Eld Lee Kong Sing

At the time of writing, the pandemic situation continues to cast a shadow of uncertainty over the affairs of man all around the world. If there is anything that should be learnt from this pandemic it is to acknowledge that man truly has very little control over his life. Man cannot hope to take control of his circumstances more than he can stop the sun from rising in the east. True as this may be, unbelievers cannot bring themselves to acknowledge this truth because without God, there is really no hope in life.

The situation is, however, very different for the believer. Although man’s efforts to gain control are weak and useless, believers have a God who, in contrast, is in absolute and complete control. He knows all the events of the world before its foundations were even created. Nothing, at any time is outside of His design and will. All things are under His sovereign control.  And because of the saving and redemptive work of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Christian is reconciled to God, for he has experienced God’s love. This love that God has for all His children is founded on Christ’s finished work on the cross.

The passage for our comfort and consideration is taken from Romans 8:38,39:

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38,39

Background

The epistle of Romans was written to both Jewish and Gentile Christians who coexisted in the church in Rome. Although both had come to trust in Christ, they came from very different backgrounds. The Jewish Christians were brought up from infancy in the teachings of the Old Testament as well as the legalistic and erroneous teachings of the oral traditions. The Gentile Christians on the other hand were once pagans and idol worshippers. Although both had come to trust in Christ, many of their old ideas lingered even after conversion. As a result, conflicts between the two groups arose. Paul dealt with this problem through the clear teaching of the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Through the knowledge of the truth, both groups could unlearn their erroneous ways and become united in Christ.

Paul alluded to the suffering of the Roman Christians in several places of the epistle. It is, however, unclear what exactly the problems that resulted in the suffering were. The epistle of Romans was most likely written sometime between 55 and 57 AD but the exact dating cannot be determined with certainty. Nero blamed Christians for burning the capital city of Rome in 64 AD. Although suffering by Nero’s persecution had not begun at the time of writing, the Roman Christians nonetheless endured suffering due to other causes which prompted the Apostle Paul to offer comfort and encouragement from God’s Word.

Context

It is important to note that Paul dealt with comforting the saints only after having first taught the fundamental doctrines in the chapters leading up to chapter 8. The basis of application, which included applying God’s Word to find comfort and encouragement in times of trials, is in the doctrinal foundations of sin, faith and salvation which Paul taught in the first 4 chapters of Romans. True comfort in suffering comes from learning the doctrines about the nature of God and His will for man. In chapters 5 to 7 Paul taught what it means for believers to have a new relationship with God in Christ and how they should no longer live according to the flesh and sin but with the new power of the Spirit in their lives.

Starting from verse 28 and leading up to verses 38 and 39, Paul presented a series of arguments for the case that nothing can separate God’s love for believers. The arguments are strong and biblically logical.

Argument 1: All things in the Life of the Believer are Within the Sovereign Will and Plan of God. (v28-30)

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Romans 8:28–30

Paul established that all things in the believer’s life, without exception, work together for his good. The word “good” (agathon) in verse 28 refers to the constitutional good of the believer. “Agathos” is a beneficial good whereby the goodness benefits the person. “All things” that the believer likes and does not like will work together for his benefit. The question is, “together” with what? Trials and persecutions are painful and traumatic. They are not delightful at all. But together with God’s grace and mercies they will bring about goodness that will benefit the believer. For example, the loss of a job for the sake of Christ will help the believer draw closer to God when he begins to experience the Lord’s daily provision which he would not have learned if he had not lost his job. Every believer is saved for God’s purpose. Being a witness for Christ will result in suffering. This is part of a believer’s calling. From the beginning to the end of salvation the believer must know that his salvation cannot be lost. What God has begun he will surely complete.  

Argument 2: If God be for Us, Who can be Against Us? (v31)

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

God is truly for us. “These things” refers to all that Paul had written from Romans 1 – that all are sinners and all are saved by faith in Christ, especially the immediate context of Romans 8. The witness of a holy Christian in Satan’s world will surely bring persecution. Many enemies will stand in the way of believers. The more they serve the Lord faithfully, the more intense will their persecution be. This is seen in the lives of God’s servants in both the Old and New Testaments. These enemies who are against believers seem to “win” in the eyes of man, as many believers were imprisoned and crucified like Christ on the cross throughout the first century AD. If the enemies “win” and believers like Paul are imprisoned, then what does it mean when God says “who can be against us?” God is definitely for all believers because the condition “If” [God be for us] is a first class condition which means a condition of fact. In the eyes of the enemies of believers, they have won because they seemed to have the victory on earth. But God measures all things from the perspective of eternity. For example, the devil and his minions believed that they had won against Christ when they arrested, persecuted and crucified Him. But the end result was Christ’s resurrection. What the devil and his minions did was exactly what God had prophesied thousands of years ago when God said that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent would bruise His heel. No man can thwart the sovereign plan of God from being accomplished in the believer’s life, even in the face of the greatest persecution!

