Our Ultimate Security - Part 2 (Romans 8:31-39)
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we began the last section of Romans 8, in these nine verses are Paul’s concluding remarks on what he has written in this chapter. The underlying theme of this whole chapter is the eternal security of our salvation and in this conclusion to this chapter he wants to remove any doubts or fears that believers might have about their eternal security. He does this through a series of seven questions and answers where Paul assures us that no person or circumstance can ever cause a believer to lose or forfeit his or her salvation. He does this by showing that God’s eternal love for us and Christ’s eternal love for us is what eternally secures our salvation in that God chose us in eternity past because of His love for us, and He will keep us saved in the present because of His love for us, and He will bring our salvation to completion in the future when He glorifies us because of His love for us. Last week we saw this was all brought about and will be completed because of the substitutionary atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. The section and the first five questions and answers that we looked at last week focused on the love of God the Father for us that secures our salvation eternally. This morning we will look at questions six and seven and their answer and then the concluding words of Paul and we will see that these last five verses focus on the love of God the Son for us that eternally secures our salvation in the past, present, and future until it is complete. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Romans 8:31-39, the concluding section of the chapter. We will be focusing on verses 35-39 this morning, but I want to read the whole passage again to pick up the immediate context. Please follow along as I read.
Romans 8:31-39,
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31–39, NASB95)[1]
THE LOVE OF GOD THE SON (Romans 8:35-39)
QUESTIONS SIX AND SEVEN – WHAT CAN SEPARATE US (Romans 8:35-36)
Paul had clearly established in the first five questions of this passage that no one, not any person can take away or cause us to forfeit our salvation. Paul now in questions six and seven brings up a subject that may be raising some doubts in some of his readers’ minds, is it possible for circumstances to cause a believer to lose or forfeit his or her salvation. Paul will show that the love of Christ for us is so powerful that this doubt too is not possible.
Paul writes, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’” (Romans 8:35–36, NASB95)[2] This pronoun translated “who” which begins this verse is the same Greek word that begins verses 33 and 34. It is an interrogative pronoun which simply means that it is a pronoun that introduces a question and this one in Greek can mean “who” or “whom” or “what” or even “why” or “which”, it all depends on the context. Because Paul speaks then in the second question of only things and not persons it makes it clear that he is now speaking of impersonal things. The list of things that Paul gives asking if they can separate us from the love of Christ certainly are not circumstances that we would look forward to, but ones that could have a negative impact on a person’s faith and endurance. But the question that Paul is asking here is if such circumstances can cause a believer to lose or forfeit his or her salvation? Paul goes on in this passage to show that this fear is unfounded, no matter how difficult or destructive any given circumstance may be, it can never cause a true believer to forfeit or lose his or her salvation. Paul goes on to list some circumstances that a believer may face while still living in the world, the list is not meant to be exhaustive but to represent what kind of circumstance we may face in our lifetime.
Again, it must be remembered that our salvation is not a product of our own doing but is entirely the work of God in us by His grace. This is why the verse says, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” The love of Christ mentioned here understand does not refer to our love for Christ but for His love for us. No person can truly love Christ unless they have experienced the redeeming work of Christ’s love for them. The apostle John said in 1 John 4:19, “We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NASB95)[3] The love of Christ for us mentioned in this verse then represents salvation. In other words, Paul is asking in these verses if there are any circumstances that are powerful enough to cause a true believer to turn against Christ and reject his salvation in such a way that Christ will turn away from that believer and cause him to lose or forfeit his salvation. The issue that Paul is getting at here is the power and eternalness of Christ’s love for those whom He purchased with His own blood and who through His love and grace has made them children of God. Through the rest of this passage Paul will show us that the love of Christ is powerful enough to save us, to keep us saved, and bring our salvation to completion. The indestructible, eternal love of Christ for us makes our salvation eternally secure.
