Sweet Assurance in the Spirit

Introduction

The verses we will be digging into today include some of the best known verses in the bible. They are familiar and well loved for a reason. They speak a beautiful message of assurance. Perhaps there was a season in your life that was particularly challenging and someone shared one of these scriptures with you…

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Perhaps someone here has been gifted something once with one of these Scriptures beautifully written on it, maybe a mug, maybe a bookmark… though in a very difficult moment of your life the words may have felt a little… hollow? Empty?

Maybe you didn’t feel like much of a conqueror when you were struggling with a serious illness. Maybe you felt like the conflict you were facing with a family member might have been a sign of God’s judgment on you. Maybe you weren’t quite so sure if Jesus really did love you while you watched everything you worked so hard for falling apart around you.

The problem with familiar verses, is that we can begin to take them for granted and rush over them without digging into their context, and they can lose something of their life-giving power and impact. So today, my prayer is that as we study this text of Romans chapter 8 we would be struck afresh by the depth of God’s love for us and see the beauty of these promises in a new way.

Let us pray:

Father God, thank you for your word, that is living and active. Would you, by your Spirit, open our eyes to see you today, to be changed by your word, to be refreshed, to be encouraged, to be challenged by who you are and who you are for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Read Romans 8:1-39

Context

The very first word in our text today is one that I have been taught to always look out for. Whenever you see a “Therefore” you need to ask what it is “there for.” It is beautiful to be able to dig deeper into a letter or book of the bible slowly, bit by bit, but it is still helpful to remember that a letter like Romans was probably read to the original hearers in one sitting.

We are now getting to something of a climax of what Paul has been teaching in this letter. It is a high point in an explanation of his gospel that he has been carefully building up in the sections before. So let me try to sum up briefly where we are at, in case you have missed some or all of the preaches that came before.

Paul is writing to the church in Rome that he is planning to visit. This church is one that consists of both Jewish and Gentile believers. In this letter he gives his fullest explanation of the gospel that he has spent his life proclaiming, and draws out its implications for both Jewish and Gentile believers in it.

In the first section he carefully makes his case to show that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every person, whether under the law or under conscience, is condemned under God’s perfect standards.

He then goes on to show us how all are declared righteous by faith in Jesus alone. And that we receive this salvation by grace, as a free gift in Christ Jesus. And he starts to touch on some of the other benefits that come along with this gift of righteousness, like peace with God and assurance of God’s salvation.

Paul then gives an explanation of the believer’s relationship to the law, that when we are in Christ we have died to the law and have been set free from slavery to sin and death. And finally, we see how Paul addresses the reality of the Christian experience, that constant wrestling with our sinful nature within us that leaves us asking, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” and answering, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

And it is with those beautiful words ringing in our ears that we enter into chapter 8 of the letter to the Romans. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…

No Condemnation in Christ Jesus

Because we are declared righteous by faith in Jesus alone, there is now no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. And just in case you were dozing off in the introduction of his letter, Paul gives us a another recap of how we can find ourselves justified instead of condemned.

There is no condemnation because the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. What does he mean by that? Well, he goes on to explain in verses 3-4… For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

How was the law weakened by the flesh? Flesh here is a reference to our sinful human nature. Like a bent arrow, no matter how hard we try to aim at the right target, we will keep flying off course. Our sinful flesh prevents us from obtaining righteousness through the law. Andre helped us to understand this last week when he took us through Romans 7.

But where we couldn’t hit the target ourselves, God sent his son Jesus, the perfectly straight arrow, the only one able to fulfill the law, in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. By becoming human and perfectly fulfilling the law, Jesus was able to provide that perfect sacrifice in our place, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly, and then he became the sacrifice required by the law on our behalf, so that the requirements of the law were met in him. And then by faith, we are united with him, and in him we are declared righteous. There’s an exchange that happens. Not just in our status before God, from a condemned sinner to justified and righteous before God, but we also cross over from living according to the flesh, to living according to the Spirit. Whereas before we were slaves to our sinful nature, now we have a new master, the Spirit of God.

Life in the Spirit

In verses 5-11 Paul contrasts life according to the flesh with life according to the Spirit. Every person is living in one of these states, either in the flesh or in the Spirit… and Paul is giving the evidence that can help you identify which one is your master. He explains what it looks like to walk according to the Spirit as opposed to walking according to the flesh. This is something that flows out of who you already are.

