Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:35-39)

Paul is reaching the close of this section in Romans in which he has explained the contents of his gospel. We have travelled with him as he plumbed to the depths of human sin, have soared with him as he explained the doctrines of justification and adoption, have borrowed his telescope as he detailed some events still to come, and listened to him as he brought several questions to our minds. We will consider the last of his questions in this sermon.

Life in the early church

As we read the list of troubles Paul mentions in verse 35 we have a description of what life was like in the early church. What did those early believers face on a daily basis? They faced tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword. Who were among the ‘they’? There were men, women and children; there were old and young; there were rich and poor; there were Jews and Gentiles; there were the educated and the uneducated.

The author of this sad list knew about the various details from both sides of the coin. At one time, he had been a fierce opponent of the Christian church. This is how he describes himself in Acts 26:10-11 when speaking to King Agrippa: ‘I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.’

Having become a Christian, he then found himself on the receiving end. This is what he writes in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, when contrasting himself with some false teachers who avoided the possibility of suffering: ‘Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one – I am talking like a madman – with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.’ Whatever else we can say about the author of these words, he had experienced what he was describing.

These examples could be extended. Suffice to say that suffering and other hardships connected to forms of persecution were experienced by the early church. It is possible to rename the Book of Acts and call it by the name, ‘The sufferings of the early church.’ We know that sufferings have recurred numerous times down the centuries, even in our own country, and at the hands of so-called Christian organisations and denominations. And sufferings are taking place today, throughout the world.

We should notice that Paul links their sufferings to what had been the experience of the psalmists and their friends in Psalm 44:22. Was Paul telling his readers to go and think about that psalm? What is striking about that psalm is that severe troubles came upon those who were very faithful to God! And in the psalm, the authors say that God could have stopped the opposition, but he did not. They prayed for deliverance, but no seemed to be the answer. Would the Christians in Rome have realised that perhaps Paul was telling them to expect the worst?

Confidence in the storm

One response that Paul could have had was to say to his readers that they could look forward to heaven after all their troubles were over. Obviously, for Paul to make such a comment would have been to tell the truth and to provide a way of spiritual comfort. Yet that is not what Paul says to them. Instead he informs his readers that in the present they are experiencing victory. Indeed, Paul is so sure that this is the case that he coined a new word to describe their success when he said that they were ‘more than conquerors’.

If there were any people on earth who knew about conquerors it was the people of Rome. After all, their city ruled the world and its armies were noted for great victories over strong enemies. The conquerors had their palace in Rome, and no doubt had led many victory parades along its streets. How could Paul say that Christians knew greater success than the rulers of Rome, and by extension any earthly conqueror?

I suppose we could say that the items mentioned by Paul – tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword – are like the badges that generals and others wear to show places of success. If we could ask them how they were successful in battle, they would give several reasons for the victories. Paul here gives the reason for success in the Christian conflict and he attributes it all to Jesus. He helps each one of his people in each area of spiritual conflict and ensures that they experience victory in it. Of course, it may not look like it to an onlooker, but then you need good vision to see what is actually happening.

Paul here is stressing the faithfulness of Jesus because he uses a past tense to describe his love. His love in the past included his experiences on the cross, when he went through each of the items in the list when he suffered there in behalf of his people. He knew at that time the reality of tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword. Now he remains faithful to each of his people as each of them goes through different and difficult situations. Surely Paul is saying that when facing opposition, think of Jesus and how faithful he was and is to his people.

Christians are more than conquerors because all their enemies together cannot get rid of the permanent union that exists between Jesus and his people. Nor can they stop them in the future sharing together in the wonderful destiny that awaits them in the restored creation. All their enemies cannot reverse the decree of permanent pardon that has been announced regarding every true Christian. As we look at some of our suffering family members on TV and read about them in magazines, remember that they are more than conquerors. And when we find ourselves in hard places, remember that we can be more than conquerors.

How would they show that they were more than conquerors? One answer is joy. We are familiar with the extraordinary description of Christians in 1 Peter 1:6-9: ‘In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’

In a sense this response is to be expected. After all, did Jesus not command his people in Matthew 5:11-12: ‘“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’

A second way of showing that they were more than conquerors is by loving those who opposed them. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:43-45: ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’ We have an example of love being shown to enemies when Peter and the other apostles witnessed to the crucifiers of Jesus on the Day of Pentecost about how they could be forgiven.

A third way of showing that they were more than conquerors was by them offering praise to God in their difficult and dangerous circumstances. Is that not what Paul and Silas did in the prison in Philippi where they had been placed by the authorities after having been beaten? The outcome was that God came in saving power to the jailor. What would have happened if Paul and Silas had moaned over their lot? Nothing would have, probably, as far as salvation was concerned. Who conquered in the prison in Philippi?

A fourth way of showing that they were more than conquerors is mentioned by Paul in Philippians 1:27-30, and that is unity: ‘Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.’ When we see soldiers separating in flight, we know that their army has been defeated. It is a sign of victory to fight together.

Confidence throughout the universe

Paul gives a different list containing existing and potential enemies in verses 38 and 39: ‘For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ His list here covers what we can call the full scope of the universe, whether of time or of space, whether of the personal or impersonal powers found within it.

Paul is aware of some of the enemies such as death and evil angels, but he is also ignorant of what may arise in the future. But he does not need to know what those other forces might be. Instead all that he needs to give confidence facing both known and unknown dangers is the commitment to his people that is found in the love of Jesus.

The apostle refers to the love of Jesus three times in this set of verses. In verse 35, he refers to the love of Jesus from the point of view of current opposition; in verse 37, he does from the perspective of the past; and in verse 39 he looks at it from the future. We could say that here we have an example of Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever.

His love in the past showed itself at the Cross when he paid the penalty for our sins; his love in the present shows itself through his intercession from the throne as he secures the spiritual strength that we need to serve him; and his love in the future will show itself when he ensures that all opposition will be defeated and he will take all his people, via resurrection and transformation, into the glory of the new heavens and new earth.

Paul tells his readers that he is certain about the security of the people of God. It shows his estimation of the ability of Jesus, of the affection of Jesus and of the aims of Jesus. We should think about them as well as we make our way through life.