Romans 8:35-39 “Fathomless”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³⁵What will separate us from the love of Christ? Affliction or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶Just as it is written that, “On Your behalf we are being killed all the day; we are accounted as sheep of slaughter.” ³⁷But in all these things we are being more than conquerors through the One loving us. ³⁸For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers ³⁹nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which [is] in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

This is the pinnacle of the pinnacle. I know many others have already said it, but it just simply doesn’t get any better than this. I’ve spent several weeks just hovering over these verses. Other passages I’ve studied left me with that feeling like I need to take off my shoes, but with this one, it feels like the only appropriate response is simply silence. Silence just sitting in the presence of God.

Words utterly fail.

On the other hand, there are thoughts I do want to record. I guess I’ll simply write them feeling like I’m holding out a teaspoon of water standing on the shore of the ocean.

Love. God’s love. Speaking of oceans! How utterly amazing is it to climb to the very pinnacle of the pinnacle of the Bible and find there … God’s love! How infinitely comforting ought it be to us to find that love expressed to us in the context of our suffering? How infinitely comforting ought it be to us to find that this love is the pinnacle of the very Gospel itself? Romans 1-8 is the Bible’s most thorough presentation of our glorious Gospel, that wonderful message which is “the power of God unto salvation for all them that believe, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile” (1:16), starting with our terrible guilt, “For when they knew God, they did not acknowledge Him as God, neither were thankful” (1:21), only to finally offer us the hope, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known … This righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (3:21,22), finally arriving at 8:1 where we are assured, “There is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus!”

All of that glorious Gospel leads us where? To the fathomless, infinite love of God! Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

I want to pause and acknowledge that someone will read what I say here and be quite sure I’m “missing it.”  Someone will read this and want to add, “But, but, but …” and then add whatever they’ve decided is truly most important in Christianity. My answer would be simply this: Read the text. I didn’t write Romans 8. I’m not the One who made Romans 8:35-39 the pinnacle of the pinnacle. I’m not the One who arranged this presentation of the glorious Gospel to end here in this glorious announcement from the very throne of God itself, “Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

No. There is no “But, but, but …” Jesus wants every born-again believer to arrive here at the same point as me, sitting with your Bible open, in absolute speechless wonder awash in this fathomless security of God’s infinite love. “Nothing shall separate us …” This is the entire point of the Gospel itself, to get you here. In our immediate context, we’re being told all of this in the midst of suffering. We need this assurance in the midst of suffering! If, in our suffering, we lose our grip on this infinite, fathomless love of God, then we lose our hope and, in that, we lose our strength, and, then one way or another, we collapse under it all. There is hope if only we can convince ourselves this love is true and clutch it tenaciously to our hearts.

It is ours, straight from the hand of Jesus – this infinite, fathomless love of God. Lord, give us eyes to see it and hearts to believe it. May You in fact be our Shield and our Exceeding Great Reward – even when this world seems to hurl its evil our way!

Romans 8:33,34 “Freed”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³³Who will bring a charge against [the] elect of God? God [is] the One justifying. ³⁴Who [is] the one condemning? Christ is the One who died, rather even was raised from death; who is also to the right hand of God; who also is interceding on behalf of us.

Before I move on, there is one application of these verses which I have found enormously helpful over the years, and which I’d like to share in the event it might prove helpful to someone else. These two verses take us back to our opening verse of chapter 8: “There is therefore no condemnation to them that in Christ Jesus…” No condemnation. From who? From God Himself. No condemnation.

And once again, why is that important to know? Because we have the devil himself accusing us day and night, we live in a world filled with judgmental, critical people who would suck the very blood out of our existence, and then we have to live under the endless torture of our own consciences constantly reminding us of all our sins and failures.

I have tried to say often how important it is for us Christians to be deliberate encouragers, specifically because the people we work and live with are instead barraged constantly with criticism, sarcasm, and outright putdowns. For most of them, it is a very rare experience to have someone actually acknowledge them for the things they do right, the things they do well. Christians of all people ought to be the ones who can, like Jesus, look past people’s failures or weaknesses and actually value the person themself.

However, most importantly right now, I want to think about how that same critical, sarcastic world affects you and me. Basically, can we all be honest and admit that where it leaves us is constantly being tempted to worry “what do they think of me?” We worry about what others think of what we wear, which car we drive, what kind of house we live in, what kind of vacations we take. When we walk into a room full of people, we worry about whether they “like me or not.” I would suggest it is generally true, the reason why most people don’t like public speaking is for exactly this reason, that we worry to much about “what they think of me.”

