Who determines who we are and what we are in the Spirit?
The triune God—the Creator and sustaining God—determines who we are and what we are in the realm of the Spirit. He chooses, justifies, forgives, and takes His own unto Himself; therefore no charge or condemnation can stand against God's elect.
Les explains that "elect" means chosen: when you elect someone, you designate them to be whatever you intend them to be, and election in the Greek is an act of choosing. God has done this with every one of them. No one comes to God of his own prerogative; we cannot simply decide to go with God anytime we feel like it, because we must be in that chosen aspect. Yet there is also the "whosoever will." In the verses under discussion, it is God who justifies—not our neighbor, boss, husband, or wife—so we do not have to give an account to any of them. It is God, the triune God, the Creator God, the sustaining God, who determines who we are and what we are in the realm of the Spirit. If He has chosen us, forgiven us, and taken us unto Himself, then no one can condemn us. It is Christ who died and rose again, and everything revolves around that finished work of the cross.