So what is the differece? Verse 5 gives us the answer. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

So what does it look like to set your mind on the things of the flesh? And what does it look like to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? Galatians 5 (verses 19-21) helps us to paint a bit more of a picture here. Paul says, The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness and the like… Are these the kinds of things that your mind is set on? Sexual immorality and impurity? Or is your mind set on selfish ambition? Or jealousy, or hatred and fits of rage?

That’s not to say that as believers we can’t still struggle with sinful thoughts. Romans 7 reminds us that we are still caught up in a struggle against the desires of the flesh. But is your mind set on these kinds of things?

Or is your mind set on the things of the Spirit? Still in Galatians 5 we read, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, against such there is no law.

There was a time in my life where I read something in a book that suggested using Galatians 5:22-23 as a sort of “faith checklist” and so I wrote myself a checklist of the fruit of the Spirit and stuck it on my cupboard door in my room. And every day I would look at it and ask if I had seen those fruit in my life.

Now the thing with fruit is you can’t force them. I was never very successful at going into my day with the goal of, “today I’m going to have patience.” But when you choose to live by faith in Jesus, the beauty of it is that with the spirit living in you these fruits begin to grow naturally out of who you are in Christ. In the same way, when Paul talks about the mind being set on the things of the Spirit, he’s talking about that as evidence of the presence of the Spirit in your life.

There’s a way we can participate in what the Spirit is doing, we can choose to follow the Spirit’s leading and pick up that book, read that article, listen to that podcast or sermon, and think of those things of God. But it is the Spirit that leads us to have an interest in the things of God. So if you have the mind set on the things of the Spirit, it is evidence of living according to the Spirit.

So let’s look for the evidence. Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. So perhaps the question to ask of yourself is, “What kind of things occupy my mind?” Is my faith something that gets my focus only on a Sunday? Or is my mind set on questions of what it means for me to be a follower of Jesus every day of the week? Or is my faith more of an afterthought, having little impact on my day to day life? What kind of thoughts consume my mind? Thoughts that honor God or thoughts that would make me ashamed in front of him?

And if your answer is that your thoughts are on the things of the Spirit, then you know that the rest of what he says about people who are in Christ are true of you too.

Paul then elaborates, for to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. This is the result of each of those two states. One leads to death. One leads to life and peace. How is the mind set on the flesh death? The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

This is clearly a picture of the person who is “in Adam” as opposed to a person who is in Christ. The person who is in the flesh is someone who has not been made righteous by faith. It’s not just a case of that we choose not to obey God, but that in our flesh we cannot obey God. Just like those bent arrows, we cannot fly straight.

There’s a clear distinction between the two as Paul turns to address the believers in Rome. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you… Now reading a verse like this may hit differently, depending on the church tradition you may have come from. There was a church I visited a few times with friends in university where it felt like if you didn’t speak in tongues you were somehow lacking the Holy Spirit. Now if you read this passage as someone in that tradition you might feel like maybe it’s saying that if you don’t in fact have the Spirit, maybe you are living in the flesh. Maybe you’re not really saved.

But I don’t think that is what it is saying. 1 Corinthians 12:3 reminds us that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who removes the veil from our eyes and helps us to recognise who Jesus really is in the first place (2 Corinthians 3:16) and if you are able to say, and believe, that Jesus is Lord, then you have the Holy Spirit at work in you.

So I think that when Paul says “if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you” he is rather making a point about which side of these two scenarios you locate yourself when you look at the evidence. Whether you are living according to the flesh, or according to the Spirit. Being in church isn’t the evidence of being saved. But living according to the Spirit is.

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

You can’t separate the one from the other. If you don’t have the Spirit you don’t belong to Christ. But if by your faith you are joined to Christ, the Spirit lives in you. And this same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to you too.

And therefore, Paul says, we are debtors, or as the NIV puts it, we have an obligation - to live according to the Spirit. When we put our faith or trust in Jesus, his Spirit comes to live in us and brings us life, so now it is on us to live according to that Spirit. Because as we’ve seen before, and as verse 13 reminds us, living according to the flesh leads to death. But “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

So while the things our mind is set on will show us if we have the Spirit, we also have an active part to play. We are to put to death the sinful deeds of our flesh. When our mind is set on the things of the Spirit, the logical next step is to want to put those thougts into action. To actively pursue a life that reflects those things. And to deliberately cut off the things that linger from your old sinful life.

And it’s natural that we should pursue those things, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. It’s a question of our identity. There’s been a real shift in our allegiance. But it’s more than just a shifting from one master to another. God doesn’t just invite us to serve him, he rescues us from slavery to sin and makes us part of his very family.

