OCTOBER 31, 2025 – THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST

READ: Rom. 8:38,39: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, … nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul, on behalf of Christ, seeks to strengthen us as believers in our faith. He has already provided many arguments for this. Now he comes with a concluding statement. If in Christ we have everything and receive everything, if everything is bound up with His person — our acquittal before the Father, God’s fatherly care, and soon eternal glory — could it still be lost if we were to lose our bond with Christ? He asks in verse 35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

Paul then lists the worst situations in which Satan seeks to tear believers away from Christ. In such circumstances, the human reaction might be: of course you would let go of your bond with Christ. That was also the reaction of Job’s wife when everything was taken from Job and even his body was afflicted. She said to him: “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Paul now takes stock. He has already said: we are more than conquerors. He now explains why. For the certainty of this does not rest on himself, but is worked out by God’s love: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is God Himself who says in that love: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

In John 10 the Lord Jesus Himself says of His sheep who follow Him: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” He is our Lord. We belong to Him. He has redeemed us from the power of sin and death. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. Even death has no power over us anymore (1 Cor. 15:55).

Nothing is too high, too deep, too great, too strong for Christ to overcome for us. In God’s power, with the love of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What is the most important thing in your life?
Sing: Hymn 27:4 (1984) / 35:4 (2014)