Bible Strands
Romans 8:33
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Roman church mid-argument, pivoting from God's generosity (8:32) to the legal status of believers, before moving to Christ's intercession (8:34). He is not answering a question the readers have asked; he is foreclosing one he anticipates them asking.
The words — ἐγκαλέσει (egkalesei) is the courtroom term for bringing a formal charge against a named defendant. The present participle δικαιῶν (dikaiōn) marks God as in the ongoing act of justifying, not a one-time verdict already filed.
The thread — Isaiah 50:8 poses the same rhetorical question from the Servant's mouth ("Who has a case against me?"), and Isaiah 54:17 promises the refutation of every accusing tongue. Revelation 12:10 identifies the accuser as a specific figure cast out of heaven, confirming the legal framework Paul assumes.
Why it lands — The verse does not ask the reader to feel reassured; it states that the prosecution has no standing. A reader who still senses guilt is not wrestling with a real charge but with an imagined one.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 50:8 The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me!
- Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.
- Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
- Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- Luke 18:7 Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay in helping them?
- 1 Thessalonians 1:4 Brothers who are beloved by God, we know that He has chosen you,
- Zechariah 3:1 Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- Romans 3:26 He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
- Job 42:7 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.
- Isaiah 42:1 “Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.