Only the right questions yield the right answers

You remember “pop tests,” don’t you? “Take out a pencil and a sheet of paper,” your teacher said, “I’m going to see if you’ve been paying attention.” The Apostle Paul did that, too, in Scripture. After writing most of the eighth chapter of Romans on the themes of “Life in the Spirit” (verses 1-17) and “The Future Glory” (verses 18- 30), he suddenly stops and asks, “Considering all of this, what can we say about it?” Surely he smiled, knowing that his best students would re-read those two essays. Then, he presents five “right questions” that yield five “right answers.” Are they your questions too?
Question One: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul wants us to think this through with him. “Let’s see,” we wonder, “if God did not hold back his own Son from us, but offered him for us all…,” he hints; and the right answer emerges: “Nobody.”
Question Two: “Will God not give us anything else?” Paul coaxes us to reason further, “If God gave us his Son, will he suddenly stop giving us things?” Answer: “No.” Since God has already given us Jesus, he has no reason to stop now. Thus, he will also freely give us everything necessary for our faith to grow and sustain us. It certainly helps when the teacher asks questions that develop the right answers, doesn’t it?
Question Three: “Who will bring any accusation against God’s own people [namely, us]?” This is a legal question. Paul starts us on the right track: “It is God, the Supreme Judge, who justifies us.” So, we reason, “In Christ, God overrules all contrary opinions and denies all motions to challenge.” Answer: “Nobody.”
Question Four: “Who will condemn us — Jesus?” Because of Jesus’ difficult teachings (like, “Be perfect”) and his angry confrontations with religious leaders, some might think that he would treat us like a prosecuting attorney. Instead, Paul encourages us to respond: “Jesus willingly died for us, and then raised him up to stand beside us, pleading directly to God for us.” With a defense attorney like that, how can we lose? Answer: “No.”
Question Five: “Who or what can separate us from the love of Christ?” Now that Paul has established our good standing with God through Jesus, he prompts us to examine other threatening issues. Indeed, is there anything that can threaten our relationship with Christ? He asks for us: “Can trouble do it, or hardship, or persecution, or hunger, or poverty, or danger, or death?” Before we can answer, Paul acknowledges that death is a daily possibility, like sheep face at a slaughterhouse (v. 36).
Then, as if this image offends us (doesn’t it?), he answers quickly for us, “No,” and reveals his own faith for us to see. Here it is: “I am convinced that nothing can separate us from his [Christ’s] love.” Then, he enlivens that almost creedal statement like we add seasonings to a steak. He brings out its intended flavor by pouring example after example over it. Have any of these experiences ever threatened your standing in Christ? He continues:
“Neither death nor life; neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers; neither the present nor the future; neither the world above nor the world below; there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In this dramatic way, the Apostle Paul concludes his “pop test,” knowing that his readers have been listening. Well, we have been listening, haven’t we?
The Rev. Russell G. Waldrop, D. Min., LPC, is a pastoral counselor and is chaplain of Western State Hospital. Contact him at 540-332-8004 or .