Yes — Romans 8:31 means that because God is for believers, no force can ultimately stand against them, even though they may still suffer in this life.
Les Feldick teaches that the promise is not that nothing bad will happen to a believer. Instead, it assures believers that people and powers can harm the flesh but can never touch their eternal life, which is in God's hands. God gave His Son, and He will freely give believers all that they need, so they can rest in His care and security.
Romans 8:31 — This is the verse in question; it asks what believers should conclude if God is for them.
Romans 8:32 — It supplies the reason God can make such a promise: He did not spare His own Son.
Romans 8:31 asks, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" The verse comes after the preceding verses in Romans 8 that speak of God's purpose, calling, justification, and glorification of believers. It makes the point that if God is on the believer's side, no opposing force is ultimately comparable. The next verse gives the basis for this confidence: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:35 asks, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Verse 36 says, "As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Verse 37 answers, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:38–39 then declares that neither death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present or to come, height, depth, nor any other creature "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Les Feldick says the first thing many people think is that God is promising nothing can happen to the believer, but that is not what the verse means. He points to the apostle Paul, who wrote "if God be for us, who can be against us" yet suffered greatly for the sake of the Gospel. The promise, Les explains, is to "rest assured that regardless of what someone or what the powers that be may do to the flesh, they can never touch that invisible eternal part of us" — the part that is in God's hands. He also draws attention to the italicized "be" and "can be" in Romans 8:31, which translators added; leaving them out gives "if God for us, who against us." Les connects the verse to verse 32: the reason God can make such promises is that He did not spare His own Son. Believers do not stay secure because of what they have done or what they merit, but only because of what Christ has done at the cross. Grace, he stresses, is not license. Because of the work of the cross, no tribulation, distress, or persecution can force a believer out of his place in the body of Christ.
No. Les Feldick explicitly rejects that reading, saying, "Now the first thing we think of in a verse like that is that God is promising that nothing can happen to us if we're a believer. No, no, that's not what it means." He uses the apostle Paul as proof: Paul wrote this very verse, yet he went through much for the sake of the Gospel. Romans 8:36 itself acknowledges that believers are "accounted as sheep for the slaughter." So the verse is not a guarantee of an easy life; it is a promise that God's support is greater than any opposition.
Les says Romans 8:32 gives the reason: "Why can God make such promises that if He is for us, who can be against us? What do we rest on?" The answer is that God "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." Because God gave the greatest gift, Les teaches that believers can rest in His care rather than being intimidated by opposition. The believer's security is based on the work of the cross, not on human merit.
Les points out that in many Bibles the words "be" and "can be" are italicized, showing they have been added by the translators. He says, "Once in a while it's better to leave it as it was in the original." Removing the added words, the verse reads, "What shall we say to these things if God for us, who against us?" — which he calls "fantastic." This emphasizes the great confidence believers can have because God Himself is on their side.
Romans 8:35 lists tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword. Les says the devil cannot bring in enough persecution to force a believer out of his place in the body of Christ — never. The believer is secure because of the work of the cross. Les also notes that Paul's "I am persuaded" in Romans 8:38 is stronger than simply finally consenting to something. God's power is supreme, and nothing can separate believers from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
Why Repentance Was Offered to Israel — Acts 5 Explained
If they would just repent of what they had done, and that was having killed their Messiah, then everything would still come along as God had intended it. Alright. Verse 33 of Acts chapter 5. "...so when they," that is the religious leaders now, who have Peter and the eleven on trial, "...when they heard that, they were cut to the heart.
God for Us Means the Eternal Part Is Safe
Les teaches that Romans 8:31 is a promise to rest assured: whatever men or powers do to the flesh, they cannot touch the invisible eternal part of the believer that is in God's hands.
Not a Promise of No Suffering
Les corrects the common misunderstanding, showing from Paul's own life that a believer can suffer greatly even while God is for him.
More Than Conquerors
Les links Romans 8:36–38, showing believers are killed as sheep for the slaughter yet are more than conquerors through Christ.
God's Supreme Power
Les teaches that God's power is supreme and He has placed believers in a place of safety, so no power can remove them.
Security Through the Cross
Les explains that persecution cannot force a believer out of the body of Christ because security rests solely on what Christ did at the cross.
Grace Is Not License
Les reminds believers that trusting God's promises is not license to sin; God does not hamstring us, but grace is not a free pass.
The Italicized Words
Les shows that translators added the words "be" and "can be" in Romans 8:31, so the original emphasis is "if God for us, who against us?"
Romans 8:31: What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
The verse under question directly asks what believers should conclude if God is on their side.
Romans 8:32: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
It gives the reason God will give believers everything they need — He already gave His Son.
Romans 8:35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
It acknowledges the hardships believers can face while asking what can separate them from Christ's love.
Romans 8:36: As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
It shows that suffering for God has long been the world's attitude toward believers.
Romans 8:37: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
It gives the answer to the list of hardships: believers are more than conquerors.
Romans 8:38-39: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul's strong persuasion that no power or created thing can separate believers from God's love.
It means that because God is for believers, no enemy or power can ultimately prevail against them. Les Feldick explains that it is not a promise that believers will never suffer in the flesh, but that the eternal part of the believer is safe in God's hands.
No. Les Feldick points to the apostle Paul, who wrote the verse yet suffered greatly for the Gospel. The verse assures believers of God's support, not freedom from tribulation or persecution.
In many Bibles, italicized words indicate that translators added them for English readability. Les says leaving them out gives the more original expression, 'if God for us, who against us?'
Les teaches that the devil cannot bring enough persecution to force a believer out of his place in the body of Christ. Security is guaranteed because of the work of the cross, not because of what the believer does.
Watch the Teaching: Why Repentance Was Offered to Israel — Acts 5 Explained