Frequently good friends make a promise to always be there for each other, a “best friend for life”. Part of most wedding vows is the promise to love and cherish “till death do us part”. Yet how often this is not the case. Sometimes a husband or wife will walk out on their spouse and leave them, or a friend, often for some unknown reason, becomes distant and no longer interested in being that friend they once were. This can be very painful, and the hurt sometimes never really heals. Trust has been broken, and it becomes difficult to put confidence in other people, sometimes even in God. We might question whether, if the going gets rough, God will also abandon us like our spouse or friend did, or maybe if we’re just not good enough at all times, whether He will toss us aside. In our Scripture passage today, Paul shares with us a very precious promise, that should put an end to any such worries that believers might have.
In these closing verses of chapter 8 of the Book of Romans, Paul reassures us that nothing that can ever happen to us, nothing we will ever go through, will separate us from God and His love for us. He tells us here that none of the things we go through, no matter how difficult or dangerous, can separate us from the love of Jesus (vs. 35). God has a profound love for His people. No matter what happens to us, no matter where we are, we can never be lost to God’s love.
These verses spoke a personal testimony, as Paul had personally survived assaults of these types, and emerged triumphantly through Christ’s power and protection. Paul’s life was not an easy one, as he was constantly under attack by both Jew and Gentile. However, he knew that nothing, not even his own failings, would ever separate him from the love Jesus had for him. Nothing can separate us from Jesus, even if our life is ended by the executioner’s sword for our faith. Paul, who faced even that, knew this truth.
God’s love for us is unconditional. Too often if we slip up or are going through a difficult time, a spouse, family, or friends may turn their back on us. That is not the case with God. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, nothing can ever break our bond to Him (John 10:29). Paul calls us “more than conquerors” (vs. 38). That means that we over-conquer, to conquer completely, without any real threat to our personal health or life. As believers, our enemies can hurt our physical body, even kill us, but they cannot harm our soul (Matthew 10:28). No person in a position of authority, or demon in the spiritual realm, can separate us from God and His love (vs. 38).
The hardships, distresses, and persecutions we go through may cause some to think they have been abandoned by God. Paul tells us that it is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us proves His unconquerable love. Jesus suffered so that we will never have to experience separation from the love of God (vs. 39).
God doesn’t always keep us from suffering. However He will walk with us through the hardships. We have the Lord’s assurance here in His Word that nothing can separate us from His love. That includes anything we find in life’s path, from beginning to end. It is Jesus’ strength and His power that already secured our victory. We just need to believe it.
In closing, the Lord wants us to know that no matter how lonely we may ever feel, no matter how many people may walk out on us and forsake us, He never will. No matter what we go through, the Lord Jesus is always there with and for us.
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