he is for "you"?
he is for "you"?
WHO'S SIDE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO JOIN?
August 31, 2026
My theology-nerd circuits got activated today when I saw one line from The Blessing pulled out and presented all by itself:
“He is for you. He is for you. He is for you.”
Now, I’m not particularly interested in picking apart the song. In its larger context, it draws heavily from the priestly blessing of Numbers 6: “The LORD bless you and keep you…” My concern is what happens when “He is for you” becomes a standalone Christian slogan.
Because without context, it can subtly turn the biblical picture backwards.
It can sound like God bends to be on our side, when the biblical call is for us to bend—to surrender ourselves—to be on His side.
The passage we usually associate with this idea is Romans 8:31:
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Notice what Paul doesn’t say: God is for you.
He says, God is for us.
And that “us” doesn’t appear out of nowhere. Just a few verses earlier, Paul describes those who love God, who are called “according to his purpose,” and whom God is conforming “to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:28–29).
That changes the emphasis considerably.
God being “for us” doesn’t mean God has signed on to my plans, ambitions, desires, politics, dreams, or definition of a successful life. Christianity is not about convincing God to join my agenda.
It is about being joined to Christ.
We are incorporated into His body, conformed to His image, brought into His purposes, and sent together into the world to participate in His mission.
And there we encounter the magnificent promise of Romans 8.
God is for us.
Not because we managed to get God onto our side, but because by grace we have been brought onto His.
Maybe that’s the distinction worth remembering:
We don’t ask God to get on OUR side. We surrender ourselves to His side—and there, in Christ, we discover that God is for US - together.
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Mike