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“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ who died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34

The protest of an innocent man against the charge of an accuser may well be strong and vehement. But here we have a more uncommon and sublimer theme. It is the challenge of a justified sinner protesting with holy and inspired fervor that his character is clear and his conscience clean, even in the sight of heaven. Yet it is not the natural innocence of his heart, but the perfect mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, which gives him this amazing confidence. . . .

We have before us in the text the four marvelous pillars upon which the Christian rests his hope. Any one of them were all-sufficient. . . . But why is this [four all sufficient pillars]?” Why needeth the Christian to have such firm, such massive foundations? For this simple reason: he is himself so doubtful, so ready to distrust, so difficult to be persuaded of his own security. Therefore hath God, as it were, enlarged his arguments. . . .

I. The first reason why the Christian can never be condemned is because CHRIST HAS DIED.

In the death of Christ there was a full penalty paid to divine justice for all the sins which the believer can possibly commit. We teach that the whole shower of divine wrath was poured upon Christ’s head, that the black cloud of vengeance emptied itself upon the cross, and that there is not left in the book of God a single sin against a believer, nor can there possibly be even a particle of punishment ever exacted at the hand of the man that believeth in Jesus, for this reason–that Jesus has been punished to the full. . . .

This shall be an all-sufficient argument to shut [the mouths of all who seek to condemn us], “Christ hath died.” Here cometh one, and he cries, “Thou hast been a blasphemer.” Yes, but Christ died a blasphemer’s death, and he died for blasphemers. “But thou hast stained thyself with lust.” Yes, but Christ died for the lascivious. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, cleanseth us from all sin; so away with that foul fiend [the one condemning us]. “But thou hast long resisted grace, and long stood out against the warnings of God.” Yes, but “Jesus died;” and say what thou wilt, O conscience, remind me of what thou wilt; lo this shall be my sure reply–“Jesus died.”

There is in the death of Christ enough and more than enough. There is not only a sea in which to drown our sins, but the very tops of the mountains of our guilt are covered. . . . There is not only enough to put our sins to death, but enough to bury them and hide them out of sight. I say it boldly and without a figure–the eternal arm of God now nerved with strength, now release from the bondage in which justice held it, is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Christ.

II. The second reason a believer hath, is — that CHRIST HAS RISEN AGAIN.

You will observe that the apostle has here prefixed the words, “yea rather!” Do you not see the force of this expression? As much as to say, it is a powerful argument for our salvation, that Christ died; but it is a still more cogent proof that every believer shall be saved, that Christ rose again from the dead. This does not often strike us. We generally receive more comfort at the cross than we do at the empty sepulcher. And yet this is just through our ignorance and through the blindness of our eyes; for verily to the enlightened believer there is more consolation in Jesus arising from the tomb, than there is in Jesus nailed to the cross. “Yea rather,” said the apostle; as if he would have it, that this is a still more powerful argument.

Now what had the resurrection of Christ from the dead to do with the justification of a believer? I take it thus: Christ by his death paid to his Father the full price of what we owed to him. God did, as it were, hold a bond against us that we could not pay. . . . Now Jesus by his death paid all the debt. . . .Still the bond was not canceled until the day when Christ arose from the dead; then did his Father, as it were, rend the bond in halves, and blot it out, so that thenceforward it ceases to have effect. It is true that death was the payment of the debt, but resurrection was the public acknowledgment that the debt was paid. “Now,” says Paul, “yea rather, he is risen from the dead.” O Christian, thou canst not be condemned, for Christ has paid the debt. Look at his gore, as it distills from his body in Gethsemane and on the accursed tree. But rather, lest there be a shadow of a doubt, that thou canst not be condemned, thy debts are canceled. Here is the full receipt: the resurrection hath rent the bond in twain.

Now I must call your attention to this clause, remarking that in other passages of God’s Word, Christ is said to have sat down forever at the right hand of God. . . . This seems to me to be one material argument for the salvation of the believer–Christ also sits in heaven. Now, he never would sit if the work were not fully done. Jesus when he was on earth, had a baptism to be baptized with, and how was he straitened until it was accomplished! He had not time so much as to eat bread, full often, so eager was he to accomplish all his work. And I do not imagine that he would be sitting down in heaven in the posture of ease, unless he had accomplished all–unless “It is finished!” were to be understood in the broadest and most unlimited sense.