Children of God

Verse 15, The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. So we go from being slaves to sin, on the path to death, to being the very children of God. This is the work that the Spirit does, through what Jesus Christ did on that cross at calvary. Jesus’ sacrifice bought our freedom from sin and death. But God doesn’t leave it there.

Yes, we’re on a new path with a new lord and master, on a path heading towards life. But we’re not slaves, living in fear again. The Spirit that brings us into new life also brings about our adoption as sons. That word used for adoption is a reference to the Greco-Roman custom that allowed an adopted son the very same rights and privileges of a natural born sons.

Being led by God’s Spirit means our future is changed from death to life. Our relationship with God has changed from rebellion to obedience, and our status has changed from enemy to beloved child of God.

And by him, we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God’s children. We don’t just believe we are God’s children because the bible tells us so, but because the Spirit witnesses to our spirits that this is true. This is why we can pray in the way that Jesus taught his disciples, calling God our Father. We can approach God with our needs with the same assurance that a child has bringing his concerns to his earthly father.

Another benefit of being a child is that you become an heir. Verse 17 continues, Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. What is an heir? An heir is a person who will receive an inheritance. When we think of an inheritance we may picture it in terms of money, a house, a car, maybe even a business. But what do we inherit as God’s children? Well this is where it gets interesting, because the very next thing mentioned in that verse is suffering…

… we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may share in his glory.

Out inheritance is that we will get to share in his glory. But this inheritance is conditional. We share in his glory if we share in his sufferings. What does that mean? Well, as part of his family we get to share in everything that it means to be part of his family. And since there are many who are opposed to our Father, it stands to reason that we may also suffer for being a part of this family. But the Spirit reminds us that the result of sharing in these sufferings is that we will also share in his glory.

We live in a world where suffering is inevitable. And some of that suffering may come as a direct result of being a child of God. You may suffer at the hands of people who oppose you because of your faith. Or you may suffer because as a child of God you refuse to participate in the corruption around you. Perhaps the choices you make as a result of living according to the Spirit mean that you miss out on advantages that it seems other people have easy access to. Maybe you have to struggle in the face of active opposition because you refuse to compromise and go against your conscience. But you can rest assured, that if you share in suffering for Christ , you will also share in his glory.

Paul doesn’t just tell us to endure suffering because of the future glory that waits for us, he goes on to try and put our suffering in a right perspective. In verse 18 he says:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Paul makes a comparison between our present sufferings and the future glory that we will enjoy. And he says that they’re not worth comparing. If you had to put them on a balance scale it would be like putting a slice of polony on the one side, and a whole cow (and that’s a lot of meat) on the other. It’s not to say that the present sufferings don’t hurt or aren’t difficult to endure. But it is saying that the glory that will be revealed will be so much greater than the suffering that you endured.

Maybe the best example of this in our experience is that of a pregnant mother who has to go through the pains of labour. I’ve often laughed with pregnant friends that we need to forget the pain of labour before we can think of having another child. And then when it starts to get closer to the end of the pregnancy we have to shift our focus to the end result, the thought of holding that child in our hands, to endure the process that will get us there.

No woman will tell you that childbirth is fun. You can ask any of the mothers who were up front this morning. No, it’s a pain that is hard to put into words. But it is short-lived and once that newborn baby is put into your arms, it is, in a way, quickly forgotten. The future glory of holding that new life in your arms outweighs the short term hardship of labour pains.

In the same way we read in Hebrews 12:2 Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him. And this perspective can help us too. Whatever the challenge is that we face, we can endure it, knowing that the future glory that awaits us is far greater than what we are experiencing in the moment.

Even the creation is waiting in eager expectation for the culmination of God’s purposes on that day when God’s children will be revealed. Here Paul is placing our present sufferings in the context of the big picture of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. When Paul says that the creation was subjected to frustration… that’s a clear reference to Genesis 3.

When Adam and Eve sinned the earth was cursed along with them. The effects of the fall of mankind reached further than themselves, affecting the world around them too. This is why farming is hard work. This is why the world struggles with droughts and crops failing. This is why there are floods and earthquakes. Natural disasters are a part of the reality we live in, as are sickness and disease and the decay of our bodies, because creation is in bondage to decay.

