A few years ago, there were many groups of young Christians that would go out into the streets of New York City, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ without fear of no one. These young Christians would set up tents in many parts of the city and preach the gospel to many people and they would hear the testimonies that these young Christians had and many accepted Jesus Christ as there Savior. They ran around singing and shouting with great joy saying "Who shall separate us from the love of God", others would say "When the devil start messing God starts blessing". But out of all that they were saying, there was one phrase that seriously caught my attention "We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ".
One thing that Christians must realize is that we are not super human and we are not gods. We will suffer and pass through some hard times, but what we should always remember is that God is for us and nothing shall separate us from the love of God that’s in Jesus Christ. This is the promise we find in Romans 8 which is one of the most hopeful and comforting passages in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is the central theme, and Paul defines the Spirit’s role in our lives.
Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr. states the following:
Paul was certain that the Holy Spirit would grant him whatever was necessary to sustain him in any situation. The Greek word translated “provision” in Philippians 1:19 means “bountiful supply” or “full resources.” Paul understood that he could rely on the complete resources of the Holy Spirit, based on what Jesus promised (Luke 11:13; John 14-16; Acts 1:8). That truth is a source of confidence–not just for Paul, but also for us. Every genuine believer possesses that same source. Romans 8:26 says: “The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” That’s how things work out for good (v. 28). Trials, tribulations, and sufferings don’t resolve themselves for us in some vacuum. But we are able to endure them through the provision of God’s Spirit – a provision we can know by faith and obedience (Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Power of Suffering [Wheaton, Ill: Victor Books, 1995], 77).
The Spirit works alongside us as we relate to God, even praying for us when we don’t know what to ask (8:26). Mainly, the Spirit teaches us the benefits of being a child of God.
The circumstances of a believer’s life are ordained by God. In the life of the believer there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit of God in you may take a place. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say, I am going to be my own providence. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, so never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in.
Conflict won’t disappear completely yet, says Paul, for we are part of a "groaning", imperfect creation (8:18-25), but with God working for us, we can be more than conquerors, and one day God will make all creation perfect again. That promise should assure us that nothing can separate us from God’s love (8:38, 39).
Is it worth the struggle? I sometimes ask myself this very same question. Paul never minimizes suffering; after all, his own life included beatings, imprisonment, shipwrecks, assassination attempts, and chronic illness, but he insists with absolute conviction that future rewards will outweigh all present sufferings.
Olympic athletes endure years of eight-hours of practice sessions and much discipline and pain for the goal of winning a gold medal. Similarly, the Christian’s life on earth may involve many difficulties (verses 22, 23), but the end result will make them seem worthwhile. Paul doesn’t promise that only good or pleasurable, things will come to the Christian. What he does say is that even the difficult experiences described in verses 35-39 can be used in God’s overall plan for good.
The main reason for problems and sufferings is so that our faith in God can grow even more each day, and so that we can rely on God’s strength instead of our own. Many people try to solve their own problems with their own strength and all they do is make things even worse. Others try to find a way out of their misery and they choose suicide, drugs, violence or drinking as their way out.
Just as we have problems in our physical lives, we also experience problems in our spiritual lives. Facing and conquering these problems cause us to grow and be strengthened, whether those problems are physical or spiritual. As we grow in the Lord, we bring glory to God as He demonstrates His faithfulness and shows us that His grace is sufficient for every need (2 Cor. 12:9), but suffering should not drive us away from God, instead it should help us to identify with Him further and allow His love to reach us and heal us.
Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr. stated the following:
You will never know all the benefits of the power of suffering until you realize that a sovereign God is providentially ordering everything for your good and His glory. Once you come to accept that God is in control of all things, you will be that much better prepared to deal with whatever hardships and sufferings He may choose to send your way – “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28 nasb) (Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Power of Suffering [Wheaton, Ill: Victor Books, 1995], 116).
No matter what happens to us, no matter where we are, we can never be lost to His love. God is in control even if things seem to be out of control.
A good friend of mine, introduced to me a song of prayer in which she uses in her time of suffering and pain, and it says,
"Oh Lord I praise you, for you have given me life and came to live in me. Oh Lord I do not want to be sad anymore, for you have set me free of all my afflictions and liberated me so that I may praise your Holy name. Oh Lord I praise and worship you, for I know that by doing so, I will feel peace and joy in my life".