Turning, however, more strictly to the words of the text, “Who is even at the right hand of God”–what meaneth this? It means. . . that Christ is now in the honorable position of an accepted one. The right hand of God is the place of majesty, and the place of favor, too. Now, Christ is the people’s representative. When he died for them, they had rest; when he rose for them, they had liberty; when he was received into his Father’s favor, yet again, and sat down at his own right hand, then had they favor, and honor, and dignity. . . . all the church is now raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The raising and the elevation of Christ to that throne of dignity and favor, is the elevation, the acceptance, the enshrinement, the glorifying of all his people, for he is there common head, and stands as their representative, and therefore, the acceptance of our souls. Who is he that condemneth, then? Condemn a man at the right hand of God? Absurd! Impossible! Yet there a I in Christ. Condemn a man who sits next to his Father, the King of kings? Yet there is the church, and how can she in the slightest degree incur condemnation, when she is already at the right hand of the Father with her covenant head.

And let me further remark, that the right hand is the place of power. Christ at the right hand of God signifies that all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. Now, who condemns the people that have such a head as this? O my soul! What can destroy thee if omnipotence is thy helper? If the Almighty covers thee, what sword can smite thee? If the wings of the eternal are thy shelter, what plague can attack thee? Rest thou secure. If Jesus is thine all-prevailing king, and hath trodden thine enemies beneath his feet, if sin, death, and hell, are now only parts of his empire, for he is Lord of all, and if thou art represented in him, and he is thy guarantee, thy sworn surety, it cannot be by any possibility that thou canst be condemned. While we have an Almighty Savior, the redeemed must be saved; until omnipotence can fail, and the Almighty can be overcome, every blood-bought redeemed child of God is safe and secure for ever.

IV. And now I come to the fourth; and this also hath an encomium passed upon it–“WHO ALSO MAKETH INTERCESSION FOR US.”

Our apostle, in the epistle to the Hebrews, puts a very strong encomium upon this sentence. . . . “He is able also to save them unto the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” This was pictured by the high priest of old. . . [who] first took the blood. . . . He did not bring the mercy-seat outside the veil, to carry the mercy-seat to the blood. No, the blood must be taken to the mercy-seat. God will not stoop when he is just; it must be brought to him. So the high priest takes off his royal robes, and puts on the garments of the minor priest, and goes within the veil, and sprinkles the blood upon the mercy-seat. Even so did our Lord Jesus Christ. He took the payment and bore it to God–took his wounds, his rent body, his flowing blood, up to his Father’s very eyes and there he spread his wounded hands and pleaded for his people. Now here is proof that the Christian cannot be condemned, because the blood is on the mercy-seat. It is not poured out on the ground; it is on the mercy-seat, it is on the throne; it speaks in the very ears of God, and it must of surety prevail.

But, perhaps, the sweetest proof that the Christian cannot be condemn-ed, is derived from the intercession of Christ, if we view it thus. . . . When Christ pleads, he does not plead with one who is stronger than him or inimical to him, but to his own Father.

What would you give, some of you, if you could have such a hope as this? Here are four pillars. O unhappy souls, that cannot call these your own! The mass of men are in uncertainty; they do not know what will become of them at last. They are discontented enough with life and yet they are afraid to die. God is angry with them, and they know it. Death is terrible to them; the tomb affrights them, and they can scarcely understand the possibility of having any confidence this side of the grave.

Ah, my hearers, what would you give if you could obtain this confidence? And yet it is within the grasp of every truly penitent sinner. If you are now led to repent of sin; if you will now cast yourself on the blood and righteousness of Christ, your eternal salvation shall be as sure as your present existence. He cannot perish who relies on Christ, and he who hath faith in Jesus may see the heavens pass away, but not God’s Word. He may see the earth burned, but into the fire of hell, he can never go. He is safe, and he must be saved, though all things pass away.

None hath a right to condemn, for he is the sole judge of right and wrong. And if he hath died, shall he put us to death; and if he hath risen for us, shall he thrust us downwards to the pit; and if he hath reigned for us and hath been accepted for us, shall he cast us away; and if he hath pleaded for us, shall he curse us at last? No! Come life, come death, my soul can rest on this. He died for me. I cannot be punished for my sin. He rose again, I must rise, and though I die, yet shall I live again. He sits at the right hand of God, and so must I. I must be crowned and reign with him forever. He intercedes, and he must be heard. He beckons me, and I must be brought at length to see his face, and to be with him where he is.

Edited and excerpted from a sermon preached on June 5, 1859 .

The current formatting and editing is copyrighted by Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International