Sharing is Caring

“If God is for us” (1)       [Romans 8:31-34]       Look at Romans 8:31 – “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Here, the conjunction “then” connects the word before and the word after.  Here are some of the opinions of scholars regarding the word before: (1) Romans 3:21-8:30, (2) Romans 5:1-8:30, (3) Romans 8:1-30, (4) Romans 8:26-30.  My opinion is that the conjunction “then” connects with Romans 8:29-30.  Romans 8:29-30 describes the five stages of God's salvation.  That is, (1) God foreknew (loved), (2) predestined (chosen), (3) called to believe Jesus, (4) justified, (5) glorified.  The Apostle Paul said, “What, then, shall we say in response to this?” (v. 31)  Here, in the English Bible, the singular “this” is used, but if we look at the original Greek, it is “these things” as a plural.  And “these things” refer to the five stages of God’s salva...