Who will separate us?

Romans 8:26-39 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰ and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² 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? ³³ Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; ³⁴ 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. ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ 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.”

³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ 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.

If God is for us, who is against us? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? The apparent answers to these questions would seem to be no one. Yet that is not completely true. There is one who is against us. I am not speaking of other people, but rather of our adversary, the devil. 1 Peter 5:8 says:     Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.       We are not to fear the devil. Jesus Christ has overcome Him. Through Christ and the cross we too have and can overcome the devil. Yet although he is a defeated enemy, he is still a dangerous one. In John 8:44, Jesus speaking of the devil says: He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.        One of the greatest and most dangerous deceptions of and about the devil, is for people to not believe he exists. Again it is not that we fear the devil, but to ignore or not acknowledge his existence and his motives is a dangerous deception. Jesus says: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)       The devil then is an enemy or an adversary who seeks to steal, kill and destroy; he seeks to devour.

The verse in 1 Peter says: “seeking whom he may devour.” The devil needs permission to devour. He has no power over those who are in Christ because Christ has overcome by the cross and the resurrection. That leads then to the second question; Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  In the text Paul says:   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.      There is a famous quote that says: “We have met the enemy and it is us.” Unfortunately this is too often true in the lives of believers. It really is only “us” who can separate us from the love of Christ. It is “us” who give the devil permission to devour, to steal and destroy the abundance that Christ came to give. When we believe the lies of the devil, whether they a whispers or roars, whether they are small seeds of fear and doubt or temptations to question God’s word and His commandments, we give the devil permission to devour. When we choose to believe a lie rather than the truth of God’s word we become subject to the consequences of our disobedience. We separate ourselves from the love of Christ. Nothing else can separate us from God’s love. It is not sin that separates us. God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8)  God chose to not let sin separate us from Him.

The text says: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;    God doesn’t cause the evil and the bad things that happen to us. Some of them are caused by “us”, as we believe the lie and give permission. We ourselves cause many of the things that happen in our lives. Other things are caused by or the result of living in a fallen world, a world which is affected by the deceiver, the devourer. God doesn’t cause the bad things that happen to us or around us, but He will use them for our good. If we will look to Him, believe His word, if we will receive the love of God demonstrated in the cross of Christ, we will be conformed to the image of Christ. We will overcome as He has overcome.

We do have an enemy, an adversary and we should be aware that he exists. It’s not that we focus on him in fear, rather we, as Hebrews 12:1-2 says:    lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.     We see an illustration of what it means to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus in the account of Peter walking on water in Matthew 14. Verses 29-31 say:   Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him           As long as Peter kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, his faith was perfected and he, like Jesus, was able to walk on the water, through the storm. When he instead, believed the lies, the roaring wind, of the roaring lion, he was briefly separated from Christ. His failure though did not separate him from Jesus. Jesus was still there, He never moved. As soon as Peter cried out, immediately Jesus took hold of him. He was again secure, perfected in Christ.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? If God is for us, who is against us? It really is up to us. If we will keep our eyes fixed on Christ, we will have perfect faith, nothing will separate us, nothing can be against us. If we fail and look away believing a lie, still He is there, when we cry out, He will reach out. We will overcome through Him who overcame.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, for the demonstration of love through the cross, for the victory over my enemy, my adversary which I have through You. Amen