God's Everlasting Love
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Rom 8:33
who shall lay... Greek: engkaleo, call to judicial account (Acts 19:38). God justifies the elect.
of God's elect... Greek: eklektos. See Luke 18:7.
No charge is admissible, because the Father justifies, in that the Son died, was raised and now intercedes for us. Who can successfully accuse someone whom God has declared righteous?
Some young children learned the hard way not to insult God’s elect (in 2Kgs. 2:23-24). They had made fun of Elisha’s bald head. Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord and 42 of them were torn of she bears. It is a very dangerous thing to say bad things about God’s elect.
Another example of how God will not allow this is when Miriam spoke against Moses and became leprous. She was cleansed when Moses prayed for her (Num. 12:10).
These 2 instances remind us not to come against God’s elect. God fights their battles for them. We who are God’s are not justified by our own deeds but we are justified because we have been cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We are justified, because we have taken on the righteousness of Christ.
The next two questions Paul raised and answered are forensic or legal in nature. Who will bring any charge (enkalesei, “make a formal accusation in court; press charges”; cf. Acts 19:40; 23:29; 26:2) against those whom God has chosen? Satan is identified as “the accuser” of God’s people (Rev. 12:10; cf. Zec. 3:1). His accusations are valid, because they are based on the believer’s sinfulness and defilement. But Satan’s accusations will be thrown out of court, because it is God who justifies. The Judge Himself declares the accused person righteous on the basis of his faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24; 5:1). As a result all accusations are dismissed and no one can bring an accusation that will stand.
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