ROMANS 8: 35-39
MORE THAN CONQUERORS
("THE INSEPARABLE LOVE OF GOD")
Romans chapter 8 details [some of the] reasons for a believer's confidence in Christ. Not only can no one accuse (33), and no one condemn (34) but no one or nothing can separate the Christian from the love of God in Christ. This declaration is the last step, the climax, the very summit of the mount of confidence from where the Christian both looks out over His conquered enemies and looks upward with complete faith in the glorious triumph of God's love.
God's great love for believers in Christ is the basis for this unshakable assurance of our eternal salvation. God's love for those in Christ guarantees that nothing will be able to separate Him from us.
So here with great eloquence the Apostle combines the evils of the natural world with the antagonists of the supernatural world to teach that - we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us (CIT).
I. THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF LIFE, 35-36.
II. THE CONQUERING LIFE, 37.
III. THE SUPERNATURAL ENEMIES OF LIFE, 38-39.
INSEPARABLE LOVE (35)
After having established that God works all things together for the eternal good of those who love Him, we are asked if it is possible for circumstances to separate us from the love of Christ? Verse 35 lists some of the possible harsh circumstances of life. "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
The word used for separate (chorizo) comes from a word meaning "space" (chora). The love of Christ refers to Christ's love for the believer. Can anything or one make a distance between Christ's love and us? Can anything or one lead Christ to cease loving us? Things seem to happen between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and coworkers that people use as reasons to stop loving. What will happen to God's love for us if contrary circumstances come our way?
Paul gives a sample list of possible difficult occurrences. The first theatening circumstance is tribulation. Tribulation (thlipsis -"squeeze, put under pressure") is outward affliction. Like when you have a physical health problem or a financial crisis. It is the typical kind of general adversity that all face. Tribulation may deplete, chafe, and fatigue, but it is not able to separate us from the love of God. So don't let stresses or tribulations separate you from the fact that God loves you.
Distress (stenochoria) is inward pressures or anxieties. It comes with feeling unloved, unlovely, unintelligent, unable to cope, depressed. God's love holds when everything says that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice.
The third threatening circumstance is persecution. Persecution is evil inflicted because of one's relationship with Christ by hostile men. It attacks through snide or derogatory comments, false rumors, gossip, false accusations, etc.
Famine and nakedness are physical evils depriving one of nourishment and shelter which could be adequate housing and clothing. It suggests being vulnerable and unprotected. Peril and sword are violent antagonists. [Kíndunos is approaching danger or to be in jeopardy. The word sword (máchaira) refers to a large dagger used by assassins because it was easy to conceal.]
Paul is not talking of imaginary things, but of things that are desperately actual. God does not keep a man immune from trouble. He says-"I will be with you in trouble." It does not matter what actual troubles, or even their most extreme forms that attack a your life, not one of them can separate God from His loving relationship with you.
If the conditions mentioned here cannot separate Christ's love from us, then no circumstances on earth can. There is no attempt to exhaustively enumerate or classify the possible deterrents to Christ's love. These are simply miscellaneous masses of evil things.
These specimens of evil like billows of the sea threaten to roll us under but we that love the Lord Jesus and are called according to His purpose, know that we are shielded within the love of Christ. These evils can no more quench the light of the sun than they can separate us from Christ's love for us. The experiences of life, terrible or monumental, are incapable of touching the love of God for us, "which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (v. 39). In spite of all that life throws at us, it is impossible to separate Jesus Christ from His love for us
Notice again that the impossible separation is not our love for Christ, but Christ's love for us. All too often our love for Christ is separated from us, for we do not stand convinced that God is working all things, both the bad and the good, for our eternal benefit. So we often allow things to separate us from our joy, from our hope, from almost all that makes life desirable. Evils can strip us to the very quick but the quick, or our eternal soul and spirit, they cannot touch. The bitter cold winter comes and kills the flowers, browns the leaves, cuts off the stems, chains the sweet music of flowing streams, and darkens the world to a solitary grey face - but it does not touch the life that is in the root.
All these outward sorrows can affect the outward life. They can slay worldly joy, stifle earthly hope and bind us into dark solitude, but they cannot touch, even in the smallest way, the love that Jesus has for us. They can become avenues for the love of Christ to flow ever more bountifully into our hearts in these dark moments - if we would but be faithful and trust in Him (Rom. 5:5).
Make Christ your cause for joy; and you will never be without joy. Make Christ your reason for hope; and hope will never leave you. Make Christ's Words your constant companion and you will never be in alone. The withdrawal of external blessings will not touch the inner sanctuary and the sweetness of a life in communion with Jesus. We can face and overcome the withdrawal of all and the assault on all, if we have found in Christ our all.
Friends, there is real danger that these or other things may separate us from our love for Christ, but the remarkable thing is that nothing will ever separate His love for us from Him.
For Thy Sake (36)
Verse 36 reminds us that suffering for God by His true people is nothing new. "Just as it is written, ‘FOR THY SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG: WE ARE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.'"