This prayer of praise was very inspiring to me for it made me see the beauty of God’s glory in my time of affliction and pain. Many times when I pray I use these same words to express to God how I feel and recognize that God is truly in control.
Suffering with Christ is a natural part of being a child of God. We do not fear suffering, but endure it knowing our future is not determined by how the world treats us, but by the heavenly inheritance God has promised. Our suffering is infinitely small compared to the glorious inheritance God has for us. Present sufferings for humanity and all of creation will end when God guides history to its climax. God works in every situation for the good of His people. No suffering can cut God’s people off from His love.
Our goal is to participate in the salvation made possible by God’s grace and love, proven and displayed in the cross and resurrection of Christ. No type of evil and suffering can keep us from participating in that salvation. Only failure to trust Christ separates us from His saving love.
Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms; persecution, illness, disease, sickness, affliction, imprisonment and even death. These caused them to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ, but Paul teaches that it is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us is proof of His unconquerable love and nothing can stop Christ’s constant presence with us. God tells us how great His love is so that we will feel totally secure in Him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid. Even in hardship and suffering, in bitter disappointments, and when wrongly treated, Christians can know that God will work amidst such situations to fulfill His good purpose in us. The situation may or may not be directly changed by God, but even if situations stay difficult God guarantees ultimate good results.
Regarding Romans 8:35-37, Oswald Chambers stated in his best-seller book, “My Utmost For His Highest” the following:
God does not keep a man immune from trouble; He says, “I will be with him in trouble.” It does not matter what actual troubles in the most extreme form get hold of a man’s life, not one of them can separate him from his relationship to God. We are “more than conquerors in all these things.” Paul is not talking of imaginary things, but of things that are desperately actual; and he says we are super-victors in the midst of them, not by our ingenuity, or by our courage, or by anything other than the fact that not one of them affects our relationship to God in Jesus Christ. Rightly or wrongly, we are where we are, exactly in the condition we are in. I am sorry for the Christian who has not something in his circumstances he wishes was not there.
“Shall tribulation…?” Tribulation is never a noble thing; but let tribulation be what it may exhausting, galling, fatiguing, it is not able to separate us from the love of God. Never let care or tribulations separate you from the fact that God loves you.
“Shall anguish…?” can God’s love hold when everything says that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?
“Shall famine…?” can we not only believe in the love of God but be more than conquerors, even while we are being starved?
Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver and Paul is deluded, or some extraordinary thing happens to a man who holds on to the love of God when the odds are all against God’s character. Logic is silenced in the face of every one of these things. Only one thing can account for it, the Love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.
Paul speaking of the things that might seem likely to separate or wedge in between the saint and the love of God; but the remarkable thing is that nothing can wedge in between the love of God and the saint. These things can and do come in between the devotional exercises of the soul and God and separate individual life from God; but none of them is able to wedge in between the love of God and the soul of the saint. The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomles marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross of Calvary, a love we never can and never shall merit. Paul says this is the reason we are more than conquerors in all these things, super-victors, with joy we would not have but for the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,” says Paul. (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Discovery House Publishers, 1963], 101, 48).
For any Christian who is discouraged this powerful chapter gives assurance of Christ’s present love, active at every moment in the Christian’s life. Are any causes of discouragement greater than those Paul mentions? And if not, then we are never in this life separated from Christ’s love. Even in hardships we can be more than conquerors. Satan cannot bring eternal harm to God’s children. Jesus protects us from him. We are not part of the world Satan controls. Not even Satan can separate us from Christ; if God is for us who can be against us. God is All Powerful and Almighty. Satan is not. Christians can overcome Satan and his attacks through Christ Jesus. We should never give place to the devil, but trust in God to help us maintain that faith in His eternal grace and love.
In the City of New York, it is not easy to preach the Word of God nor is it easy being a Christian. Through all the sufferings, persecutions, the abuses, domestic violence, racism, denominational walls, political corruption and false religions that many Christians in this great city encounter daily, they are able to sing out loud with joy "We are more than conquerors", because they believe in a Mighty God, in an Awesome God that can still deliver us in our times of trouble, that through all the chaos and confusion He can bring order, and by His Holy Spirit comforts us in our most difficult times and through His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord who has taken all sufferings for us at the cross of Calvary.
