Romans 8:31b-39
31 If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
33 Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us.
34 Who will condemn? It is Christ (Jesus) who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
36 As it is written: "For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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I saw that this was the first reading for Thursday and I had to put it in here. This is one of my absolute favorite passages. Those of you who have been on this list for a while have seen it before.
If angels or principalities (two types of spiritual beings) can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, then we can’t either. There are people out there who think they are too far gone, that they can’t be forgiven for what they’ve done in their lives. But the teaching is clear – the road is always open to repentance and acceptance of God’s limitless mercy and forgiveness. We always have to make the first step though.
If you haven’t done this recently, you should really take the time to read Romans 7 and Romans 8 together. Romans 7 speaks of the duality in which we live – new creations in Christ, yet still stuck in our worldly bodies. Romans 8 discusses how Christ delivers us from that duality, and the glorious path that Christ has built for us.