"For Thy sake," indicates that these sufferings are inflicted for obeying God instead of man (Acts 5:29). Faithful believers have suffered in the cause of Christ down through the centuries (Heb. 11:36-38). To support the point Paul gives Old Testament support from Psalms 44:23. Originally this was a plea to God for speedy aid in a time of sore distress.
There is nothing strange or unexpected about present day suffering by believers for the Lord's sake. Not only did our Lord predict it (Mt. 5:10-12) but it has been the experience of the godly in every generation.
The phrase "being put to death" is the kind of continuous martyrdom or chastisement that Saints face (1 Cor. 15:31). God allows us to go through difficulties in life so that we will not put our hope here on this earth but in Jesus in heaven. Difficulties are not necessarily obstacles for God's children, but His appointed way. They should cause death to pride, selfishness, conceit, vanity, immorality, impure thoughts, false gods, lying dreams, laxness, laziness, insecurity. They help us die to this world of flesh so that we experience greater life in His Spirit.
1st. was The Natural Enemies of Life and
II. THE CONQUERING LIFE, 37.
Something extraordinary happens to a man who holds on to the love of God when the odds are all against him. Verse 37, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through the One who loved us."
The disasters Christians experience in the world are not intended to separate us from Christ but to bring us closer to Him. All these masses of evil things are utterly incapable of keeping a Christian from being a glorious conquer. The Christian becomes a conquer not in spite of them but because of them. Notice our text says, "in all these things." We conquer in all the strife of life.
The Bible does not simply say that we conquer in or through them, "but we more than conquer." The balance is not just barely tipped to our side. There is no hair breath victory granted here. Our triumph is not snatched out of the jaws of defeat. Our victory corresponds to the victory of Christ on the Cross. We do not simply hinder the working of these enemies but we actually through the power of the Cross convert them into our allies. We conquer these enemies so that they become a friend and a helper in our becoming conformed to the image of Christ (v. 29).
Notice also that the victory is not won in far off heaven but right now in the midst of life and strife. All the affliction patiently endured and overcome make us stronger, bring us nearer to Jesus Christ and makes us more Christ-like.
Now how does one know whether he conquers or not? If those evils obscure the light of Jesus' face to me and makes me less desirous of Him, less satisfied with His love then an enemy has conquered me. But when those enemies drive us to Christ and keep us close to Him in the conscious possession of His sweet and changeless love, then they have become our allies and we have conquered.
Has the onslaught of the world helped me to lay hold of Christ? Then I have conquered it. Has the world loosened my grasp upon Him or my pursuit of Him? Then it is conquering me. The set of your sails and the firmness of your grasp upon the rudder determines whether the winds will carry you to the haven of rest or blow you out to a sea of melancholy or upon the rocks of despair.
Notice the verse says "through the One Who Loved us." These words in the original point to one fact [aorist tense] as being the great instance of love. Christ's love helps us conquer because in His death He conquered sin and in His resurrection He overcame death. The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomless marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross of Calvary. The Love of the Cross is love we never can and never will merit. Paul says this love is the reason we are more than conquerors in all these things. This love makes us super-victors, with a joy and growth we would not have but for the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.
If we will take the power of the death and resurrection of Christ as our very own in each of these circumstances we will find ourselves overwhelmingly conquerors even while in the midst of them. Our victory is through the way made by the life, death and resurrection of Christ. If we will die to self, to the old man and live for Christ, we will be more than conquerors.
The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super-joy of going clear through it and then riding on it. Apply that to our own circumstances. These very things-tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us His super-joy. They are not things to flee, but to overcome. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but. because of it. "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials," says James (1:2).
Even when everything is going well, some Christians look as if they are just barely making it. Then if something really serious happens, they collapse in despair- defeated by the bad circumstances in their lives.
But we don't have to live that way. The apostle Paul said that even in the worst situations - "tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword" (verse 35) - we are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us." We don't have to squeak by. We can be "super-conquerors."
Paul himself demonstrated this when he was thrown into, PRISON IN PHILIPPI (Acts 15:16-40). Stripped and brutally beaten, he and Silas were locked in the maximum security wing of the prison and clamped in stocks. So what did they do? Weep? Wallow in self pity? Doubt God? Fall apart? Absolutely not! They sang hymns. They prayed. In fact, they were so confident that when an earthquake shook open the prison doors, they didn't escape. The result? Their jailer and his family were saved.
Are circumstances against you? Have hardships come? Is there suffering? Debt? Drought? Remember, God's love for you is as strong as ever. He will not desert you. He gives His strength. Receive it and His love will see you through. [He'll make you a super-conqueror!] Christ died to save us; He now lives to keep us.
This statement provides the background for one of the greatest affirmations of faith in God ever penned. In verses 38 & 39 the Apostle's confidence in God's faithfulness is expressed in the strongest language. The Bible portrays the supernatural enemies, either separately or united, as absolutely unable to frustrate the purpose of God or turn away His love from those in Christ.
