who can seperate us from the Love of Christ... - Worthy Christian Forums

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
Rom 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Can anybody tell me what those verses mean?
Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Certainly there are enough backslidden Christians who have counted the cost of following Christ and abandoned the faith.. Paul knew a few of them in Demus who loved the world more and abandoned him and Christ... So i don't really know what Paul is talking about here. He seems to be contradicting himself.

2Ti 4:10 for Demas forsook me, having loved this present world, and went to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

This post has been edited by givennewname: Nov 17 2008, 06:33 AM

Only we ourselves, having free will, can separate us from the love of Christ.

Hi gnn..



Your title says you are finding it difficult to walk with Jesus. In what way? Not understanding the verses or .....what is it exactly? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

There are those of us who believe that JESUS saves and keeps HIS people. There are those of us who believe that JESUS offers salvation, but if we except it, we can not trust HIM to keep us saved.

JESUS said, "All that the FATHER gives me will come to me and of them I will loose none"

I am one of those who is putting my trust in JESUS to keep me.

Also, while it does say they abandoned Paul, it doesn't say they left JESUS. Paul was on a hard road, many Christians are not called to the harder ministry of JESUS.

All Christians fail to live up to somebody's standard of what they should be or what they want them to be. That does not mean that JESUS has tossed them.

Agree with what you were trying to say, however even if we turn from Christ and begin to walk in sin, Jesus will still love us. Now i am not saying we can continue in sin and expect to go to heaven, but Jesus will never stop loving us.

you know i was thinking of the same thing when I was reading romans 8:35-39. Nothing will ever keep God from loving us but I just think that we can effectively separate ourselves from the benefits of that love...the foremost in my mind being the reconciliation to the Father.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/25.gif) I was always afraid my sins would keep me from my Lord and Savior. But after reading Romans 8: 38-39 and John 10: 27-30 I take comfort that Jesus is now and forever will be my Savior. Galations 2:20. Yes I still sin and I need to confess and get right again with the Lord. But nothing can take me from His arms. Praise the Lord I am forever saved. Remember Isaiah 53:6. Blessings to you. [size="3"][/size][color="#2F4F4F"][/color]

that is my question exactly. Paul mentions that is is so difficult to seperate us from God's love and fellowship when in realiaty almost anything can seperate us from God. Certainly riches can keep some one from God as seen in the passage where Jesus ask the rich man to leave everything behind and follow him, the guy didn't because he loved his money. there is another passage in the gospels that mention whoever that ploughs a field and looks back will never inherit the kingdom so aparently there are many attractions that can keep a man from God's love. These are just a few of the long lists of things that can keep a man from God, so why is it that Pauls says nothing [color="#FF0000"][/color]can keep us from the love of God?

daystar101 already answered your question.

If you truly and honestly try to walk in obedience, there is nothing or anyone who can take you away from the Lord.

The only one who can separarte you from God is "you".

Well if you exmaine the preceding verses, Paul has just made case for the fact that we who are in Christ are predestined for "adoption." Now, the word "adoption" in the Greek and in the way Paul is using it here, does not refer to anything like our modern transaction in which parents adopt children. That is not what it means.

Paul defines "adoption" as:

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
(Romans 8:23)

As it is used in this context, Paul is talking about what God has planned for us. He has predestined us to "adoption" or to the receiving of our glorified body. See, this shows an eternal perspective. Notice these verses in chapter 8:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
(Romans 8:14-17)

We have the inner witness that we are the children of God. We have received the spirit of adoption. Paul states that if we are children then God then we are heirs of God and if we are heirs, we are "joint-heirs" with Christ. Which is important. It means that we get treated just like first born. That is the end to which we who are Christians are predestined to experience.