Now consider our verses again: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who justifies. And who is he that condemns? It is Christ who has died, moreover who has risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, interceding for us.” So, when we turn to the Bible, we find this truth, that “God is for us.” We find that “There is therefore no condemnation to them that in Christ Jesus…”

Jesus stepped down into this condemning world and John tells us, “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (3:17). The entire Plan of Redemption coming down from the heart of God is to save you and me from condemnation. As v.34 is reminding us, in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and intercession, we are “accepted in the Beloved.”

In this same condemning world in which you and I live, what did Paul think all of this meant for him? Consider his words in I Cor. 4:3,4: “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” Paul took no account of others’ accusations. And not only that, he took no account of his own! “It is the Lord who judges me.”

Paul actually believed what he is writing to us in Romans 8:33,34. “There is, therefore, no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” This truth that “God is for us” allowed Paul to live in this condemning world, but to rise above it. Notice even what he says in the words, “I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” What is he saying? As far as he knows, his conscience is clear. As far as he knows, he’s “caught up” acknowledging his sins. However, all of that does not make him innocent. None of it means anything when it comes to this condemnation business. And why? Because “the Lord is my judge.”

The Lord knows it all. He sees it all. He knows the absolute truth of who we are and what we’ve done. He is the only One who truly knows whether we are “innocent” or not. And who is He? “It is God that justifies.” He is the very One who has declared you and me to be righteous in His eyes – not because we are, but because Jesus paid it all. Jesus took our condemnation.

So now, it isn’t a matter that I don’t fail. It isn’t a matter that somehow I need to hide from God and the world all my sins and failures. It is a matter that, in my relationship with God, His response is not to condemn me. No, His entire intention, as we learned in vv. 28,29, was that “we should be conformed to the image of His Son.” As Jesus said to the woman, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” Like any good parent and their child, even correction itself is not about condemnation, it is about redemption. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us. He came to fix us. Even His discipline is intended to “Yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, for those who are exercised by it” (Heb. 12:11).

So then, God is my judge. Not the devil. Not other people. Not even myself. What matters is what God thinks of me. As far as my sins, He doesn’t “condemn” me for them, He would help us rise out of them. And back to the pig and the lamb; although pigs may love to wallow in mud, sheep do not. Sheep may fall in the mud. Perhaps on a hot day, they might for a brief time even enjoy the cool mud, but they cannot stay there. A sheep is not a pig. And so it is with us.

These wonderful truths would actually liberate you and me from all of the condemnation of this world, including even our own, even the truth of our sins and failures. All of it. So then, what shall we do with this, “What do they think of me?” It.does.not.matter. What matters is what God thinks of me.

I find all of this gloriously liberating! Years ago I was asked to speak to a Rotary Lunch group. I told an older Christian man that I was definitely nervous about it. His response was, “That’s because you’re worried about what they’ll think of you. You need to put all of that out of your mind and focus completely on what you give to them. Give them the best presentation you know how and leave it up to God what they think of you when it’s over.” I took his advice and really did enjoy the speaking. I hope they did too, but then, that doesn’t matter! For several years after that, every time I was asked to speak, I would have to invest some serious prayer in asking the Lord to help me forget myself and just give the people the best message I could. Somewhere along the way, I actually completely lost any fear at all for public speaking, and, to this day, can honestly say I enjoy it.

Now, when I walk into that room full of people and I’m tempted to worry “What do they think of me?” I can instead just say, “Lord, help me to love these people. Help me to be interested in them. Help me to forget myself and just be what You want me to be.” And time and time again, He does just that. He does help me. I can walk away later and actually be glad for the conversations I had, and that not because I think I did a good job, but rather because the Lord helped me. Once again, though, what would enable you and me to live above ourselves is knowing that, no matter what, God loves me and He’s for me. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus!

May you and I every day learn to more and more concern ourselves with what God thinks of us, not anyone else. In II Cor. 5:15, it says Jesus “died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again.” May the assurance of His love free us to be people of love!

Romans 8:33,34 “His, Again”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³³Who will bring a charge against [the] elect of God? God [is] the One justifying. ³⁴Who [is] the one condemning? Christ is the One who died, rather even was raised from death; who is also to the right hand of God; who also is interceding on behalf of us.

Beginning back in v.17, the issue in view has been our suffering in this world. Having established our “Abba, Father!” relationship with the Lord in v.15, He has since focused His inspired Word on this inevitable reality that “in this world you shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). He has assured us that the entire Creation is groaning under the curse of sin and that our groaning is in part simply a matter of our presence here. He has assured us that we have even the very Holy Spirit Himself taking the worst of our groanings and carrying them to the ears of the Father. He has assured us that “all things work together for good.” He even told us very specifically what that good would be – that “we should be conformed to the image of Christ” and that we are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. The sum of it all, in v.31, is to give us the greatest assurance of all – that “God is for us.”

If you and I should bear up under the afflictions of this world, we desperately need that assurance. We need to be convinced in our hearts that our God truly is infinitely greater than all the powers of hell and is Himself determined to carry us home.

