Romans 8:32: 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?
After delivering a series of rhetorical questions, Paul now directs our attention to the Father’s grace-gift of His one and only Son. This is how we know that God is “for us,” as in the previous verse.
Romans 8:32 He who [indeed] did not spare [withhold] His own [special and private] Son
The New King James version does not translate the word “indeed.” The translation should read “He indeed did not spare His own Son.” The Father did not spare even His own Son. The “indeed” shows how great desire He had that we would be saved.
but delivered Him up
The word “delivered” conveys the idea of God handing over His Son in grace. He did not grudgingly give up His Son but gave Him up to die on the cross. There is never any point at which we can gain God’s favor; His favor is solely from Him. God has provided all we need for salvation by giving His unique Son.
for us all,
“For” here carries the idea of vicarious sacrifice. Jesus stood in our place on the cross. Jesus’ death represented the sinner in His death. He did this for “us all,” Jew as well as Gentile, all who believe.
how shall He [the Father] not with Him [Jesus] also freely give [bestow out of grace] us all things?
God’s supreme sacrifice of His Son indicates that He is willing to give believers anything else for their spiritual welfare. The words “freely give” emphasize His grace. God’s grace is always generous.
“All things” here refers to glorification in eternity. We cannot divorce this “all things” from the “all things” of 8:28. Since God works “all things together for good” of believers, everything given to them turns out to their benefit. This is especially true in glorification in the eternal state.
PRINCIPLE: Since God gave us His greatest gift, He will give us any other gift that we need.
APPLICATION: The reason that Christians know that God is “for them” (v.31) is that God did not spare His very own Son for them. Since He did the greatest thing imaginable, then it follows that the Father will grant us what we need. If God will do the greater, He will surely do the lesser. Everything else is small in God’s mind. He went to the greatest length possible to save us.
When God asked Abraham to kill his son, the son was not ultimately killed. Isaac was spared from death. That was not true with God’s Son; He did not spare Him from death. God’s love to us was the greatest He could offer. This is true even with us being as wretched as we are. God’s unadulterated love toward us gives us assurance of an eternal future with Him. The gift of Christ encompasses all other gifts. We have assurance of salvation because of what God did, not what we do.