Paul then asks in the seventh question if any of the circumstance that he lists can separate us from Christ’s love for us. He begins this list with tribulation, the word in Greek carries the idea of being under pressure, most often pressure brought upon a person from outside themselves, it can also refer to emotional stress. Any kind of harsh adversity that man might face during his lifetime. The second circumstance the Paul lists is distress, this word in Greek is literally the narrowness of a place, the feeling of being crowded or hemmed into a tight place with nowhere to go, it is associated with anguish, it is in circumstances like this that the believer can only pray for the power to endure and trust God. The third circumstance is persecution, which always refers to suffering for the sake of Christ. Fourth, Paul lists famine which does not refer to a famine in the land, but the lack of food to support your family due to persecution and you being singled out as a Christian and discriminated against because of your faith. Voice of the Martyrs regularly has articles in their magazines of Christians who have been imprisoned for their faith and literally starved because of inadequate food. Paul lists the fifth circumstance as nakedness, this does not refer to nudity but to lack of sufficient clothing or can even mean to be destitute. Sixth, Paul lists peril which refers to being exposed to danger which could include mistreatment or even someone acting treacherously towards us. Lastly, Paul lists the sword, the word used here translated sword is actually a large dagger, a weapon that could be easily concealed, not the weapon used in military battles. When Paul uses this term, he is speaking of murder or being martyred.
Paul understood these threatening circumstances from suffering from them personally. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul makes mention of certain Jewish leaders who were boasting about their suffering for Christ, and Paul writes in verses 23-27, “Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Corinthians 11:23–27, NASB95)[4] As you can see Paul understood these trying circumstances.
Going back to Romans 8 Paul then quotes from Psalm 44:22, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Romans 8:36, NASB95)[5] Paul is saying that as Christians we should not be surprised when we must endure persecution or suffering for Christ’s sake. This has been true throughout history; people have suffered for their faith in God. The author of Hebrews writes concerning some of those who were faithful to God that they, “… experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11:36–38, NASB95)[6] If we are faithful to God, we will have to endure hardship for the sake of Christ. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12, NASB95)[7]
If someone who claims to be a Christian then later turns his back on the things of God because life becomes too difficult or lives constantly in sin, this person proves that he never was saved, that he never belonged to Christ. Such people have not lost their salvation, they have never had it, never received it. John wrote about such people in 1 John 2:19 when he wrote, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19, NASB95)[8]
THE ANSWER – WE ARE CONQUERORS IN CHRIST (Romans 8:37)
Only the true believer perseveres and this only because he has the power of God’s indwelling Spirit. His perseverance through the Spirit does not keep his salvation secure but proves that his salvation is secure. Paul answers the questions he asked in verse 35, he writes in verse 37, “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37, NASB95)[9] All these things refer to the list of circumstances that we might face in this life that he gave us in verse 35. Just as we can only love Christ because He first loved us, we can only cling to God because He holds us securely first. Because of this we can endure and survive and overcome any threatening circumstance or obstacle that Satan or the world might put in our way.
This phrase “overwhelmingly conquer” is a compound word in Greek that literally means to hyper-conquer or over-conquer. It is defined as having a complete triumph, to have a surpassing victory, to thoroughly conquer with strength left over. The believer who overwhelmingly conquers is one who has complete and surpassing victory over everyone and everything that seeks to threaten their relationship with Jesus Christ. But this surpassing, complete victory is done entirely through the power of Him who loved us, loved us so much that He gave His life for us that we might have life in Him. Because the Lord Jesus not only saves us and keeps us saved, but through Him we overwhelmingly conquer those circumstances that we face, that is more than simply enduring and surviving them, but we come out on the other side of them stronger then when we first faced them. Paul had just declared a few verses earlier in this chapter that God causes all thing to work together for our good, even the worst of circumstances, even when we suffer because of our own sinfulness and unfaithfulness. Even these our loving Lord in His grace will bring us through this with a greater understanding of our own unrighteousness and of His perfect righteousness, and of our own unfaithfulness and His steadfast faithfulness, of our great weakness and of His infinite power. We also overwhelmingly conquer because our ultimate reward will far surpass anything this world offers. That is why Paul could proclaim in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NASB95)[10] Not only that but because we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us instead of these circumstances separating us from Christ, they bring us closer to Him. As He brings us through His grace and glory will rest on us and we will grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will grow in our understanding of His will for us and we will grow to understand the sufficiency of His grace for us and towards us. What or who will separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing and no one because in the power of Christ’s love for us we overwhelmingly conquer anything that would separate us. The infinite love of Jesus Christ for us is an unbreakable bond that eternally secures our salvation until its completion at our glorification.
