God's Courtroom — TDW Kids

The Judge and the Charges

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Romans 8:1 uses a courtroom word: condemnation. To see why “no condemnation” is such good news, picture God's courtroom. There is a Judge, there are charges, and there is a verdict.

The Judge. God is the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25). He is perfectly fair. He never takes a bribe, never misses a fact and never gets a case wrong.

The charges. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Every person has broken God's law in actions, words and thoughts.

No way to clear ourselves. “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20). Our good deeds cannot cancel our bad ones, just as paying for today's lunch does not pay last week's bill.

The sentence. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). A wage is what you have earned. Sin earns death, which means being separated from God.

A record against us. Paul pictures our sins as a written record of charges, “the handwriting of requirements that was against us” (Colossians 2:14).

The Judge provides the payment. The good news is that the Judge Himself provided what we could not. God sent “His own Son” (Romans 8:3). The One who judges is also the One who saves.

Our place. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Iniquity means sin. Jesus stood where we should have stood.

The curse taken. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Redeemed means bought back.

Nailed to the cross. God took that record of charges “out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). The list is gone.

The verdict. “It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). To justify means to declare someone right. The Judge Himself declares the believer not guilty.

A free gift. We are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Freely means we did nothing to earn it.

Peace with God. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). We are not God's enemies anymore.

What we learn. The charges against us were real, but Jesus paid them in full. God is completely fair and completely loving at the same time.

What to do. Thank Jesus today for taking your place. If you have never trusted Him, you can tell Him now that you are turning from your sin and trusting Him as your Savior.

Condemnation is a legal word. To see why “no condemnation” (8:1) is such good news, we need to see the whole courtroom: the Judge, the charges, the sentence and the verdict.

The Judge. Abraham called God the Judge of all the earth and trusted Him to do right (Genesis 18:25). God's justice is not cold. It flows from His holiness, so He cannot pretend that sin did not happen.

The charge sheet. Romans 3:10-18 gathers Old Testament verses into one long list of charges, and 3:23 sums it up: “all have sinned.”

Why the law cannot clear us (3:20). The law is the standard, not the rescue: “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” A speed-limit sign can tell you that you broke the law, but it cannot pay your ticket.

Dikaioō (say: dih-kai-OH-oh). The Greek verb for justify means to declare righteous, the way a judge announces a ruling. It is a verdict, not a slow self-improvement plan. God “justifies the ungodly” who believe (Romans 4:5).

Freely (3:24). Believers are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Freely means as a gift, with no cause found in us.

A just Judge. A judge who let guilty people walk free with no payment would not be just. God does not ignore sin. He punished it in Jesus, so He is both just and the One who justifies those who trust Jesus (3:26).

Galatians 3:13. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.” The curse was the law's sentence on lawbreakers. Jesus took it in our place.

Colossians 2:14. The “handwriting of requirements” was a written record of debt. Over Jesus' cross hung a sign naming the charge against Him (John 19:19). Many Christians picture our charge sheet nailed to that same cross.

Not counted (Psalm 32:1-2). David celebrated the person “to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.” Impute means to count something to someone's account. Our sin is not counted against us, and Christ's righteousness is counted to us (Romans 4:6-8).

Remembered no more. God promised in the new covenant, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

Peace (5:1). Being justified brings peace with God: the war is over.

Saved from wrath (5:9). “Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Wrath is God's settled anger against sin. For believers, it was spent on the cross.

Application. Justification is a once-for-all verdict. Your standing before God does not rise and fall with your good days and bad days. It rests on Christ, so you can serve God out of thankfulness, not fear.

Our Advocate Before the Judge

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Later in Romans 8, Paul asks bold courtroom questions. Every answer points to Jesus and shows why God's children are safe.

Who is on our side? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (8:31). The Judge Himself is for His children.

God gave His best. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (8:32).

Who can accuse us? “Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies” (8:33). God's elect are the people God has chosen and saved.

A deceiver who accuses. The Bible calls the devil the one “who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). He loves to remind us of our sins. But no accusation can stand when God has already declared us right.

Who can condemn us? “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (8:34).

Four reasons. Jesus died for us. He rose again. He sits at God's right hand, the place of honor and power. He prays for us right now.

Our Advocate. “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). An advocate is like a lawyer who speaks up for you.

Always praying. Jesus “always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Intercession means praying for someone else.

When we sin. Christians still sin sometimes. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Gone for good. “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Nothing can separate us. Paul ends with a promise: nothing in all creation “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:39). Once you belong to Jesus, you are held by a love that will not let go.

What we learn. If you belong to Jesus, no charge against you can stand. Jesus is your Advocate, and God is for you.

What to do. When you feel guilty, do not hide from God. Tell Him the truth, thank Jesus for paying for that sin, and keep walking with Him.

In 8:31-34 Paul asks four questions, and God's work in Christ answers each one.

If God is for us (8:31). The “if” here means since. Paul is not doubting; he is reasoning from what is certain.

From the greater to the lesser (8:32). God already gave the greatest gift, His own Son. He will not hold back anything smaller that we truly need. Many Christians see in “did not spare His own Son” an echo of Abraham, who did not withhold Isaac (Genesis 22:12).

God's elect (8:33). The elect are the people God has chosen and called. The charge cannot stick because the highest court has already ruled: “It is God who justifies.”

The accuser. The name Satan means adversary, one who brings charges. In Zechariah 3 Satan stands to accuse Joshua the high priest, but the Lord rebukes him and clothes Joshua in clean garments. Revelation 12:10 calls the devil the accuser of the brethren, who is cast down.

Four answers (8:34). Christ died, so the penalty is paid. He is risen, so the payment was accepted. He is at God's right hand, so He reigns. He intercedes, so He keeps speaking for us.

Paraklētos (say: pah-RAH-klay-toss). John calls Jesus our “Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). The word means one called alongside, a defender in court. Jesus used the same word for the Holy Spirit, “another Helper” (John 14:16). Believers have an Advocate in heaven and a Helper within.

To the uttermost. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). To the uttermost means completely and forever.

Conviction and condemnation. The Holy Spirit convicts us when we sin so that we turn back to God (John 16:8). The accuser condemns so that we give up. Conviction draws you toward God; condemnation pushes you away from Him.

1 John 1:9. Confessing sin does not earn forgiveness all over again. It keeps our fellowship with God open. God is “faithful and just” to forgive because Jesus' blood has already paid.

Micah 7:19. “You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.” God does not keep a file of forgiven sins to reopen later.

Inseparable (8:38-39). Paul names death, life, angels, powers, things present and things to come. None of them “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Application. When you sin, run to your Advocate, not away from Him. When guilt keeps accusing you after you have confessed, answer it with Romans 8:1 and 8:34.

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Read each section and answer the questions correctly.