I can't remember when or how it struck me that the famous series of questions Paul asks in Romans

chapter 8 verses 31 to 35 all begin with the personal interrogative pronoun, the pronoun who, despite the fact that when he gives

a list of the opposition the Christian experiences, more or less everything in it is a what and not a who.

But now, I can't read these great verses without reflecting on this striking feature of this amazing passage.

There's no variation in it. He keeps asking the question, who. And we've seen that the

who about whom he is thinking is the one that Simon Peter describes as your adversary,

the devil. That's who Paul has in mind when he asks who is against

us. And it's also who he has in mind now when he asks, who shall bring any charge against God's

elect. The fact is that many people did bring charges against Christians. That's of the apostles

makes that clear enough.

And there are several occasions when the apostles were actually brought before the religious

or civil authorities to face accusations.

But that's not, I think, what Paul is ultimately talking about here.

And his answer seemed to make that clear. The accusations Paul is talking about here. And his answer seemed to make that clear. The accusations Paul

is talking about here are those the devil brings against us. Scripture tells us that these

charges against us are made in the courtroom of heaven. Remember Revelation chapter 12,

verse 10. The devil is the accuser of the brothers who accuses

them day and night before our God.

Now there's something mysterious about this, isn't there?

This isn't something that we see or hear directly.

But elsewhere in Scripture, we learn about this activity of the

devil. Remember what Jesus said to Peter? Satan has demanded to have you to sift you like wheat,

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