³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Security to Live Sacrificially

The magnitude of what God has done for is is still pushed aside by some people.  They call it infanticide in some cases.  God slays his own son in some crazy religious ritual. It sounds like the kind of thing some death cult would do rather than a loving and devoted father.  However, God is father of all of us.  He set the whole world in motion and we corrupted the system.  Jesus is not presented in Scripture as someone who was opposed to the plan.  That blood needed to shed in sacrifice is related to the magnitude of the crime.  Jesus gave up his life voluntarily, scripture is clear about that.  However, the Father was in accord.  So rather than a tyrant who slays his son, he is a loving God who accepts one son’s sacrifice on behalf of his billions of other estranged children.  This sacrifice on the part of the Father shows the magnitude of his love for his children and his creation.  He could not have given more because he gave the most precious thing that he had to gain reconciliation with the multitude.

Now realising the magnitude of the sacrifice, both emotionally and pragmatically we see that nothing will stand in the way of God’s love.  Those who are his are secure in his love.  The love of God empowers us and we defeat the sin that ravages our lives and we defeat the sin that separates our friends and relatives from God.  We can replay in a lesser form the acts of God in saving us.  As Jesus withheld nothing and offered his own life to be the bridge for the salvation of humanity.  So the normal human being empowered by God can give their own life as an offering so that others may be reconciled through the blood of Jesus.

However, like Jesus could not be separated from his Father and was reunited with him, so we (having been purchased by Jesus’ blood) can not be estranged from the Father.  He holds us securely and that gives us the boldness to live sacrificially for him.

Prayer

Thank you God for being for us.  You, Father made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could give ourselves to you in service.  When we are solid in our assurance of your love, we move with a boldness that defeats the enemies to your Kingdom.  In these dark times enemies grow within and without.  May your love and its acceptance and its demands win the day.

Questions

1. What questions does Paul ask?
2. What is his purpose in asking them?
3. How does this section fit into the greater scheme of Romans 8?
4. How confident are you of being loved?
5. How do you ‘live loved’?

Note:  One of the chapters in 20 Things We’d Tell Our Twentysomething Selves is entitled Live Loved http://www.amazon.com/Things-Wed-Tell-Twenty-Something-Selves/dp/B0170PCG9A/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=