Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons


Romans

The love of God. 8:35-39

[Seed logo] Introduction
      Paul's now concludes his argument concerning the righteousness that is through faith, apart from works of the law. He does so with powerful and encouraging words. God's love for his people is infinite and unchangeable and nothing in all creation can separate believers from it.

The passage
      v35-37. "Can anything separate us from the love of Christ?" Paul's answer is that no external pressure can separate us from Christ's love. Paul then notes from Psalm 44:22 that persecution and trouble has always pressed in on God's people, but through all this the child of God is victorious. Such pressure cannot break us away from Christ. A believer's security rests on their relationship with Christ, a relationship dependent on faith in Christ. So, our standing before God is not dependent upon our love, obedience, perseverance or faithfulness, but rather it rests on what Christ has done for us. At this moment we stand perfected before the throne of the Almighty God. We are eternally secure and are being daily renewed into the image we already possess in Christ. This is not our doing, but rather is a gift of grace from a loving and merciful God.
      v38-39. Paul now becomes more personal as he details all the pressures that move against us and try to separate us from Christ. Paul is convinced that none of these pressures can separate us from God's love, expressed and exercised through the person of Christ Jesus.
      The pressures are presented in pairs:
          i] "Death". This certainly can't separate us from our friendship with Christ. In fact, it is the passage by which that relationship is consummated. Nor can "life". All its distractions, pressures, pains, persecutions, enticements...... even these can't break the bond we have with God in Christ.
          ii] "Angels nor demons". No supernatural power, either good or evil, can break the bond of love.
          iii] "The present nor the future". Neither pressures of this day, nor of tomorrow, no matter how great, can affect our standing before God.
          iv] "The powers of the heights and the powers of the depths". These are spiritual powers, the powers of the stars, astrological powers. Even they cannot break our bond with Christ.
          v] "Anything else in all creation". This completes the list. Nothing in all creation can interfere with God's love for those who, through their relationship with Christ by faith, are his for eternity.

The encouragement of God's love
      "This is the last step in the climax of the apostle's argument; the very summit of the mount of confidence, whence he looks down on his enemies as powerless, and forward and upward with full assurance of a final and abundant triumph. No one can accuse, no one can condemn, no one can separate us from the love of Christ." These words were written by Hodge in his commentary on Romans and sum up the thrust of Paul's words. Compare Jesus' words in John 10:27-30.
      Haldane in his commentary writes, "the feelings of the believer, viewed in Christ, as described in v35-39, form a striking contrast with what is said at the end of the former chapter, where he is viewed in himself. In the contemplation of himself as a sinner, he mournfully exclaims, 'O wretched man that I am!' In the contemplation of himself as justified in Christ, he boldly demands, Who shall lay anything to my charge? Who is he that condemns? Well may the person who loves God defy the universe to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus their Lord. Although at present the whole creation groans and travails in pain together, although even Paul groans within himself, yet all things are working together for his good. The Holy Spirit is interceding for him in his heart; Jesus Christ is interceding for him before the throne; God the Father has chosen him for eternity, has called him, has justified him, and will finally crown him with glory. The apostle began this chapter by declaring that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus; he concludes it with the triumphant assurance that there is no separation from God's love. The salvation of believers is complete in Christ, and their union with him indissoluble."
      By the grace of God through faith we stand perfected in God's sight. Paul started out this chapter by telling us that therefore there is no condemnation for those who are "in Christ" Jesus. He ends by telling us that therefore there can be no separation from the love of God for those who are "in Christ" Jesus. Good news indeed.

Discussion
      Paul affirms the solid and uncompromising love of God that is ours through faith in Jesus. Discuss circumstances in life that have taken you to the brink of your faith. When have you felt less "than conquerors"?


