Paul Summarizes the Love of God to and for His
Children Part 3
Romans
8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? As it is written: “For Your
sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. NKJV
Paul has declared that God the Father justifies us
and Christ has died for us and is continually making intercession for each one
of us, then the only thing left for Paul to joyfully say after that is to ask a
question as he again looked back upon his own journey and walk of faith with
our Lord Jesus Christ drawing upon the many situations he found himself as he
was simply being obedient to Christ moment by moment of every day of his life.
As we said when we turned the corner into the home stretch of this chapter,
that Paul began to have a praise-a-thon beginning at verse 31 as he summed up
all that he had written from Romans 5
leading into verse 31. The Apostle Paul was so overwhelmed with God’s love for
him and to him in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ that he asked this
profound question already himself knowing the answer because during the course
of his life over the many years he had experienced all of the things that he
will list for us and is now testifying with praise and adoration that he has
found with rock solid certainty that Christ love for His Elect sons and
daughters can never be broken, burnt out, or banished under any circumstance,
or condition, or do to any cause.
Paul had discovered what I am sure every true regenerated
born again child of God of every generation does as they walk intimately with
our Precious Lord Jesus Christ for many years. Paul knew experimentally how
much our Lord Jesus so loved him despite how things may have appeared on the
outside. Paul found himself in some very hard and dangerous situations where
his life was not only threatened, but he was stoned to death on one occasion,
but Paul knew it was our Lord Jesus Christ who rescued him from every evil work
at the hands of men as these evil men carried out satans schemes and plots to
stop the Apostle from proclaiming the truth of the gospel. When Paul was in
Corinth a pagan city given over to all manner of abominations and he was not
welcomed there by the masses, but Paul records for us the words spoken to him
by our Lord Jesus as He said to him, Acts
18:9-11 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I
am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this
city.” And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the
word of God among them. NKJV Paul was also held by the Jews and stood
before the rulers of the Sanhedrin on one occasion and so infuriated them that
Ananias commanded those who stood by Paul to strike him in the mouth and Paul
became angry and said, Acts 23:3 “God
will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according
to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?” NKJV
Paul was in Jerusalem on this occasion and always
found himself in peril when in the presence of these very same men whom he used
to persecute the followers of Christ with. However, Paul records for us later
in this same Chapter of Acts how our Lord showed His Love and care for him as
He stood by Paul and said to him, Acts
23:11 “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have
testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” NKJV
These are just a couple of examples we see here that so motivated Paul into
this praise-a-thon as he no doubt recounts all the times he experienced the
matchless, merciful, and mighty love that so freely flows from the endless
fountain of our Lord Jesus’ Throne of Grace to all of His Elect children, no
matter the occasion or need. Paul never found himself (even in the toughest of
times) wanting for knowing the Love of God as it flowed from our Lord Jesus
Christ to him (John 13:1). Paul also
knew deep down within his own heart that his love for our Lord Jesus Christ (as
weak at times as it may have been) never was lost no matter the ordeals he
endured as he said here of himself and the other Apostles, 1 Corinthians 4:10-13 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are
wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are
distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger
and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor,
working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we
endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world,
the off scouring of all things until now. NKJV Paul literally knew what the
Psalmist meant when he wrote those words in Psalms 44:22 and this is why Paul
refers to them in the middle of his praise-a-thon to the Glory of Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in his
2nd letter to them, 2
Corinthians 7:5 For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest,
but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were
fears. NKJV Paul was not some super-saint nor did he ever refer to himself
as Saint Paul as he is now known by so many around the world, but he was a man
of flesh and blood just like you and me, but he was what he was by the grace of
God, yet he stilled suffered the very same distress as all the elect do of
every generation without exception. It was Paul who also wrote these words, Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is
Christ, and to die is gain. NKJV Only a person surrendered to the
Glorified Risen Lord and Savior and filled with love and gratitude for Him
could write such words as these and mean them. Paul goes on to say that through
the love we have received from our Lord Jesus Christ that we are not just
alright, but we are more than conquerors or to define the Greek word hupernikao (that this English phrase
comes from) it means to vanquish beyond; to gain a decisive victory. When we
read all the turmoil, peril, persecution, distress, anguish, famine, nakedness,
etc. experienced by the Apostle Paul and then read him speaking of himself and
all of us elect of every generation being decisive victors, it is no wonder why
so many atheist and others who want to relegate the Bible to a book written by
mere men label Paul as a lunatic because this life is a defeated life in their
eyes. Paul knew that his great enemies of sin, satan, and death were all
conquered by our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross and all the earthly or human enemies
of our Lord Jesus were defeated at the same time and that he and all of us
elect children in Him are super-conquerors over all of them as well. Paul was
not deterred in declaring himself the great victor that he was and is now as he
is in the Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ forever.
Jeremiah
31:3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you
with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you. NKJV
1
Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. NKJV
“When all smiles upon you, you may think there is no
need to talk of such a thing as separation from the love of Christ; but if persecution were to
come, and you were to be led forth to the fire, you would feel that that love of Christ is a VERY PRECIOUS thing.”
G. V. Wigram
“When a man and a woman give themselves to each
other in an act of marital love,
they can know the love of Christ as no one else can know
it.” J. Vernon McGee
“Whatever persecuting enemies may rob us of, they
cannot rob us of the love of Christ, they cannot intercept His love-tokens,
they cannot interrupt nor exclude His visits: and therefore, let them do their
worst, they cannot make a true believer miserable. We do not, will not, love Him
the less for this; and that for this reason, because we do not think that He
loves us the less. Charity thinks no evil, entertains no misgiving thoughts,
makes no hard conclusions, no unkind constructions, takes all in good part that
comes from love. A true Christian loves Christ never the less though he suffer
for Him, thinks never the worse of Christ though he lose all for Him.” Matthew
Henry
“When the love of God was shed abroad into my heart
at the instant and moment of my conversion through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), He did not set conditions
on His Love to me, therefore, no matter my lot in this alien life I now live,
why would I only love my Lord Jesus Christ when things are going well and I
understand all of His Sovereign doings during my sojourn (Job 13:15). Even when I cannot understand what He is doing or see
where He is leading and even in my miserable failure, I love Him still (John 21:17).” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
If you do not
know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You
shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead
proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my
sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my
life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely
in Christ,
Author
of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and
Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into
Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s
Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod,
Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners,
Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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