Paul says that this frustration of creation is not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it. From the very beginning this was part of God’s plan when the curses were first pronounced in Genesis 3. Creation itself bears witness to the fact that all is not as it should be. But the plan was only for a time… Creation is in bondage yes, but God subjected it to this, in hope. In hope that one day creation itself will be liberated, set free, from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Creation is waiting, along with us, for that final revelation of God’s plan. When God’s children are revealed to the world, when we get to share in Jesus’ glory, and the fall will be reversed and God will make all things new. Including the creation. In Revelation 21 we see a new heaven and a new earth revealed. Because the old creation, the fallen creation that was subjected to frustration, will be no more. Even Paul uses that image of childbirth in relation to the creation. Creation has been groaning until now, groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Creation is still groaning as it waits for the fulfilment of the hope of glory.

In the same way, we who have the firtsfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved…

There’s the now and not yet of our salvation. We are saved by faith in Christ Jesus, and yet we are still waiting to experience the fullness of that salvation. Already we are declared righteous, but we still struggle against our sinful flesh as we wait for the day when we are made holy. We are adopted as sons in God’s family, but we wait for the day when we will be revealed as God’s children and we will get to share in the glory of God. We have been redeemed through Jesus’ death on the cross, but we are still waiting for the final redemption of our bodies. And so like the creation groans as it waits, we too groan as we wait, knowing that things as they are now are not as they should be, nor as they will be.

But we don’t groan without hope. We have this sure hope. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Thankfully we don’t wait alone. Paul reminds us that the Spirit waits with us. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Creation groans. We ourselves groan. And the Spirit joins us in our groaning. This is how the Spirit helps us in our weakness. The Spirit helps us by interceding on our behalf in line with God’s will. If you ever wonder if your prayers are aligned with God’s will, that you might miss out on God’s will for your life, you can rest assured that the Spirit’s requests are. When we don’t what to pray, the Spirit prays for us. So as we endure suffering in this world, as we groan and try to shift our focus to the future hope of glory, the Spirit groans along with us, praying for us in line with the will of God. What an encouragement that should be for us.

And it’s in light of this that Paul gives us this beautiful assurance of verse 28:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Unshakeable Hope

All of these things that Paul has been saying have been building up to this glorious conclusion. Because of what God has done through Jesus Christ, that we access by faith in him, there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If we are in Jesus, we have the Spirit of God within us who reassures us of our position as children of God. And while as children of God we are groaning in this world, we have this hope that we are waiting for. And this hope is a sure and certain assurance that God will finish the work that he has started in us.

And we know that in all things, in all the suffering, in all the hardship, in all the groaning, we know that God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. If you are among those who love God, you can rest in the knowledge that whatever happens in your life, God is working for your good. Even in that unimaginable loss that you’ve suffered… God is working for your good. Even in that situation at work… God is working for your good. Even in that financial hardship that you feel will never end… God is working for your good…

It doesn’t always feel like it in the moment. Often it feels like the opposite. Like what good could possibly come from this? But even if we can’t see it, there is an end goal that God has. It’s a bit like baking a cake. Have you ever tried tasting all the ingredients that go into a cake? Sure, some things, like sugar or chocolate pieces, are sweet and delicious to taste. But salt on its own isn’t as tasty. And baking powder, vinegar, flour, raw eggs… none of these are things that I want to stealing a taste of in the kitchen. Some ingredients that go into a cake are salty or bitter or otherwise disgusting on their own. And yet, when you bring them all together, somehow they give you a delicious chocolate cake. In the same way, sometimes God allows you to experience things that are hard and painful, but he will use all those things to achieve his glorious results.

This is the promise that you have as someone called by God. You have been called according to his purposes. And God’s purposes for you are good.

Paul then goes on to flesh out what those purposes are. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. God’s plan for you, from the very beginning, is that you would look like Jesus. That your life more and more would conform to the image of Jesus. Jesus is our perfect example of what a child of God should look like, and as his brothers and sisters we should begin more and more to resemble him.

The same way that siblings in one household will share more characteristics than just a physical resemblance, such as things that they learn from each other and from their parents. In my household, while my children are all unique, they all share certain things in common. While some may love books more than others, all of them can get lost in a good book and enjoy listening to stories together. And while only one of my children is a gymnast, by virtue of them living in the same house and playing together a lot, there is not one of them who cannot do a good cartwheel.

The more time siblings spend with each other, the more they begin to influence each other, creating something of a family resemblance. In the same way, through the time we spend with Jesus, we should more and more begin to resemble him in our own lives. This is God’s purpose for our lives. This is what he predestined us to be.

