It’s Baptism Sunday! Always a joyful day – and what brings us joy as we watch others profess their faith in Jesus Christ is exactly what Paul has been talking about as we’ve looked at Romans 8: the ultimate security we find in Christ. Because we all struggle with insecurity; but the security and confidence we find in Christ comes from one truth: God is for us – and he proved it through Jesus.

1.  One Who Stands With You (Romans 8:31-32; John 8:10-11)

• For 30 verses, Paul has been building the case for our confidence in Jesus Christ – and he hits the peak of his encouraging words to his readers in verses 31-32. Famously, he tells them that the reason that those who follow Jesus should be the most confident and least insecure people in the world is simple: We have One who stand with us and for us – Jesus himself. As Paul puts it, if Jesus died for us, “won’t he also give us everything else” that we need?
• As he wrote these verses, Paul may have been thinking of the story of Jesus with the woman caught in adultery – the story later captured in John’s gospel. Although she was apparently guilty and deserved the full punishment the law prescribed, Jesus stood up for her in the face of accusations from others.

2.  Who Can Stand Against You? (Romans 8:33-34) 

• In the strongest terms, Paul asks the rhetorical question: “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own?” Perhaps Paul’s point is that we tend to focus far too much on the voices of those who would accuse us, when we should focus instead on the One who stands with us. If we truly believe that the death of Jesus has made us righteous (i.e., perfect) before God, why would we worry about the voices of anyone who accuse us of being unrighteous and imperfect?
•  Unfortunately, the voice of accusation that we most often hear (and give credence to) doesn’t come from others. It may begin there, but the accuser’s voice we hear most often is the one that is most familiar to us: our own. In our unconfidence, we echo and amplify accusations against ourselves.
• As we wrestle with our self-accusation, we tend to officiate a constant battle in our minds between “You’re not good enough” and “You’ve got this.” Advertisers know this, offering lots of things we can buy to make us feel better about ourselves. Unfortunately, religion can offer the same enticement: “Do this and that, and you’ll be better people and more acceptable to God.” 
• But Jesus’ offer isn’t to make us “better people” who’ve “got this” – that’s not the confidence and security he wants us to have. Instead, he wants us to see that even though we ARE guilty in our sin, he himself stands with us and presents us as totally righteous (innocent) before God. He can do that because he has already paid for our sin – and ALL sin – by his death on the cross. And, as Paul reminds us, if Jesus stands with us and God sees us as totally righteous, then our ultimate confidence should come from that truth – that we are his, and any accuser who says otherwise is simply wrong.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Romans 3:20-24; Romans 5:6-11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:7-9; 1 Peter 2:21-25

Video of the Week: Sacrifice and Atonement by the Bible Project

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. What thoughts and emotions come to mind for you when you see others being baptized?

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2. Would you say that you’re a confident person? Explain your answer.

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3. How is the confidence and sense of security we’re called to as followers of Jesus different from the confidence and security the world offers?  How is it similar? 

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4. Read Romans 8:31-32 again. What do you think the “everything else” is that Paul refers to when he promises that God will “also give us everything else”?   

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5. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, we can have confidence that God sees us as perfectly righteous, no matter what we do.  What, then, is our motivation for trying to live righteous (i.e., sinless) lives?

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6. As Paul reminds us, Jesus has given us the ultimate source of confidence and security, even when we’re surrounded by those who accuse us of coming up short. How, then, should we respond when “the voices” (including our own) tell us “You’re not good enough”?  What does that look like to others?

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