Romans 8:36-39

Passage

Just as it has been written that, “Because of you we are being put to death the whole day long; we are considered as sheep of the slaughter.”  But in all these things we are completely victorious through the one who loved us.  For I have been made certain that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor the present nor the things that are about to happen nor the powerful nor the powers of the world above nor the powers of the world below nor any other created thing will be powerful enough to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We are like sheep of the slaughter.  When we are in Christ, nothing in this world can have sway over us.  Yet, when we are in Christ, we are putting to death the ways of the world within us.  The old sinful person dies; the new creation in Christ lives.  Every day – the whole day long – we resist, struggle against, and wage war against the ways of the world.  We are like sheep led to the slaughter.  The world’s ways must die within us each and every day.

What are the ways of the world within you that need to die?  Where are the places in your life that Christ has been able to demonstrate victory in you?

Second Thought:

Note the verb tense when Paul speaks of our victory through the one who loved us.  We are completely victorious.  Paul doesn’t say, “We will be.”  He says, “We are.”  Victory is ours for the taking because it has been handed to us by God right now.  We can claim it right now.  We can be in a relationship with Him right now.  We don’t have to wait for eternal life to know God intimately.  We can know Him right now.

Do you know God intimately right now?  Do you believe victory over sin and death is within your grasp right now?

Third Thought:

As long as we’re talking about verbs, let’s look at the verb in the last expression of this section: “I have been made certain.”  This is a perfect passive, which in the Greek almost always indicates the work of God as He works in the past, present, and continues into the future.  What is Paul saying here?  He has been made certain.  Paul has received his certainty from God.  It is not his own logic that has done this.  It is not his own ability to reason that has made him certain.  Paul is certain because he has humbled himself to rely upon God.  It is that willingness to rely upon God in humbleness that likewise makes it impossible for anything else to separate him from God.

Are you humble before God?  How often do you rely upon your own understanding?  What can you do in your life to make it easier to rely upon God’s understanding?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:1-5