When in Romans… Know You Are Secure

Weddings vs Anniversaries

Good morning, everyone! I’m glad to be filling in for Pastor Dean and Jyl while they’re away at a wedding — though I’d argue the bigger celebration is their 34th anniversary. What a milestone. Kali and I just celebrated our 7th anniversary this week — we’re 1/10 of the way to my goal of 70. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because I want to dominate that “Who’s been married the longest?” wedding dance someday. Cane toss. Old-man moves. The whole thing.

But seriously — weddings are a big deal. We spend tens of thousands on one day. Why? Not to celebrate past love. We aren’t celebrating that Billy and Sarah dated successfully for 3 years. And not even present love—but future love. A wedding celebrates a promise: “No matter what comes, I’m not going anywhere.” That’s true love. Because love is only as strong as it is secure. The greater the security, the greater the love.

How Secure is God’s Love Towards Me?

Which leads into this question that Paul asks as he is reaching the climax of Romans 8.

Romans 8:31 NLT

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

If God is for us? Paul is saying that everything hinges upon that question. Is God for you? Does He love you? And not just right now, but is His love for you secure? Will it last?

This is the question that satan is going to try to attack. Satan’s goal is to get your answer to that question to be a “no” or at least an “I don’t know.” A lie that is focused on yourself. A lie that is focused on your circumstances. And a lie that is focused on God. All three with the goal of leading you to a place where you start to doubt the reality of if God is for you. Most of our struggles come from doubting in full the reality that God is for us, and Paul in Romans 8 is going to address those three lies, revealing a security in God’s love that is far greater than we could ever imagine.

God’s Love Isn’t Conditional

Here's the first lie Satan loves to use: "God isn't for you because of what you've done." Something to know about me is I’m not a pickup truck guy. I am a proud owner of my 2011 Honda Fit. Still feel cool riding in it to this day. But I see these commercials for pickup trucks that start off saying all of these great things like “Get a brand-new truck today! Zero down, zero interest, zero payments!” And you’re like, “This is great!” Until the voice starts getting really fast at the end and they start rattling off all the conditions for why you won’t apply, “Offer only valid for residents of Antarctica with a 900 credit score. Must trade in three vehicles, a kidney, and your firstborn. Restrictions apply.” Some pretty brutal conditions!

Well, I think we do the same thing with God. We think to ourselves, “God loves me so much…as long as I go to church, complete my one year Bible reading plan, pray every day, tithe 10%, join a small group, get on a serving team, and God forbid I commit that one sin that I have struggled with for so long again. Restrictions apply.” We think God’s love is conditional on our religious performance, and well when you are struggling, He loves you just a little bit less.

We so often try to make God’s love conditional. Why? Because if there are conditions to God’s love, then we are in control of whether we have earned it or not. We can control whether we have deserved it or not. We want to feel like there is some reason that we bring for the love that God gives. And yet, God’s love is not conditional. Listen to where Paul begins,

Romans 8:32 NLT

Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

Paul is saying that the question of whether God loves you must begin at the cross. If your brokenness was the very reason Jesus went to the cross for you, then why would your mistakes disqualify you from His love? Your mistakes don’t push God away. They draw Him near. Romans 5:8 made that clear.

Romans 5:8 NLT

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

While we were still sinners. While we were broken. While we deserved nothing but the full wrath of God, God’s love was revealed. God’s love isn’t conditional. It doesn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up. It leads the way, and gives us right standing with Him when we least deserved it. And this is where Paul continues,

Romans 8:33–34 NLT

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Who dares accuse you of being something other than what God has declared you to be? God has the ultimate voice, and that trumps the voice of others, that trumps the voice of satan, and that trumps the voice of yourself. Because let’s be honest—how often are you your own harshest critic? “I don’t deserve God’s love.” Says who? You? You don’t get to decide whether you’re worthy of God’s love. Your aren’t God. You don’t have that kind of control. He does. And He did at the cross.