Now, even if you and I have drunk deeply from the well of Romans chapter 8 and believe its words with all our hearts, there is one last challenge that will undermine it all – my sins. Yes, I am without a doubt my own worst enemy, and I know it. Under the burden of our sufferings, we are all haunted by the knowledge that I have and do fail miserably to be what I know Jesus desires of me. “How then can I claim all these glorious promises?” my soul asks. “Surely, this time I’ve gone too far. Surely I’ve abused His grace and He’s fed up with me now. All those ‘very great and precious promises’ don’t apply to me. I’ve failed too much.” Or perhaps we might be thinking, “God is punishing me for my sins!” These very thoughts will completely upend the confidence you or I should have gained from all we’ve learned in Romans 8.

In His great kindness, He for a moment leaves this context of suffering which has been the focus since v. 17 and returns to that fundamental issue behind it all – our sins. And what do we learn? He has injected vv.33.34 specifically to address these very thoughts. And what does He say? He asks, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”

First of all notice what He calls you – “God’s elect.” This is the first time He has called you this in the book of Romans. You’re one of His “elect,” one of His “called out ones.” Here is another place where the supposed theologians go berserk. “Elect!” they cry. “That means some people are not!” May I remind you again, it.does.not.say.that. God is not talking to anyone but His children, to people who have come to faith, who have been born again. He is not talking to anyone else. When He talks to the rest of the world, He tells them “Whosoever will may come,” If the “theologians” really gave a hoot about what the Bible says, they’d stick to the text, explain for people what the Lord actually says, and stop “darkening counsel without knowledge.”

The plain simple fact is, if you are born again, if you really have through Jesus entered into a personal relationship with the living God, you get to enjoy this incredible truth that you are one of His “elect.” This takes us back to vv.30, that you and I are saved not because we somehow rose above everyone else and had faith. No, that verse told us it was God who predestined, called, justified, and glorified us. 

That assurance was intended to bolster our faith and our hearts when we face the difficulties of this world. Now in vv.33,34, He wants to remind us this assurance goes beyond our troubles and actually addresses our sins. “It is God who justifies.” God is the judge. God is the very One who ultimately decides our fate. Yet, He is the very One who declared you and me “justified.” So, the question remains, “Who shall bring anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Actually, the answer is there are plenty who are more than happy to bring charges – the devil who accuses us day and night, a world full of hateful, judgmental people, and, unfortunately, our own consciences. However, what good is it to take charges to the very One who has already declared us justified, made us His children, and who, we discover, determined to do all of that in eternity past!!! Remember, God demonstrates His love toward us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

That brings us to v. 34, “Who is He that condemns? It is Christ who has died, who rose again, and who is even at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.” It is something of great value to stop and pause over each of those phrases and milk them for the jewels they are. However, if nothing else will lift you or I out of our doldrums of despair, may we look fully into the face of Jesus Himself and remember He saved us “to the uttermost.” In the book of John, we learn that all judgment has been committed to the Son. In reality, it is Jesus Himself who will ultimately judge the world – but He is the very One who took your sins and mine to the Cross, suffered that horrible death, rose again, and now “ever lives to make intercession for us.” Though, as in Job’s case, the devil himself may accuse us to the very throne of God, there to His right hand will always be Jesus with those nailed scarred hands, reminding eternity that, though true, those accusations are meaningless, because our debt is already paid!

No. Even our sins cannot stand in the way of our God’s “very great and precious promises” of His eternal love to us.

I suppose I need to address some people’s objection, “But if all this is true, then that means I’m free to just sin!” That objection has already been thoroughly and completely refuted by the book of Romans, but I will respond by saying people who really are born again simply don’t think that way. As the old saying goes, if a pig falls in the mud, he’ll stay there as long as he can and love every minute of it. However, when a lamb falls in the mud—and he may—he cannot stay there. He must get out and get cleaned. So it is with God’s children. We’re not pigs anymore. We’re His sheep, and though we may (and do) fail miserably, we cannot stay there. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in churches who claim to be saved and even rise to high positions, yet have never truly entered into a personal relationship with God. Those people may hear these promises and take them as a license to sin. However, the failure is not in God’s Word or His promises, but rather in those to whom those very promises do not apply.

If you’re born again, the good news is that all these promises do apply to you. Romans 8 would assure you His promises are yours no matter what troubles you face in this world, and then goes on to assure you that even your absolute worst enemy—you—cannot stand in the way of those promises. It is all of grace and ours for all eternity!

Even in the worst of our troubles, even when we feel we’ve failed the most, may we crawl into our Father’s lap, look into His kind eyes, enjoy the warmth of His embrace, and say, “I love you. Help me love you more.” He alone can clean off the mud and show eternity who we really are—His.