CONTEXT:
THE BOOK:
In point of time, Romans was written after the Thessalonian and Corinthian letters and Galatians, and before Colossians and Ephesians. This letter to the Roman Christians, composed of both Jew and Gentile, is Paul's gospel manifesto. Due to this mix of Jews and Gentiles and thier cultural differences, tension existed between the two groups which Paul set to reconcile. He reminds Jews that they are damned without Christ, just as any Gentile without Christ (1-3); that it is spiritual descent and not physical descent from Abraham that matters (4-5); that they are as much a descendant of the sinner Adam (5:12-21); and that the Law does not save (7&10). Paul reminds the Gentiles that they, through the gospel, which is from the Jews (Jesus), were grafted into Judaism and dare not be anti-Semitic (11); and that they must respect the practices of thier Jewish brothers and sisters (14). The underlying point is this - that all persons come to God on the same terms, no matter what or who they are; and that Jesus Christ alone is the answer to all of humanity's sin and transgression against a holy God. The letter's overwhelming theme is faith in Christ as the only means of God's acceptance of man. Down through the history of the church, it has influenced countless numbers of people - such as Augustine, Luther, Bunyan, and scores of others not so well known.
THE CHAPTER:
After describing his own battle with his flesh over sin (you mean Paul sinned as an Apostle?), Paul ends chapter 7 with this exclamation (v.24, 25a) - "Wretched man that I am! Who shall set me free from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" He then opens chapter 8 with - "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" and goes on to describe our deliverance from bondage to sin, and the victory we have over sin in Christ, in the last half of the chapter.
EXEGESIS:
INTRODUCTION:
The verses we are focusing on form an ancient literary structure based on inverted parallelism, called a chiasm: Nothing can separate us from Christ's love, no matter what it is, which makes believers more than conquer their opposition (v.37). Verse 37 is the center of this chiasm, and would have been particularly significant to the ancient reader. Israel believed they would be saved in the FUTURE judgement because God was for them; here Paul is assuring believers that they triumph NOW because of what God has ALREADY DONE in Christ on their behalf.
VERSE 35:
Paul asks the question - who shall separate us from the love of Christ? What instrument can any person use to sever us from the One who has given His life for us - His own? Paul lists seven possible instruments:
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TRIBULATION -
The word in Greek means to be afflicted or burdened. What believer is unafflicted or unburdened with the cares of this life? Though we enjoy the love and nearness of God in Christ, we need to be honest - life sucks (sorry - this is the height of my expletives I will use. It is the only fitting expression sometimes) a lot of the time. Oh, I know of the beauty of creation and the special love that exists between believers. But let's face it - life holds many aspects we all could do without, that is, from our lowly viewpoint (another study topic perhaps?). I hate my car payment, but I need the tranporation. I don't like trying to keep up with inflation just to survive. I don't like the fact I have a daughter, whom I love and feel I have given all I could to, that won't speak to me. But you know what? These things are a fulfillment of what I see as a kind of guarantee (perhaps a promise?) right from the mouth of our Lord recorded for us in John 16:33 - "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world." So can tribulations separate us from Christ's love? Certainly not! They serve to remind us that our Savior said it would be like this.
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DISTRESS -
This word is a derivative of two other words. The first describes a narrowness, as from obstacles being close about. The second speaks of space, like that of an empty room or the open space of land. Put together, the word presents us with that condition of becoming closed in on all sides, suffocated. Now I believe the "worst case senario" of this condition is that psychosis that plagues me if I am in a small room standing shoulder to shoulder with other people. You sense their tensions and their own disdain mixed with your own. It's a terrible feeling that sometimes makes you just want to scream. Life, too, can be like that. We all have people in our lives whose sole purpose seems to be to suffocate us, making us want to scream. Can distress, then, separate us from Christ? In response to his early victories over his enemies, David spoke a song of deliverance to the LORD and credits his victories in verse 7: "In my distress I called upon the LORD, yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help came into His ears." David, again in his evening prayer of Psalm 4 begins in verse one with the declaration "Thou hast made room for my distress..." Isaiah sings a song of praise for God's favor in Isaiah 25, proclaiming in verse 4 - "For Thou hast been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat..." The record of God's actions in our times of distress stands - our distresses serve to bring us closer to God and Christ as we call out to Him for deliverance.
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PERSECUTION -
There is an old story told of an itinerant (traveling) preacher who, riding on his horse along desolate back country roads, began to become distressed (see above) because no one had hurled insults at him or hurt him physically for quite some time. He worried that his commitment to the preacing of the gospel had started to wane, so he began to cry out (audibly) to God for help. Suddenly, from where he knew not, a rock was slung at him, causing him to fall from his horse. He responded in praise to God for being found yet still worthy of suffering for the gospel. We should also, if we be not ashamed of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, know what it is like to be scorned even by those we thought above such behavior, those we might call friends or family. On the night Jesus was betrayed, during the Last Supper, He made this statement to the disciples - "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ' A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you..."(John 15:18-20). Jesus again telling us the realities of the Christian life. Jesus made it clear that if a person is to take possesion of the free gift of eternal life, he or she must first count the cost, for it is sometimes very costly (Luke 14:25-35). But does this cost separate us from the love of God? No! Indeed, it brings us into fellowship with Christ's own suffering on our behalf (Philippians chapter 3).
