Look at the Book: The Greatest Chapter - Episode 30
Official link: https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/nothing-can-separate-us-from-gods-love

Principle for Bible Reading:
Romans 8 lands on the note of God’s unstoppable, unshakeable love for us in Christ. Nothing — however dark or hard — can separate us from him. Not only that, but all things now work for us. In this lab, John Piper reveals the love of God for us, and calls us all to love one another in response to this great love.


Outline:
Introduction/Prayer (00:00–00:48)

God Will Not Stop Loving You (00:48–06:41)
1. In Christ Jesus, God will never stop loving us. (Romans 8:35–37)
2. But can something block the love of God to us? Paul gives ten more possible examples. (Romans 8:38–39)
3. We know that all things work for our good (Romans 8:28). They don’t just get out of the way. They work for us.
4. Nothing can block the love of God to us in Christ (Romans 8:38–39).
5. For instance, death cannot stop God’s love for us. In Christ, God makes death gain for us. (Philippians 1:20)
6. Not even the devil can get in the way of God’s love for us. Every time he opposes us, God is using it to serve us (2 Corinthians 12:7–10). The devil is a disarmed idiot.

Do Not Stop Loving One Another (06:41–08:47)
1. As debtors to the Spirit, we do not pay back the Spirit (Romans 8:12–13). No, we live by the Spirit by trusting in the Spirit, embracing all these great truths to strengthen and guide.
2. In doing so, we fulfill the just requirement of the law, which is love. (Romans 8:4; 13:8)
3. All that God did on the cross and all he is doing in working all things for our good is meant to enable us to love each other and our enemies.
4. This love takes whatever risks and makes whatever sacrifices necessary, because the sufferings of this time are not worth comparing with the glory to come.
5. Therefore, let us spend these few years loving people to the glory of our great God, in whom we have absolute security.


Study Questions:
1. Take a couple of the items in Paul’s list in Romans 8:38–39. Why might someone think they would separate someone from God’s love?
2. Now read Romans 8:28–39. How might those same things be used by God for our good?
3. Look back over Romans 8. How does this unstoppable love of God relate to our love for one another?


Piper: “Let us love one another — whatever the risk, whatever the sacrifice — for the glory of our great God.”


‘The Greatest Chapter’ Series:
This lab is part of a series through Romans 8. Taking a verse or two at a time, John Piper unfolds the other-worldly realities in these thirty-nine verses, all along pointing out general, practical principles for understanding and applying the Bible’s meaning. Visit ‘The Greatest Chapter’ series page to see all the labs in this series.