Notes

Textual notes   Abbreviations,   Bibliography
 
      Paul's letter to the Romans is an exposition of the gospel set against law-bound believers (mainly Jewish believers - judaizers, the circumcision party) who regard submission to the law (primarily the law of Moses) as the means of maintaining and/or advancing their standing before God. For Paul, this heresy (nomism / pietism) not only undermines the substance of the gospel, but actually undermines a believer's standing before God, a standing which rests wholly on the covenant faithfulness of God appropriated through faith in the person and work of Christ.
      Paul, having stated his thesis in 1:16-17, that right-standing in the sight of God (covenant compliance) is appropriated through faith, proceeds in 1:18-2:11 to establish the universality of sin, reminding self-righteous Jewish (law-bound) believers ("the weak", 15:1) that they too are infected by the stain of sin, 2:1-5, the consequence of which is divine condemnation, 2:6-11. Then, in 2:12-29, Paul examines the place of the law in the righteous judgment of God, making the point that those Jewish believers who have retained their standing under the law, even though circumcised, actually break the law and thus face the curse of the law and the "wrath and fury" of God's condemnation. In 3:1-8 Paul answers two objections to his rather negative view of the standing of Jewish believers under the law, namely, that he devalues the covenant/law and that he promotes libertarianism. Then, in 3:9-20, Paul drives home his conclusion, namely that the human condition of universal sin and its consequence is not avoided by submission to the law, for the law only serves to make sin more sinful. In 3:21-30 Paul draws a conclusion from his argument so far. When it comes to the covenant faithfulness of God, whether in judgment or vindication, there is no "distinction" between a person under the law, or a person outside the law. All have sinned and stand condemned, and all who believe are justified, and this because they rest, not on their own faithfulness, but the faithfulness of Christ - his "sacrifice of atonement." So, for believing Jews, like Paul, there is no ground for "boasting" about their faithfulness under the law, for a person is judged in the right with God ("justified") by faith and not by obedience. From 3:31 to 4:25, Paul explains, with reference to the life of Abraham, how his gospel of right-standing in the sight of God by faith does not "nullify" the law, rather, it "fulfills" the law; faith "fulfills / completes" the justification to which the law of Moses pointed. Then in 5:1-11 Paul draws together the consequence of his argument so far, namely, a believer's "reconciliation with God."
      Having dealt with the business of justification, of right-standing before God, Paul, in 5:12-8:39 examines the business of living right before God, of possessing the fullness of life which belongs to those who are in Christ. In 5:12-21 Paul explains how Christ's saving death has brought eternal life to all humanity by overcoming the curse of Adam's sin and then in 6:1-23 he explains how "newness of life", right-living before God, apart from the law, is expressed in the life of a believer as a natural consequence of their right-standing before God. In 7:1-25, Paul examines the place of the law in the Christian life. First, in v1-6, he explains that a Christian is no longer "under the law", is "discharged from the law", has "died to the law." Then in v7-12 he "deals with a possible misunderstanding by repudiating the suggestion that the law is sin, asserting that, far from being sin, it is that which makes him recognize sin", Cranfield. In v13-25 he goes on to answer the question, "did that which is good (the law) become death to me?" That is, is the law responsible for our death? The answer is, sin is responsible for our death; the law serves only to highlight our sinful state. Paul then illustrates this condition in v14ff.
      In chapter 8 Paul explains that justified believers, though plagued with sin and the troubles of this world, no longer face condemnation, defeat or separation from God (the covenant privileges of the true people of God). Paul begins, in v1-4, by restating the truth that in Christ Jesus, through his death on our behalf, we are free from the condemnation of sin and free from the oppression of the law and thus are free to live for God. Therefore, v5-11, the believer is faced with two alternatives in the Christian life, a natural alternative and a spiritual alternative. We may strive to fulfill the law and find ourselves controlled by sin, or we may rest in faith on the renewal of the Spirit and find ourselves beginning to live out the righteousness we posses in Christ. In v12-17 Paul explains what it means to be led by the Spirit in the Christian life. Paul then moves in v18-30 to compare the present existence of believers with the future glory that awaits us. There is difficulty in the present, but this cannot be compared with the coming glory. Finally, in v31-39, Paul summarizes the full blessings of the gospel that belong to those who live by faith. As Denney put it, "the Christian's faith in Providence is an inference from Redemption."
      The summary statement of the consequent blessings that flow to the children of faith, 8:31-39, which blessings are a product of the covenant fidelity of God expedited through the redemptive work of Christ, is outlined in a series of rhetorical questions shaped into two units, v31-34, 35-39. Having established that sin cannot separate us from God, v31-34, Paul, with his final two-part rhetorical question in v35, sets out to establish that neither circumstance (suffering, "trials and tribulations", Best), v35-37, nor any hostile powers (death, persecution and the like, spirit-powers, terrors now and into the future, nor the "influence of the stars in their courses", Hunter, in fact, "nothing in all creation", CEV), v38-39, can separate us from God.