Then Paul adds another reassurance: And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. The point of this list of big words is for us to see that from the beginning to the end, these things are inseparably connected to each other. You can’t be called by God and not be justified. Those two go together and can’t be separated. It is also impossible for someone who has been justified, to not be glorified. The glory that we are waiting for isn’t something that may or may not happen. If you are justified, the glorification is as good as if it has already happened. The two are inseparable.

So we can know with certainty that God will finish the work that he started. This is the same confidence that Paul states in his letter the Philippians, chapter 1 verse 6, where he can say to them, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” What God starts, he will finish. If he has called you, he will conform you to the image of Christ. If he has justified you, he will glorify you too on that day.

And now we reach a point where it seems like Paul is drawing his conclusions in light of everything that he has been saying so far about the benefits that we gain when we receive this gift of righteousness from God.

In light of all these things he asks a few powerful questions:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

And here he argues from the bigger to the smaller… He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? God has already proved that he is for us by giving us his very own Son. Is there anything bigger than that that he could give us? God has already given us the biggest thing he could give, how will he not then give all the other things we are hoping for.

I don’t know about you, but already it sounds like God is very much in our corner. Paul continues,

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?

It is God who justifies. If God is the one who declares us righteous, and he is the judge over all, then there is no charge anyone can bring against us that will stick.

Who then is the one who condemns?

No one. Christ Jesus who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Not only is there no charge anyone can bring against us, but the judge himself has declared us righteous on the basis of what Jesus has done. Jesus died and was raised to life, his sacrifice satisfying the penalty for our sins, and Jesus himself is at the right hand of God pleading our case for us. Jesus stands there as our defense attorney, interceding for us, pointing at his wounds by which basis our sins have been dealt with and we have been made righteous.

Now, maybe someone is wide awake and is aware that there is a character in the bible whose very name is a translation for “the accuser.” Satan is the accuser. He loves to point out our every failure. But here, standing before the judge, his accusations cannot stand.

The only place his accusations may do any damage is in our own hearts. And this is where it is helpful to remember the distinction between the Holy Spirit and the accuser. The Spirit convicts us of sin, which leads to repentance. But the accuser tries to condemn us, leading us to despair so that we stop trying because we feel like we’ve already failed. The one draws you towards the Lord, while the other seeks to drive a wedge between you and God. So when you find yourself struggling with doubt, ask yourself, does this thought draw me closer to Christ, or is it insisting that his death and resurrection aren’t enough?

But we can rest in the knowledge that ultimately the Satan’s accusations have no standing before the judge. If you are in Christ, your sins are covered by his blood and there is no charge the enemy can bring against you that will stick.

Finally he asks:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

This question isn’t something that is far from Paul’s own experience. We see in 2 Corinthians 6:4-5 that Paul himself suffered troubles, hardships and distresses, beatings, imprisonments and riots, hard work, sleepless nights and hunger… in 2 Corinthians 11: 23-25 we see that Paul has been in prison, he has been flogged and beaten, stoned and shipwrecked. Paul has experienced so many different kinds of hardships for the sake of Christ, that if anyone can answer that question with authority it seems like Paul can do that. So what is his answer?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death not life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul says that in all these things we are more than conquerors. We are not people just scraping through, barely surviving. No through Christ we are victorious; the original phrase is one that speaks of prevailing completely, of winning a most glorious victory. Whatever comes at us, through Christ and with the help of God’s Spirit within us, we are able to not just endure hardships, but to completely overcome them. Paul was able to sit in prison and write about his deep joy to the Philippians because he knew that despite his external circumstances, he was not defeated. In Christ he saw himself as victorious.

Paul is fully convinced that there is nothing that can separate us from Christ’s love. And when it comes to possible contenders that might try to separate us from God, we see that this list is all encompassing.

Neither death nor life - there is no state in which we can be found that can separate us from the love of God. Neither angels or demons nor any powers - there is no spiritual power out there that can separate us from the love of God. Neither the present nor the future - there is no time in which God’s love isn’t with us. And in case we’ve missed any other thing in reality, Paul adds, neither height not depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So here’s his answer to that question, what shall we say about all these things? If God is for us, there’s no-one who can stand against us. There’s no-one who can bring a charge against us. There’s is no-one who can condemn us. And there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Life can get hard. It will get hard. There will be seasons of suffering that feel impossible to endure. But there is a greater glory that lies ahead for those who are justified by faith, for those who are called and saved by God. But in the midst of that we have hope. We can have a solid assurance that God will deliver on what he has promised. God will finish what he has started. And there is no-one, there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love that God has for those who are in Christ Jesus.