I Am Persuaded

Intro

The church I grew up in didn’t use a catechism, but we did have something that served a similar function called Junior Bible Quiz. We would memorize a series of questions and answers about the Bible and then go to “quiz meets” where we would compete against other churches. Questions were worth 10, 20, or 30 points and “quotation questions” were questions in which you had to quote a portion of Scripture word for word…if you got one word wrong, you got the question wrong. Well, 8 year old me decided that I was going to take the longest quotation question I could find, (worth 30 points of course) and get it down pat.

The next meet we went to the question was asked and I buzzed in. My coach’s face went white because of course I hadn’t told her that I was working on this question…and I nailed it. From that point in, Romans 8:38-39 were my favorite verses of the Bible.

They weren’t my favorite because I was convinced of the truth contained there, but just because I could actually remember it. I knew the verses, but I didn’t understand them. I knew the verses, but I wasn’t convinced. I knew the verses, but not to the point of conviction that would change the way I live. That day, God shined a spotlight on that verse and though I didn’t grasp it at the time, with every passing year…every time I read these verses…I am more and more convinced of the fact that, as Paul says, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As the people of God we must be actively convinced of this truth…because when we are it changes everything.

Background

We all know Romans 8. It has been called by many one of the greatest chapters in all of Scripture. (If you can say something like that) I would dare to guess that many in this room would call this one of your favorite portions of the Bible. And with good reason! Here we are reminded of the good gifts from the Father that are given to those in Christ in this life and in the glory that awaits us. And verses 38 and 39 are the crescendo. I imagine Paul writing with joyful tears in his eyes, praising God as he lists those things that cannot separate those in Christ from the love of God! But Paul didn’t get there by accident. He had to be convinced.

In the ESV, verse 38 says “I am sure that ...” but I think the way the King James (how I memorized it) captures what Paul is saying a bit better. The King James says, “I am persuaded” or the NIV says, “I am convinced.” “I am sure” gives the idea that Paul is just there, he’s confident in what he says…it’s true, he is...but it didn’t just happen magically. The Greek word carries the idea of having attained certainty. It took some doing. It took time. Yes Paul is sure, but he got there through a process.

This process for him…and for us requires time, and it requires the Word.

Paul is convinced through experience

These verses didn’t come out of nowhere for Paul. They are rooted in his experience with the risen Lord. Remember, Paul was actively persecuting the church, persecuting the Lord himself, when Christ appeared to him and melted his hardened heart. In that moment when Paul’s physical eyes were blinded and his spiritual eyes were opened…he was convinced. He was convinced that he had been persecuting someone he ought not persecute. He was convinced that Jesus is Lord. He was convinced that he needed to repent…but conviction like Paul writes about in Romans 8, (deep, abiding, unshakeable conviction) takes time to grow.

When Paul talks about the inability of death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, etc....none of those things being able to separate us from God...he speaks from experience. As Paul wrote these words he could look back his life…a life which included beatings, stoning, and imprisonments as well as joyful celebration as people turned to Christ, reconciliation and unity between brothers at the Jerusalem council. When Paul speaks about these extremes - he has experienced it all. The highs and the lows. The joy and the pain. And through it all he can say that he is convinced that NONE of those things can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Few of us have experienced all of the things that Paul did. But many of us have gone through times of extreme difficulty. I’m sure there have been times where we have been more or less convinced of the security of God’s love for us. Whether it’s due to our own sin and weakness or due to external circumstances. But today, we can look back and see how God carried us through each one of those times. We can see how he’s carrying us through hard times right now. In the midst of struggle caused by Covid, politics, death, division…we can be more and more convinced that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. His love is sure. John 10 tells us that no one can snatch us out of the hand of Christ! Though the experience of the reality of struggle is hard and painful, those things have nothing on the sure love of our Lord…and he proves his love over and over again.

Look back on your life. Recognize the faithfulness of God to grow you, encourage you, deliver you from sin. Those things increase our confidence in the love of God as we remember what he has already done for us. Our hope, our trust, our confidence. Our conviction. Must be rooted in the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But experience isn’t nearly enough. If we were to stop here (which many people want to do), we would actually be quite lost....

Paul is convinced through the Word

Paul is convinced through his experience, yes. But more than that…he is convinced through the Word. It is significant that Romans 8 is found in the middle of what is usually thought of as the most systematic and theological book of the Bible. It is significant that this crescendo of joyful celebration of God’s love is found in the midst of a careful look at the way God interacts with his people.

Paul just spent seven chapters systematically working through humanity’s situation and need for a Savior. The first few chapters paint a bleak picture of the total depravity of every single member of the human race. But then he begins to shed light on the situation...We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin, we are no longer slaves to the law…but we have life in Christ! We are sinful, dirty, and hopeless…but the perfect and holy Son of God DIED to make us his!

And then chapter 8 just builds on that truth. It snowballs as Paul reveals more and more of the hope that is found in Christ

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

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

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

I truly believe that as Paul wrote this letter to the Romans he was more and more convinced with every word he wrote. Just as every time we read it, as the Spirit works in our hearts to illuminate these truths, we become more and more convinced.

Not only as we read the word, not only as we hear the word preached. But even as we preach the word. As we teach the word. We should be more and more convinced. We should more and more persuaded that nothing…no situation, no external force…nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord…who chose us, who called us, who made us his sons and daughters. And it’s out of that conviction that we serve the church. It’s out of that conviction that we do battle with sin. It’s out of that conviction that we face trials and persecution. It’s out of that conviction that we become willing to remove ourselves from a comfortable and distracted life for the sake of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. It’s out of that conviction that we call others to the same confidence in Christ.

Conclusion

I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. But just as this verse grows in meaning and impact for me with every trip around the sun…I pray it will for you too. I pray that as we live out what God has called us to, that we never become jaded or cold toward the love of God. I pray that we never look so much to those things Paul listed that we lose sight of the God who loves us.

Covid can’t separate us from the love of God.

Republicans or Democrats can’t separate us from the love of God.

Socialism or Capitalism can’t separate us from the love of God.

Let’s look at those things in their proper light…they are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

I pray that we are always motivated to love and serve the Lord Christ because he first loved us. I pray that we are daily, actively convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because that changes everything.