Christ Our Judge and Advocate

Romans 8:34 (ESV) … “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Who is he that condemns? The ultimate Condemner of sinful people is God; only God can condemn in the final sense. But Paul reminds us in verse 34 that Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Christ was condemned for me; my sin was condemned by God on the cross. So what possible condemnation is left to be heaped upon me? There may be all kinds of people in this world who condemn me with their mouths, and who pray that I would be condemned by God, but that prayer is in vain, because the only one who can condemn me has already condemned me in Christ.

What is the right hand of God? What is the role of one who stands at the right hand of God? It is as though God were the king and his prime minister stands at his right hand. In the biblical imagery here that is exactly the idea we have: Christ has been appointed by the Father to be the Judge of the world. So the Judge of the world stands at the right hand of God. Paul is speaking in legal terms, and says that the person who has been given the supreme authority to charge and to condemn, to stand in judgment over the world, is Christ.

But Christ is our Advocate, as well as our Judge. Even now he is making intercession for us. So my sin has been covered from every conceivable angle.[1]

[1] Sproul, R. C. (1994). The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans (p. 157). Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.