CONCLUSION – NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US (Romans 8:38-39)
The concluding words of Paul in this chapter is a beautiful summary of what he has just said. Paul wants to assure his readers that what he has taught them he himself is fully convinced that it is true. Firstly, he is convinced because of the nature of salvation, which God had revealed to him, the Good News of salvation that he has carefully and clearly presented in the first 8 chapters of this book, starting with the bad news of our sinful state and then the good news of God’s plan of redemption for sinful man that we can be declared righteous by the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Secondly, not only was it revealed to him, but also it is his personal testimony. He is convinced because he has experienced most of the things mentioned and they did not separate him from Christ. So, he was convinced by both revelation and experience. Paul knew that nothing and no one could separate him from the love of Christ, he was eternally secure in that love. He said this same thing to Timothy as he is saying to his readers, he wrote in 2 Timothy 1:12, “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12, NASB95)[11]
Paul then begins to list what he is convinced cannot separate us from God’s love for us in Christ. He begins his list with death, something that is the last thing we experience in our earthly life. Paul knew that even man’s great enemy death could not separate him from our Lord Jesus because He had conquered death through His death and resurrection. Death no longer holds any fear for the one who has trusted in Christ for salvation, death is just a doorway from this life into our next life which is eternal. Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that, “…we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8, NASB95)[12] Next Paul lists life as something that cannot separate us from Christ. We might not think of this as something that could separate us, but it is in this life that we face all those things that Paul had listed earlier. But because we have eternal life in Christ, nothing in this temporal life can separate us from Christ.
Third, Paul lists angels as not being able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. Paul is referring to the holy angels because he lists principalities next which refer to fallen angels. That God’s holy angels could or would try to separate us from God is impossible, Paul is showing us that there is nothing that can separate us. Next, he lists principalities which is used elsewhere in Scripture to refer to demons. Paul for most of this list is using couplets of opposites demons would be opposite from angels. With that understood, Paul is saying that no supernatural created being good or evil has the power to sever our relationship to Christ.
Seventh, Paul list powers by itself, but this word in Greek in the plural has two meanings and possibly Paul means both. First, it can mean miracles or mighty deeds, and second, it is also used to refer to persons in positions of authority and power. Paul may have had both of these in mind here. Neither a person in authority (government) or miracles or mighty deeds can sever our relationship to Christ.
Eighth and ninth in Paul’s list is height and depth, these were used as astrological terms in Greek and could refer to the high point or zenith of a star’s path, and to the lowest point. If this was Paul’s intent, then he was saying that Christ’s love secures a believer from the beginning to the end of life’s path. Or he could have been referring to the infinity of space which is endless in every direction and not even that can separate us from God’s love for us, no distance is too great that it separates us from the omnipresent God.
Then to leave absolutely no doubt as to our eternal security Paul finishes with nor any other created thing. God is the only uncreated being, so everyone and everything else is excluded. Paul is saying that he is fully convinced that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God secured our salvation in eternity past and Christ’s love shown through His substitutionary atonement for us secures it in the present and all future time and throughout all eternity. Just as Paul had declared in chapter 3 that there was none righteous, not even one, with that same absolute certainty he makes no exceptions in regard to the believer’s eternal security in Christ.
CONCLUSION:
Take great comfort in Paul’s words, rest assured that your salvation is eternally secure in Christ’s love. Do you ever have to fear losing or forfeiting your salvation? No, Paul has made it abundantly clear in this chapter that what God has set in motion in eternity past when He chose you by His foreknowledge He will carry to completion in eternity future and that eternal security is assured because of the love of God the Father for us and the love of God the Son for us. Let me close again with a quote from John MacArthur , “Because our God is infinite in power and love, ‘we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?”’ (Hebrews 13:6). Because our God is infinite in power and love, we can say with David, ‘When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee’ (Psalm 56:3) and ‘In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for Thou alone, O Lord, dost make we to dwell in safety’ (Psalm 4:8). Because our God is infinite in power and love, we can say with Moses, ‘The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms’ (Deuteronomy 33:27). Because our God is infinite in power and love we can say with the writer of Hebrews, ‘This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast’ (Hebrews 6:19).”[13] Brothers and Sisters in Christ, you never need to doubt your eternal security, it is assured because it is secure in the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Give way of salvation for those who do not have this assurance.)
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8. Chicago, IL : Moody Press, 1991.