v35
      tiV "Who" - what. With the verb "will separate", setting up a question with a negative response. Impersonal "what" is best, even though the pro. is masc. Paul is simply following the pattern established in v33 and 34; "can anything separate us", CEV.
      thV agaphV tou Cristou "the love of Christ" - The variant, "love of God", may well be original. The genitive is obviously subjective ("God's/Christ's love for us") and not an objective genitive (our love for God/Christ).
      qliyiV (iV ewV) "trouble" - tribulation, oppression ("pressure", BAGD). "Trouble" best expresses the sense of this word.
      stenocwria (a) "hardship" - distress, difficulties. From the sense "narrow / confined", so "distress", Barclay.
      limoV (oV) "famine" - hunger. "Lacking food", Phillips; "going hungry", Cassirer.
      gimnothV (htoV) "nakedness" - being without clothing. "Poverty", TEV.
      kindunoV (oV) "danger" - danger, peril. "Being beset by danger", Cassirer.
      macaira (a) "sword" - sword, dagger, knife. "The threat of force of arms", Phillips; "violence", NJB.

v36
      The quote from Psalm 44:22 serves to indicate that trouble is the lot of God's people.
      oJti "-" - Introducing a quote.
      eJneken + gen. "for [your] sake" - because of. The position is emphatic. Expressing the reason for something, here "for Christ's sake", cf. 2Cor.4:11. "On thine account", Berkeley; "for you we face death", CEV; "they kill us in cold blood because they hate you", Peterson.
      qanatoumeqa (qanatow) pres. pas. "we face death" - we are being put to death. The present tense is durative, expressing a constant ongoing action. Probably in the sense of "we daily face danger."
      elogisqhmen (logizomai) aor. pas. "we are considered" - we are counted, reckoned [as]. The aorist possibly expresses "an accomplished fact", Morris.
      wJV + acc. "as" - Used for the Heb. predictive accusative, cf. Morris.
      sfaghV (h) gen. "[sheep] to be slaughtered" - [sheep] of slaughter. The genitive is descriptive; sheep "that are destined for slaughter", destined for the butcher. "That are going to be slaughtered", TEV.

v37
      alla "not" - but. Adversative, probably strong, so "none of this fazes us", Peterson.
      en toutoiV tasin "in all these things" - Answering the question in v35. In Christ, we overcome all the circumstances of life; "in everything that happens to us", TH, cf. Turner ("with regard to"). The sense may also be "despite all these things", Bruce, "in spite of all these things", Moule.
      uJpernikwmen (uJpernikaw) pres. "we are more than conquerors" - we are completely victorious, excessively victorious, "supervictors", Fitzmyer. Hapax legomenon, once only use in NT. Expressing something more than a complete victory; "not only to overcome these things, but to emerge triumphant over them", Barclay. The NIV, following the AV which followed the Geneva Bible, best makes the point.
      tou agaphsantoV (agapaw) aor. part. "him who loved [us]" - the one having loved. Participle as a substantive. Of course, the reference may be to either the Father or to Jesus. If Christ, the aorist may be referring to a singe event, namely, his death on our behalf, cf. Murray, Schreiner, if God, the aorist may refer to "God's love expressed in the gift of his Son", Dunn.

