ABIDING IN GOD'S LOVE

Charles N. Spence, Jr.

"Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:35, 38-39).

Good religious folk, for a long time, have been using this passage to proof-text the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. The doctrine states that once one is saved, they are always saved. While the Bible contains numerous passages that clearly refute the doctrine of "Once saved, always saved" Romans 8 definitely does not teach such a doctrine.

The question that Paul asks is rhetorical. Up to this point, Paul throughout the book of Romans had been showing the steps in which God has taken to initiate salvation for mankind. In chapters 1-3, Paul made the argument that everyone was under condemnation because of sin. In chapters 4-5, Paul makes it clear that man had to be justified in order to come to God. God sought to declare as righteous His creation as long as they were willing to respond in faith. Paul also points out that God simply did not remove His condemnation, but allowed it to come upon the one who would stand in man’s place: Jesus. In chapters 6-7, Paul sets forth the doctrine of sanctification. Man must separate himself from that which brought upon himself God's condemnation. There must be a death to sin principle that is linked to God's ability to justify man. One must put off, crucify, and bury the old man and his deeds. Romans 6:3-4 describes the process in which this is accomplished. Afterwards, one must "Put on" the new man, which is the righteousness of Christ. Galatians 3:27 describes the process by which one is clothed with Christ. By being baptized in Christ one is set apart from the elements that brought on God's condemnation. This brings us to Romans 8 where Paul says, "There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit" (v. 1). Later in Romans 8, Paul speaks of the glory that God has in store for his children.

Getting back to the original passage in question, Paul, reflecting on the plan of redemption, is simply stating that justification, sanctification and glorification are the results of God's eternal love and that there is no force in the universe that will keep His love from extending to mankind. No matter what may happen or what we may do, it will not keep God from loving us. He loves us even when we don't love Him. Another way of looking at the passage is this: just because bad things may happen to us does not mean that God has stopped loving us. What every one needs to do is to abide in God's love by doing those things which he commands (John 15:10).