God’s Love isn’t Circumstantial

But even if you believe that God’s love is not conditional, there is a second lie satan brings and it says, “God isn’t for you because of your circumstances.” “Look at what you are going through. Look at what you are dealing with. A loving God would never let that happen to you.” A convincing lie from satan. And yet, Paul goes on,

Romans 8:35–36 NLT

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)

It is critical to realize when Paul is writing these words. He is not some young gun who has no life experience, like your middle schooler saying, “I am so tired,” and you as their parent looking at them like, “Mhhmmm. Okay bud. Wait until you get older.” This is at the end of Paul’s third missionary journey, and if you read 2 Corinthians 11, you’ll quickly see that Paul has experienced every one of these things! He was whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, robbed, hungry, thirsty, tired. Nearly died multiple times. How could someone who has walked through such awful suffering look back on it all and say, “Nothing can separate me from the love of God.” Because Paul viewed his suffering through the cross.

Martin Luther, the 16-century German theologian, grasped this reality when he was speaking in a theological debate in 1518 called the Heidelberg Disputation. And just picture how our modern political debates have looked and I’m sure it was just like that. Well, in this famous debate, Luther introduced a powerful distinction that there are really only two kinds of theologians: the theologian of glory, and the theologian of the cross. The theologian of glory looks at life and assumes that if God is for you, things will go well for you. Health, success, comfort, blessing — these must be the signs of God’s favor. So when suffering hits, well… you must have done something wrong. God must no longer be for you. But a theologian of the cross is someone who understands that God is for us not by keeping us from suffering or failure, but by coming to us in our suffering—most clearly revealed on the cross.

The cross reveals that God’s love isn’t absent in our worst moments—it’s right there in the middle of them. That’s hard to believe when you’re in the dark. Some of you have walked through deep pain, or you're in it right now, feeling like God has left you. But the cross shows that God’s love isn’t circumstantial. God’s love can work through the darkest of circumstances. The cross is Him saying, “My love for you remains secure event in the hardest of moments.” And because at the cross, Jesus took your place and did experience separation from God’s love, you have the assurance that you never will.

God’s Love Isn’t Conquerable

And finally, one of Satan’s most subtle lies shifts our focus to God: “His love for you won’t last. It’s not strong. It’s not secure.” You where I think this fear comes from? In life, we experience broken relationships, fracture love, people who have let us down, and then we project it onto God. Maybe someone you trusted walked away. Maybe the person who should’ve loved you most hurt you the deepest. And the fear creeps in: Will God do the same? Will He leave too? Can I trust Him? If that’s you today, listen to how Paul finishes:

Romans 8:37–39 NLT

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s love for you is not just some fleeting feeling. It is a sovereign power. An overwhelming victory.

Now, imagine you're a pitcher in a baseball game. I was terrible at baseball—I thought getting moved to right field was a promotion. It wasn’t. But picture this: it's the bottom of the ninth, tie game, and you give up a home run. How do you feel? Crushed. Like you failed everyone. That’s how many of us live before God—like it’s always the bottom of the ninth and one mistake might blow the whole game. But now, change one detail: instead of a tie game, your team is up 40–0. You give up a home run—how do you feel? Maybe a little disappointed, but you’re fine. The outcome is secure. Victory is guaranteed.

Paul is saying: God’s love for you? It’s an overwhelming victory. It’s a blowout. In fact, the game is over. The game ended at Jesus’ death and resurrection. Nothing can separate you from it. Do you hear that? You can’t outrun it. You can’t doubt yourself out of it. You can’t sin your way past it. You can’t out-suffer it. No person, no pain, no power in hell can take you from the love that is yours because you are His. As Jesus says in John 10:

John 10:27–30 NLT

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.”

Does that sound like a love that is in question? God’s love is not like the love of this world. It isn’t conditional. It isn’t circumstantial. It isn’t conquerable. You aren’t holding on to God’s love - His love is holding onto you. And it is secure. It is unshakeable. And it will never let go. Let’s pray.