v38
      gar "for" - Expressing cause/reason.
      pepeismai (peiqw) perf. pas. "I am convinced" - I have been persuaded. Perfect expressing a past conviction which persists into the present, "have been and continue to be convinced"; "I know for sure."
      oJti "that" - Introducing a dependent statement of perception.
      outi "neither" - Repeated 10 times.
      zwh (h) "life" - living, way of life. "Life", in the terms of existence, as opposed to "death", is all that may be intended; "I am convinced that there is nothing that is able to turn God's love away from us; it makes no difference whether we die or whether we live", cf. TH. Obviously, "live" in terms of the troubles of life, "life and its dangers or temptations", Fitzmyer.
      oute aggeloi oute dunameiV "neither angels nor demons" - neither angels nor rulers. The angels may be good or evil angels and the "rulers" my be spiritual ("principalities", AV; "superhuman beings", Barclay) or earthly rulers. "Spirit-powers" may well cover Paul's intended meaning for this pair of words.
      enestwta (enisthmi) perf. part. "the present" - things having been present. This participle is balanced with the present participle "being about to", which follows. Both function as substantives and seem to refer to the tyranny of time, "the present age with its instability and the future age with its uncertainty", Fitzmyer, although the "future" is most likely the immediate future and its "uncertainties", Harrison, ie. what tomorrow may bring. Neither can hinder the outreach of God's love.
      dunameiV (iV ewV) "any powers" - powers. The word is used of "mighty works / miracles" on earth and of heavenly beings (good or evil) influencing world events. There is some evidence (Byzantine text) that the word should go with "rulers" = "principalities and powers" = cosmic forces of evil, but the textual evidence is limited. None-the-less, Cranfield suggest this sense should be accepted given Paul's "rush of impassioned thought." Such a "rush" of "thought" could also tie "powers" with "height and depth"; "no power of the heights and no power of the depths", Barclay. Celestial powers may well be in Paul's mind (ie. an astrological reference, cf. Morris, Fitzmyer, Jewett, etc.). Certainly the supposed authority of the stars was commonly in mind at the time, so the "influence of the stars in their courses", Hunter, has much going for it.

v39
      uJywma oute baqoV "height nor depth" - height, exaltation ...., nor depth. See above.
      tiV ktisiV eJtera "anything else in all creation" - any other kind of creature. Probably a wide generalization is intended, "any created thing", Moo, Barrett, .., "nothing in all creation", CEV. Yet, Paul may intend something more specific, eg., no other spiritual power, "conceivable being, even invisible or unknown to human beings", Fitzmyer, cf. Dunn, "any other cosmic factors", Jewett; even "any other mode of being beside those just enumerated", Cranfield.
      cwrisai (cwrizw) aor. inf. "to separate" - to remove. Complementary infinitive, completing the sense of "will be able." "Is able to part us from", Barrett.
      thV agaphV tou qeou "the love of God" - A subjective genitive, ie. God's love for us.
      thV en "in" - that which (= love of God) in [Christ Jesus the Lord of us]. Presumably "the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord", TEV. God's love for us (his covenanted love to the children of faith) is expedited by means of our relationship with (in union with) Christ through faith, cf. Dunn. Also possibly "the Christ event", Fitzmyer, ie., "the cross", Morris; or God's giving of his Son, Moo; or simply "that it is Christ who reveals and defines the love of God", Jewett.


[Printer icon]   A print friendly justified 10pt Times New Roman version sized to fit a 1 page A4, or 2 page A5 format.
 
The Lectionary. Sequential Lectionary readings and sermons.
[Pumpkin Cottage]
Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources
Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons
www.lectionarystudies.com