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FAMINE and NAKEDNESS -
I link these two together based on the old addage, "food and clothing", used so often in our contemporary conversation. If a person or persons should take away our food or our clothing, or the means by which we provide ourselves these things, or if perhaps circumstances has caused us to have little food and improper clothing, does this indicate a separation from God's love, or even a lessening of His love? I take you to the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus addressed this very thing. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus begins His teaching on our need for food and clothing beginning in verse 25, ending with these words in verses 32-34: "For all these things the Gentiles (meaning non-believers to us) eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - - Do I hear an "AMEN!" to that? What Jesus is addressing is our priorities. It is increasingly difficult in our day and time to get away from the world's definition of needs, when it is so hell-bent on telling us what we need in order that they can satisfy more of their own lusts. It is the nature of the Lie. It is the (unfortunately) successful ploy to turn our focus, our gaze, off of the One who matters most. With all of its lies pelting us like a dense hailstorm that never ends, our perception of what we "need" has been seriously distorted. These distortions are even prolific in the church as congregations plunge themselves into debt because their ministry "needs" a larger facility because attendance is way up. God needs no increase in space to pursue His plan. We forget that it is His plan, not ours. But we adopt the specific to accomplish the general, as if there are specific questions God does not address specifically in His Word. Our judgement / salvation is likened to a court of law - this is why God is described as just. In a court of law, cases are won and lost based on precedent - similar cases decided upon in a past court. If there is not a specific answer, there is a precedent set in the Bible for any possible question or situation ANY person can dream up. But we tire of the effort and time it sometimes takes to find such answers in God's Living Word. We often reconcile ourselves to a false trust in ourselves about such things, only to find in the end we were wrong, usually at a great cost that even outweighs the direct consequences. Our "needs", as defined in the Bible, are few, and they are simple. And God has committed Himself to provide for those needs (see verses 25-30 of Matthew 6). God wants our priority to be Himself, not our needs then Him. He likens our relationship to Him as a marriage. How many marriages today fail because the focus is on "needs" not being met, or things not as we dreamed they would be, instead of a focus on Love between spouses supernaturally blended into a new and unique creature? Of all the things of this earth, this life, I love my wife far more than anything. Why? Because she is perfect, and I am perfect, and everthing else is perfect? No (though she is
), it is because I recognize that I am one part of something very special, wrought in the heart of Almighty God. And that is the key - it is God's sovereignty that brings strength, stability, permanence, and joy to our marriage. The more my focus is on my wife, the more my focus is upon my Lord. The more my focus is on my Lord, the more my focus is upon my wife. They are inseperable, because the love I share with my wife is the same love I share with my Savior. If I am failing with Him, I am failing with her, and vice-versa. With such a focus of love upon Christ, how do any needs, by any definition, compare? Will He not, the sovereign of the universe, fill those needs? By His own promise, He will. And God cannot, does not lie.
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PERIL -
This word in the Greek speaks of uncertain danger. When danger is certain, when we pretty much know what to expect, we are able somewhat to brace, or prepare, ourselves for what comes. But most of us fear the unknown. Our imaginations, fueled by intense and uncontrolled media, know no boundaries. We either take what we see in our entertainment to be reality, or we take the reality of world events and predict personal scenarios that have little support of truth or fact. But things look bleak at best most of the time, and so it becomes natural to fear what we do not know may affect us. And, it can be said that sometimes these fears are legitimate. But does it indicate that God has been separated, or will separate Himself, from His love for us?
Let's turn to Psalm 139, v. 1-6: "O LORD, Thou hast searched me an known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all. Thou hast enclosed me behind and before, and laid Thy hand upon me." In God's sovereign love for us, He knows our past, our present, and each moment of our future. What is unknown to us in well known to God, and He watches and protects, as He uses all of our circumstances for our good (Romans 8:28).
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SWORD -
This is a reference to martyrdom. The word in Greek speaks to a punishment or infliction resulting from a controversy - such as a judicial punishment or war. What are we involved in, if not a dire war for the souls of men? Indeed, our very own souls? But even if our armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) should fail us and we are killed for the sake of the gospel of God, does it indicate a separation from God's love? No, for in such an instance, though it should never be sought, one proves his or her devotion and allegiance to Almighty God. And in this death has no sting (1Corinthians 15:55), but what awaits us on the other side is certain glory.
VERSE 36:
In this verse, Paul quotes from Psalm 44:22, a verse applied by second century rabbis to martyrdom. This inforces the previous view of the last item mentioned in verse 35 - the sword. Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Faith. It reminds us of those who have gone before us who lived with not only the struggles of surviving in this life, but of those whose practiced faith led to horrible persecution and martyrdom. Elsewhere, we are instructed to put to death daily the deeds (or desires) of the body (that is, our distorted definition of our needs)(Romans 8:13), with sometimes as much violence (as in determination, not physical) as one might be subjected to in martyrdom. Old Puritan writings are filled with such ideas of the need to treat our sin with utter "violence" - reminiscent of God's hatred toward sin.
VERSE 37:
Finally, the triumph. None of these things shall, or can, separate us from the love of Christ. For Christ's love for us has been proclaimed at its height in His shed blood on our behalf on the Cross of Calvary. Like every other promise of God, His love for us shall endure, even when our love for Him isn't there. His love for us demonstrated in the gift of His Son was not, and never will be, conditional. Anything and everything that we fear may demonstrate that Christ's love is not present has been covered - there is no room left for doubt.
FINAL NOTE:
I did not include verses 38 and 39 in this study for good reason. These verses widen the scope of possible things that might be viewed as able to separate us from the love of God. They go beyond our here and now to dimensions we cannot see, to the world to come. My desire, my hope, is that you have a stronger sense of the power of God's love for you in your own personal daily grunge through life. If so, or even if not so, open your Bible and read these last two verses. Try and gain an even larger sense of the awesomeness of our God. If you do not have a Bible, write me and I will send you the verses, perhaps even a Bible. Or, you may use the references on my
Cyber Bookshelf to help you.
As much as this study may have helped you, I also have a need to hear from you. Please read the note below and may God bless you with a renewed sense of His presence!