III. THE SUPERNATURAL ENEMIES OF LIFE, 38-39.
The Settled Conclusion (38) Let's look at this most comforting promise beginning with verse 38. "For I have been convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
"I have been convinced" is a perf. pass. ptc. Its fuller meaning thus would be, "I have come through a process of persuasion to a settled conclusion." Paul had experienced all but one (the sword) of the natural enemies and in the Spirit of Christ had fought the supernatural enemies he now inumerates. He had studied the doctrines and experienced the battles and had become steadfastly convinced.
So in the strength of his persuasion he numerates the supernatural enemies most dreaded. "Death and life" are the full range of our human existence. If we died with Christ we will also rise with Him. If we died to the world the flesh and the devil- to sin, self and Satan, then we live in Christ and if we live in Him then when we die physically we live with Him eternally. Death is only the final step into God's glorious presence, not separation from Him or His love. Death is only the last bridge on the journey leading into the presence of Jesus Christ. The dreaded possibilities of life have just been listed and we overwhelmingly conquer in all of them. In fact we found that they actually bring us closer to Christ.
"Angels, principalities, powers" represent all the hostile supernatural forces. The supernatural force of evil arrayed in spiritual (or physical) warfare against God's people cannot separate God from them. Through Christ's loving death for us on the Cross these forces of darkness have been overwhelmingly conquered and His children have been encircled and empowered in His irrevocable unchanging Love (Eph. 1:21, 3:10, 6:12, Col. 2:10, 15, 1 Cor. 15:24).
"Things present and things to come" encompass all uncertainties of time. All human existence can be divided into these two ages. Nothing in the course of time or eternity can separate us. The day will come when this age shall end and this world will be shattered and the new eternal age will dawn. It does not matter for even when this world is finished and the new world comes the bond of His love is still the same.
[See Maclaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture. Vol. 13. Baker. Grand Rapids. 1974. pp. 209-221 for additional source.]
Love Triumphs (39) The Supernatural enemies continue in verse 39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
"Nor height, nor depth" represent the expanse of space. Height and depth may be astrological configurations that some believe can destine or influence your life. If so then configurations of the heavens can not impede God's love for you. If we interpret it as distance then there is no way you can ever be separated by too great a distance from God's love.
Least any source of threat appear overlooked, Paul adds this all inclusive statement, "Nor any other created thing."
God's love for us is victory over all possible foes. God's love is in Christ Jesus and we that are in Him are included in His love. Christ is Lord over every terror and Master of every creation. The Father's love is forever secured to us in Christ our Lord!
God's love is powerful enough to overcome any obstacle that life can throw in our path. We thus are not called on just to endure our fears or handicaps. We are to accept the things that come and turn them to good use. For we know that all things, through His leadership, can be used to help us grow in grace.
Even as THE OYSTER takes an irritation of which it cannot be rid and changes it into a beautiful pearl, we too can make something beautiful and useful out of the difficulties of life.
How free from encumbering handicaps HANDEL seemed when he gave to the world the "Hallelujah Chorus." But reports indicated that his health and fortune had bottomed out. He was tempted to give up the fight. Yet beset by such circumstances he rebounded to compose the epic Messiah. Instead of being separated from God by his misfortunes, Handel was drawn closer to the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He overwhelming conquer through Him who loved him!
CONCLUSION
Paul has reached the pinnacle of the mountain top. His great argument for the God-kind of righteousness (chapters 1-8) has scaled the utmost heights. [From here he will look out upon some special problems. The first of these will be that the Jews, God's chosen people, have largely rejected the Gospel (chapters 9-11).]
FANNY CROSBY, composer of thousands of songs, was truly more than a conqueror. When she was only 6 weeks old, faulty treatment of an eye infection resulted in lifelong blindness. By age 8, having fought and won over discouragement, she wrote this poem: Oh, what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented shall be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot-and I won't!
Instead of weeping and sighing, Fanny Crosby dedicated her blindness to God. Out of her rich Christian experience she composed numerous gospel hymns. In her testimonial song "Blessed Assurance," she seemed to forget that she was blind. Phrases like "Visions of rapture now burst on my sight" or "Watching and waiting; looking above"expressed what she called "a foretaste of glory divine."
Do you long to know and apply her secret? While many of us seek Christ for what we can get, Fanny Crosby sought Christ for what she could become through Him. She became more than a conqueror (8:37). Even through times of extreme distress, God's grace is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9), and He is lovingly working to make us more like His Son. [We all need to ask ourselves: Is our Christian life about getting or becoming? Seek Christ not for what you can get but for what you can become.]
Because of the divine and indestructible love of Christ for us, we should have confidence as we walk through life. For nothing can separate His love for us from us. So is life causing you to love Him more, to cling to Him for tightly, more faithfully? Do the natural and supernatural enemies cause you to grasp Christ ever more tightly? Whether they do or not, know for certain that we have grasped no dead thing but a living hand, a hand that grasps us tightly. It is His loving grasp (not ours) that assures us that we will never be separated from Him. We are enclosed in the arms of everlasting love.
"For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day." (1 Tim. )
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, sovereignly and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 24 & 25.
