Romans 8: 31-19

The Believer’s Triumph

31 What, then, are we to say about these things?   If God is for us, who is against us?   32 He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.   How will he not also with him grant us everything? 33 Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect?   God is the one who justifies.   34 Who is the one who condemns?   Christ Jesus is the one who died,   but even more, has been raised;   he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.   35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:

Because of you,

we are being put to death all day long;   

we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.   

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.   38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,   nor angels nor rulers,   nor things presnt nor things to come,   nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (CSB)

As a fairly normal teenager eons ago, some things popped up in my head that should have probably stayed there. Sometimes, those ideas sort of escaped the theoretical realm and entered the realm of reality. I remember one particularly bad incident. My parents told me not to do that thing, but I did it anyway. I was sure that I would not get caught, only to find that confidence fade when real life unfolded.

My mom was an English teacher, so words were her forte. When she used big words, that meant she was really ticked. When she couldn’t finish a sentence—life was about to get really, really ugly…for me.   She was not finishing sentences. 

I was filled with guilt and saw how deeply I had hurt my parents. When she took a particularly longer pause to put together the rest of her sentence, I sheepishly asked, “Mom, do you still love me?”

There was a look of horror that washed over her face and then it turned to a look of sheer determination. This is what she said, “I have never said to you that I still love you. And I never will.  To say that I ‘still love you’ implies that somewhere out there is a line where I will stop loving you. That just isn’t going to happen. I will always love you. Am I infuriated with you? Absolutely. And that’s not going away overnight here! But that doesn’t change the fact that I love you and always will. There is no “still” in my love for you, son!” 

I knew I was in big trouble. I also knew I was loved in the midst of that trouble and that that love would never run out.   

When I read through passages like Romans 8, I often get taken back to that conversation with my mom. She did such a wonderful job reflecting the love of Christ in our relationship! Here is what the Holy Spirit declares through the Apostle Paul in verses 38 and 39:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What strikes me in this passage are the words, “or anything else.” Paul lists off a bunch of things that cannot affect Christ’s love for us, but just in case he missed something he says, “or anything else.” Nothing can separate us from the love of God. 



There is no “still” in God’s love for you and for me!

Prayer

God? It’s me. Thank you for loving me and listening. Thanks for knowing me—all of me—and never saying, “I still love you.” Thanks not only for Your forgiveness, but also for your always acceptance. Now help me live in that unimaginable reality!



Amen

By Rev. Darren Stroh

Pastor

First Baptist Church of Lamar

https://www.lamarfbc.org/