1. Romans 8:31 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What are “these things” referred to in Romans 8:31?

Romans 8:31 (ESV)

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Earlier in the letter, Paul had explained the deliverance of Jew and Greek in Jesus Christ and through his Holy Spirit in great detail. Now he wraps it up with a sublime conclusion. In poetic prose the apostle conveys to his readers that this deliverance suffices for both life and death, for the present and the future: What then shall we say to these things? (Romans 8:31). Here he refers to the things he has just written concerning our deliverance in Christ, highlighting that nothing needs to be added to what he has already written: it covers everything: since we now have peace with God (Romans 5:1), live under a new Lord (Romans 6:17), and the Spirit comes to our aid in our weakness (Romans 8:11), it is evident that if God is for us, who can be against us?1