repent and let Jesus defend you. He’ll do it as perfectly as he does everything else. Amen.