Romans 8:33–34

Context

This passage belongs to the concluding section, beginning at 8:31, of the Epistle to the Romans, which the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. Paul opens with "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (v. 31) and follows with a series of rhetorical questions.

Verses 33–34 draw on courtroom imagery. To "lay any thing to the charge" of someone is to bring an accusation, and to condemn is to pronounce a verdict of guilty. Paul answers these questions in two ways: God, the judge, has already declared the believer righteous, and Christ, who died, rose again, and is at the right hand of God, intercedes on the believer's behalf like an advocate.

Many commentators hold that this language echoes Isaiah 50:8–9 ("He is near that justifieth me") and that "the right hand of God" alludes to Psalm 110:1. The passage serves as a bridge between the preceding verses 29–30 (predestination, calling, justification, and glorification) and the following verses 35–39 (nothing can separate believers from the love of Christ).

Interpretation

• A justification-centered reading: Protestants broadly read "It is God that justifieth" as a reference to justification, the forensic act by which God declares sinners righteous. Accordingly, they hold that any accusation against the believer has no force before God. The passage is regarded as a counterpart to 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation."
• The Reformed (Presbyterian) reading: This tradition connects "God's elect" with divine election and cites the passage as one of the proof texts for the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which holds that the elect will never finally fall away from salvation.
• The Wesleyan and Arminian reading: Traditions shaped by Wesleyan theology and Arminianism, including Methodist, Holiness, and Assemblies of God churches, read the passage as an assurance given to those who abide in Christ through faith. They tend not to regard it as ruling out the possibility that a believer might abandon the faith. Some interpreters understand "the elect" as the community of believers as a whole rather than as individuals chosen unconditionally.
• A reading focused on intercession: "Maketh intercession" is understood to mean that the risen and ascended Christ continues to plead with God on behalf of believers. Various traditions use the passage to explain Christ's high priestly office.

Debates and Issues

• Punctuation: The ancient Greek manuscripts contain no punctuation. Interpreters therefore differ over whether "It is God that justifieth" should be read as an answer to the preceding question or as a further question in reply, "Is it God who justifies?" Augustine is known to have discussed how this passage should be punctuated. Either way, the conclusion is the same: no one can bring a charge or condemn.
• Textual variants: Some manuscripts omit "Jesus" from "Christ Jesus" in verse 34. The difference has little effect on the meaning.
• Assurance and perseverance: The interpretive differences described above bear on interdenominational discussions of predestination and free will and the assurance of salvation.
• Citation out of context: The passage is sometimes invoked as grounds for forbidding any correction of a believer's wrongdoing or the exercise of church discipline itself. Critics of this use point out that the passage concerns the final verdict rendered before God and therefore cannot easily be extended in that way.

Perspective: Korean Protestant practiceHow this idea is used in Korean churches, kept from the original Korean article.

In Korean Protestant churches, Romans 8:31–39 is frequently read in sermons and Bible studies on the assurance of salvation, and verses 33–34 are treated within that broader context.

Related Passages

• Romans 8:1
• Isaiah 50:8–9
• Psalm 110:1
• Hebrews 7:25
• 1 John 2:1