UNSHAKEABLE: While the work of God to redeem and remake you is inexorably marching toward a glorious conclusion, we are still trapped in the sinful flesh, living in the sin-infested world, under the assault of the king of sin, Satan. And often our sense of reality is that sin — our sin, the world’s sin, the unrelenting pressure of the sin-maker — is dragging us in the opposite direction of our redemption. But the greater reality is that while that may seem to be true, God is at work in us, working out His eternal purposes. And here is the good news: His work is unstoppable! Moreover, while we are living in that dual reality between the awful pull of sin and the unstoppable work of redemption, we are inseparable from the stubborn, persistent, irrevocable love of God.
Unshakeable Living // Romans 8:35, 38-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … 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.
Thank God for Romans 8. It is chock full of encouraging theology that reminds us of the great and unstoppable effort God exerted to redeem us from sin, remake us into the image of Jesus, and ready us to fit into His eternal purposes. Among many other reasons, this is so encouraging because often, on the surface of things, it seems as if precisely the opposite of redeeming, remaking, and readying us for glory both in this life and especially in the next is the farthest thing from what is actually happening.
You see, we live in a dual reality. While the work of God mentioned above is inexorably marching toward a glorious conclusion, we are still trapped in the sinful flesh, living in the sin-infested world, under the assault of the king of sin, Satan. And often our sense of reality is that sin — our sin, the world’s sin, the unrelenting pressure of the sin-maker — is dragging us in the opposite direction of our redemption.
But the greater reality is that while that may seem to be true, God is at work in you, working out His eternal purposes. And here is the good news: His work is unstoppable! Moreover, while you are living in that dual reality between the awful pull of sin and the unstoppable work of redemption, you are inseparable from the stubborn, persistent, irrevocable love of God.
Did you catch that twice in these verses Paul reminds us of this glorious truth — that between you and God’s love, the only thing that stands is the word “inseparable”? What is it that can separate you from God’s ever-abiding, redeeming, providing, sustaining love? Nothing!
Within the category of “nothing” is an exhaustive list of things that cannot come between you and God’s love: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, the sword; not even 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. I think that pretty much covers it, don’t you?
Yes, not even your sin — past, present, and future — can come between you and God’s love. Christ Jesus made sure of that on the cross.
Inseparable!
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