Argument 3: If God Spared Not His Son, What More Will He Not Give Us? (v32)

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, the most precious to God. If God spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us, to suffer and die on the cross and to rise again for our justification, will He not also give to us all that we need to be a holy witness for Christ? The answer is a definite yes! Will He leave us void of Christian fellowship if that is what we need for our spiritual well-being? Will He leave us without any help to keep ourselves spiritually strong during this time of social distancing and make available the necessary means of grace for us to achieve that? God gave us His only begotten Son when we were His enemies! Now that we are His children, He will surely continue to provide. The phrase “freely give” means “gratuitous giving.” He will certainly graciously give us whatever is needful for our spiritual and eternal good. If persecution is what we need then he will send persecution. If the loss of pre-circuit breaker experiences is what we need to grow spiritually and trust Him more, then He will also “give” that to us! In other words what we are experiencing now is a “gift” from God to help us draw closer to Him and farther away from the world. Is this not good for us?

Argument 4: Who is Able to Accuse Believers of Being Undeserving of Salvation? (v33-34)

“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:33–34

If God Himself has justified us through the finished work of Christ, who can dispute that we do not deserve His salvation, protection and provision? Who can say that our sins are too great or too heinous for us to enter heaven when Christ has fully paid the price for every sin? Who can take salvation away from us by accusing us of being unworthy? The answer is no one because it is God Himself who justifies us. Although we are truly unworthy and undeserving, it is not by our own merits that we enter heaven. We are justified by Christ, Who lived a perfect life and paid the price for our redemption.  Our salvation therefore is secure because no one can dispute against the perfect saving work of Christ.

Argument 5: Suffering and Even Death Cannot Separate Us from His Love (v35-37)

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Romans 8:35–37

Christ’s love for believers is sealed by His finished work at Calvary. It is anchored in Christ’s resurrection and therefore the salvation of all believers will last for eternity!  When the believer suffers through imprisonment, scourging and even death, his salvation cannot be diminished, not even in the slightest. All that Christ had accomplished for all believers are safe and sealed in heaven. Whatever that happens to God's children on earth can never touch what God has secured in heaven. Absent from the body, present with the Lord.  Hence the believer need not fear persecution for Christ’s sake, not even when it ends in death.

The Climax (v38, 39)

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38,39

Verse 28 starts with our love for God. Verse 39  ends with God’s love for us. In verses 38 and 39, Paul listed a series of contrasts: death and life; Angels - referring to fallen angels or powers in the spiritual realm in contrast to principalities (rulers) and powers (authorities); powers of the leaders of this earth; things present, things to come; height and depth. The use of contrasts is for the purpose of coverage. When two extremes are cited, it means that all that is in between are also included. In other words, everything, without exception, is accounted for. Nothing is left out. That is why Paul ends the list with “any other creature” meaning all of creation. Therefore, absolutely nothing is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can stop God from loving believers who have been redeemed by Christ’s precious blood. God will continue to love believers under all circumstances and for all eternity because of Christ, His only begotten Son.

Conclusion

It is impossible for finite beings like us to fully comprehend the doctrine of the unfailing and eternal love of God for believers. Nonetheless, our limitations do not prevent the truth from being so, and with the help of the Holy Spirit God’s Word is able to bring understanding, comfort and encouragement to believers.

The One True living and almighty God has called us unto Himself to be His children and He is our God. He has given us His most precious Son, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to die for our sins and to save us unto Himself. He has put into His Word many precious promises. No amount of upheaval and confusion that is in the world today will stop our all-powerful God from loving us and ensuring that every detail of our lives is within His control and will work together with His grace and mercies for our good.

What is left for us to do is to trust in the Word of God and to cease from suffering needlessly in our own doubts and fears, for nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

May the Lord help us to rest in this truth from His Word.