By Bobby Thornhill

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present not things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

A powerful statement from one known for His powerful statements. In Paul’s eyes, there isn’t the remotest possibility of being separated from God’s love. No power on earth, or in the heavens can cause such a rift.

Such an all-encompassing passage as this, that is entirely correct, has been as often misused as not. For many, these verses are often quoted as evidence of a salvation secure from any possibility of loss or failure. For many others, this passage simply means that God loves us all, always, and that He always has and always will. It is written on every page of Scripture that God loves us, all that He has done, all that is written in our Bibles, confirms the fact that God does loves us unconditionally; and there is absolutely nothing that we can do about it.

To apply these verses to mean something else is to go beyond the authority of men, and to encroach upon the Holy Spirit’s position as our guide. The same Holy Spirit Who inspired

St. Paul to write Romans, inspired the writer of Hebrews (this same St. Paul in the KJV) to write these words: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6, NKJV).

As glorious as it would be to know that we could never lose our salvation, we must also live with these Hebrew verses in mind, and live accordingly. As St. Paul also said, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12, NKJV).

We cannot rest on our moment of “salvation” as the end of our responsibility to grow in grace. It is the duty of every Christian, the reasonable service of all believers (Romans 12:1) to continue presenting ourselves a living sacrifice to the God Who will always love us.