Despite Our Weakness, Nothing Separates Us from God’s Love—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 9A (Romans 8:26-39)

Romans 8:26-39 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all day long;

    we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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                What can separate us from the love of God? This is a question we all ask at some point, perhaps because we’re not always certain that God loves us. We can affirm the premise as we see laid out in 1 John 4, that God is love, but what does that mean in real life? This reading from Romans 8 can serve as a word of hope, but for many this hope may feel a bit false. How does everything work for our good when we are feeling overwhelmed by the world? How is God going to make lemonade from these lemons?

                Now, Paul wasn’t a Pollyannaish kind of person. He understood the realities of life in this world. He had suffered greatly, experiencing imprisonment, beatings, and shipwrecks. Yet, as we read earlier in Romans 8, he did not consider this suffering comparable to the glory that was to come (Rom. 8:18). He also recognized that the world he lived in was far from perfect. He lived under a government that was known for its brutality and cruelty. It was known as the Roman Peace, but that peace came at the cost of freedom. It did help with the economy, but most residents of the Roman Empire were slaves, not citizens. So, even as this passage seems to offer a comforting word of hope, for many it doesn’t help.  

                This portion of Romans 8, which suggests that everything will work out in the end, starts with a word about prayer. It’s clear that Paul understands the challenges we face when it comes to prayer. He tells us that the Spirit helps us because of our weakness when it comes to prayer, especially because we might not know how to pray. It is true that quite often we don’t have the words to express what’s on our hearts. However, the Holy Spirit knows what is on our hearts and can assist us in making known what is on our hearts, even if all we can utter are sighs too deep for words. Many Pentecostals point to verse 26, believing that it serves as a foundation for glossolalia (speaking in tongues) as a prayer language. While that might be difficult to prove exegetically, for many people this seems to serve that purpose even if we can’t quite explain why [on the gift of tongues or glossolalia, see my book Unfettered Spirit, pp. 128-131]. But more importantly, in verse 27 we are reminded that even if we find it difficult to put into words what is on our hearts, God searches our hearts and knows what is going on there due to the mediation of the Holy Spirit.

                Among the most misunderstood and misused verses of Scripture is found here in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Everything works together for those who love God! Really? Does this explain away the horrible realities of this world? Did the Nazi Final Solution serve some kind of good? What about a person who is sexually assaulted or murdered? Is their reality some kind of good? I could go on naming examples, but I think you get the idea. As we ponder these questions, Paul brings up predestination, suggesting that those whom God foreknew, God predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, so that the Son might be the firstborn of a large family. Indeed, the idea that God chooses people and nations for a purpose is deeply rooted in Jewish/Hebrew scriptures and teachings. God covenants with Abraham, promising that his descendants would be a blessing to the nation (Gen. 12:1-4). God calls Moses to lead the people God has chosen to a promised land (Exodus 3). The question that has proven challenging for many Christians concerns how much God does foreknow and how predestination factors into the equation.  For some, the future is open. For others, everything has been predetermined, sort of like a WWE wrestling match. There is, perhaps, a bit of comfort in knowing that God is in control of things happening in the world. However, Paul’s understanding of predestination is likely different from the Augustinian/Calvinist versions that have developed over time.  In this regard, Sarah Heaner Lancaster writes: “Paul’s remarks about predestination are words of encouragement to the recipients of this letter that God would, in fact, bring the goodness of salvation out of their suffering. Paul is not speaking here of predestination as determinism of all events. Nor is he speaking of any theories of predestination that developed much later (such as eternal decrees)” [Lancaster, Romans, Belief, p. 150]. While Lancaster is correct about Paul’s understanding of predestination, the way the world works does pose a problem when it comes to understanding how God might control things. After all, a lot of bad things are happening in the world. So, is God responsible? These are all challenging questions.  

                Having addressed the question of God’s electing work that brings about salvation, in verse 31, Paul lets us know that “if God is for us, who can be against us?” As proof, Paul points to Jesus, who, though he is God’s Son, God gave up for us. Therefore, won’t God give us everything else we need to flourish? At the very least, it suggests that God is concerned about what is happening to us. Therefore, who is going to bring a charge against God’s elect? In answer to that question, Paul points to Jesus who stands between our accusers and us, serving as our defender. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, he now sits at God’s right hand serving as our intercessor.

                Having declared that Jesus serves as our intercessor, defending us against any accuser, Paul then, in verse 35, asks an important question:  “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” Once again, Paul is trying to provide a community that is uncertain about its future with a word of encouragement. References to affliction, persecution, even facing the sword suggest that at least in Rome the Christian community was under duress. Paul wants them to know that nothing, not even death by the sword, can separate them from God’s love. To buttress his point, he turns to Psalm 44:22, which speaks of facing death in response to standing firm in one’s allegiance to God. In light of the earlier word about predestination, we need not read this as requiring God to predetermine everything, but rather as God not giving up on us. Therefore, nothing can separate us from God’s love. That includes the present and the future. That is good news because life is always filled with challenges. We can face the future knowing that while suffering may/will occur, God remains with us.

                Verses 37 to 39 remind us that God will overcome all obstacles, so that victory is in hand.   Therefore, “in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37 NRSVUE). Another way of stating this is to say that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (NRSV). I’ve always liked the idea that we are “more than conquerors,” but perhaps the New Living Translation clarifies things:  “Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” (Rom. 8:37 NLT). Why might this victory be ours? According to Paul, it is because “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

                As we ponder the message of Romans 8:26-39, it is comforting to know that nothing, not even suffering, separates us from God’s love revealed to us in Christ, who died for us (not necessarily as a penal substitution). The most important thing to remember is that apparent absence of God does not mean God has departed from us. Looking back to earlier in Romans 8, Paul has revealed that we have been adopted as God’s children, making us joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:12-25).  As a result of this adoption as God’s children, we can affirm the promise that “if God is for us, who can be against us?”