“Who will separate us from the love of Christ” (2)

[Romans 8:35–37]

Here are 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 being killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Last Wednesday’s midweek service we meditated only on Romans 8:35 under the title “Who will separate us from the love of Christ” (1). Today, as we meditate on the remaining verses 36–37, we seek the grace and challenge they give us.

Romans 8:36–37 reads: “As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” The phrase “as it is written” refers to Psalm 44:22 in the Old Testament: “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” “This psalm is regarded as an earnest lament set against the backdrop of the crisis that arose from the invasion of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, and the verse is quoted by Paul in his letter to the Roman church, which was undergoing extreme persecution.” (internet) In this passage, “being killed all day long” signifies intense suffering and hardship experienced continuously. Also, “counted as sheep for the slaughter” figuratively expresses being in a position like sheep driven helplessly to death, feeling threatened by death amid anxiety and fear. (internet) “Even in such extreme circumstances, the psalmist confesses that he did not forget God, did not disobey God’s word, and did not shrink back but continued to walk the path of faith.” (internet) “This verse carries a spiritual message that even amid suffering and trials we may not understand, when we seek to live according to God’s will we must not lose our hearts toward God but must cling to his word.” (internet) The central message of Psalm 44:22 (quoted in Rom. 8:36) is that even within the reality of suffering we cannot comprehend by our own wisdom, we must trust God’s providence, look only to God, and steadfastly keep the way of faith. (source: internet)

In the Old Testament, we actually find, in the book of Daniel, people of faith who, even amid incomprehensible suffering, relied wholly on God and kept walking the way of faith.

(1) The first people of faith are Daniel’s three friends—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

The unbearable situation these three faced was that they were denounced by some Babylonians because they refused to obey King Nebuchadnezzar’s command: “When you hear the sound of the trumpet, pipe, lyre, harp, tambourine, and all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.” (Dan. 3:5) They were accused because they “would not serve the king’s gods or worship the golden image that the king had set up.” (v.12, Modern Bible) The enraged King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be brought in at once (v.13) and, after verifying that they would not worship the image (v.14), said, “If you do not fall down and worship, you shall immediately be cast into a furnace of blazing fire. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” (v.15) Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to present a defense to you in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (vv.16–18, Modern Bible) Furious, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace heated seven times more than usual, and commanded strong men to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the blazing furnace. (vv.19–20) So they were bound and thrown into the furnace. Because of the king’s command and the furnace’s heat, the men who threw them in were themselves consumed by the flames, and the three fell into the fiery furnace bound. (vv.21–23)

Thus, as Romans 8:36 (cf. Ps. 44:22) says—“For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter”—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego endured persecution and trial, yet, as Romans 8:37 says, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us,” they were more than conquerors over those trials. Thrown into the furnace, they were “walking in the fire and were not hurt” (v.25), and when they came out, just as the king had said, they had no burns; their hair was not singed, their clothes were unharmed, and there was no smell of fire on them. (vv.26–27, Modern Bible) Therefore Nebuchadnezzar said, “…Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who can deliver like this.” (vv.28–29, Modern Bible) Nebuchadnezzar also promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. (v.30, Modern Bible)

(2) The second man of faith is Daniel.

Because Daniel was outstandingly quick of mind and above the other administrators and satraps, the king planned to set him over the whole realm. But the other administrators and satraps sought to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in the affairs of the kingdom, yet they could find no corruption or negligence in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. (Dan. 6:2–4) So they concluded they could only find grounds for accusation against him regarding his religion. They went to King Darius and asked that a law be signed making it illegal for thirty days to pray to any god or man except the king, so that whoever disobeyed would be thrown into the lions’ den. (vv.6–7) The king signed the decree with his ring (v.9). Daniel, however, on learning that the document had been signed, went to his house, opened the windows toward Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day, as he had done before. (v.10) The conspirators watched and reported to the king, “Did you not sign a decree that anyone who prays to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den?” (vv.11–12) The king answered, “The law of the Medes and Persians is that a decree signed by the king may not be changed.” (v.12) They reminded the king that Daniel, a Judean taken into exile, had disobeyed the decree by praying to his God three times a day. (v.13) The king was greatly distressed and sought to rescue Daniel, but at sunset the conspirators again urged the king to remember the unchangeable law. (v.15) So the king reluctantly ordered Daniel to be cast into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you.” (v.16) Early the next morning the king hurried to the den and called anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” (v.19–20) Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” (vv.21–22) The king was exceeding glad and commanded Daniel to be taken up; when they brought Daniel out of the den, he was unharmed, for he had trusted in his God. (vv.23)

Thus Daniel, like his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, being people of faith, “in all these things were more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

We too must, like Daniel and his friends, be “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v.37). Our object of faith—the “one who loves us” (v.37)—is Christ Jesus, who not only died but was raised again (v.34). We must, by faith in Christ Jesus, fight and overcome every tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword (v.35). We believe that Christ Jesus died for our sins so that we might receive forgiveness and be declared righteous, and that he was raised for our justification (cf. Rom. 4:25). We also believe that he now “is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34, Modern Bible) — we hold the unbreakable assurance (v.39, Modern Bible) that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord — and with that conviction we must, by faith, fight and overcome ourselves, the world, sin, death, and the devil. “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4, Modern Bible).