Romans 8:35-39 - Exposition

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ( i.e. the love of Christ to us, and in the same sense "the love of God" below; cf. τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς in Romans 8:37 ). Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter . Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors ( ὑπερνικῶμεν —we not only conquer in spite of them; we conquer all the more because of them; cf. Romans 5:3 , etc., and Romans 8:28 ) through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall he able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord . In these two concluding verses the thought is distinctly extended from circumstances of trial to all powers , human or superhuman, that may be conceived as assaulting us through them, or in any way opposing us. But it is still adverse powers and influences, not our own failure in perseverance, that are in view. It is not necessary to define what is exactly meant by each of the expressions in these verses. Enough to say that what is meant is, that nothing whatever, in heaven or earth, or under the earth, can thwart God's good purpose for us, or separate us from his love.

Rom_8:1-39 Summary

The following paraphrastic summary of this important chapter, free from the encumbrance of notes, may help to a clearer perception of its drift and sequence of thought:—