Victorious Christianity

Victorious Christianity

Romans 8:35-37

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=781uf4ezvXY

As I was looking at the Love of Christ last week, and how it constrains us, that is, how it restrains us but at the same time compels us, right before that Paul said something that follows through on his motivation and how he endured such great hardships so that Christ may be glorified in all that He did.

It’s found in 2 Corinthians 4.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-9 NKJV)

Let me just take a moment and break down each of these statements to see what Paul is saying to us, and the victory that we have.

“We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed.”

The word used for being hard pressed denotes strong pressure being applied from outside forces, bringing anguish, affliction, tribulation, and even persecution. But even with all this pressure being asserted, we are not crushed, that is, we are not squeezed to the place where we need to conform or compromise.

Although we are afflicted on every side, we’re not so hemmed in that the Lord cannot deliver us. He is saying that we are not in such a tight spot and cornered that God hasn’t made a way out for us, or a way to fulfill his calling.

“We are perplexed, but not in despair.”

To be perplexed means that we feel as if we have no way out, or nowhere to turn, that is we are at a loss and at our wits end. But not in despair means that we are not totally at a loss in spite of it.

In other words, we may be puzzled, but never at a complete loss. Paul was saying that in no way are we abandoned by God even when facing the possibility of never finding a way out. What we could say is that even while at a loss, we are never totally lost.

“Persecuted, but not forsaken.”

Here Paul was saying that even though we may be persecuted for our beliefs, we are not forsaken, that is, we do not stand alone, and that God has not abandoned us. That while we may be hounded by a foe, we are never at the foe’s or our enemy’s mercy.

“Struck down, but not destroyed.”

While being struck down is forceful, I think the words, “Cast down,” better reveals what Paul is saying. It means to fall, to be thrown down, and gives the idea of being severely depressed as well. And while being cast down, we are never destroyed, or taken out like yesterday’s trash.

What we could say is that while we may be knocked down, we’re not knocked out. Or, while we may be knocked to the ground, we’re not grounded.

And now we get to our verses in Romans 8:35-37, which led me to today’s teaching about being victorious in our faith.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’” (Romans 8:35-37 NKJV)

Now, there are some commentators who say that Paul is kind of interrogating, but for me it’s more like a rhetorical question, that is, not a question that he was looking for an answer, but a question that reveals that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Paul is confident, as he goes on to state in verse 38, and convinced of its accuracy, and that is, this relationship we have with Jesus has our souls inseparably untied with His. And this is obvious when we consider Christ’s love for us, as he said that while we were still sinners, still His enemy, that He died for us so that this relationship can continue into all eternity.

We see this in the Apostle John’s description of that time of Jesus’s death.

He said, “Before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” (John 13:1 NKJV)

But what also caught my attention is how several commentators and teachers said that Paul was singing a Christian’s triumph song in saying that no matter what, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

Now for me, the list Paul gives to us on what could possibly separate us from the love of Christ, but can’t, is only a sample list, but what a list it is.