Jesus’ words
“Father, forgive them,
for they do not
know
what they are doing”
are found in Luke 23:34.
Jesus looked down from
the cross
upon a scene that must have
been distressing to Him.
The Roman
soldiers were gambling for
His clothing
(John 19:23–24);
the criminals on the crosses
to either side
of Him were reviling Him
(Matthew 27:44);
The religious leaders were
mocking Him
(Matthew 27:41–43);
and the crowd was
blaspheming Him
(Matthew 27:39).
Surrounded by this most
unworthy lot,
Jesus prayed for them.
“Father, forgive them” is a
prayer of
unmatched mercy and love.
Even in His agony,
Jesus’ concern was for
the forgiveness
of those
who counted themselves
among His enemies.
He asked the Father to
forgive the thieves
on the cross who jeered at Him.
He asked the Father to forgive
the Roman
soldiers who had mocked Him,
spit on Him,
beat Him, yanked out His beard,
whipped Him,
put a crown of thorns on His head,
and nailed Him to the cross.
Jesus asked forgiveness
for the angry mob
that had
mocked Him and called for
His crucifixion
(Mark 15:29–30).
It is important to note that Jesus’ prayer,
"Father, forgive them,” does not mean that
everyone was forgiven, unilaterally,
without
repentance and faith.
It does mean that
Jesus was willing to forgive them—forgiveness
was, in fact,
the reason
He was on the cross.
The words
“Father, forgive them” show
the
merciful heart of God.
Jesus prayed,
"Father, forgive them,” because He was
fulfilling
Old Testament prophecy:
“He bore
the sin of many,
and made
intercession for the
transgressors”
(Isaiah 53:12).
From the cross, Jesus interceded for sinners.
Today, risen and glorified,
Jesus remains the “one mediator between God and mankind”
1 Timothy 2:5)
Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them,”
because He was putting into practice
the principle He had
taught in the
Sermon on the Mount:
"You have heard that it was said, ‘
Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you”
(Matthew 5:43–44).
Jesus, the persecuted, prayed for
His persecutors.
Coupled with the willingness of Jesus
to forgive His tormentors
is the fact that they
did not know what they were doing
(Luke 23:34).
The sinners
who put
Jesus on the cross were
ignorant of the
true import of their actions.
The soldiers
personally held no ill
will
toward Him.
They were simply following orders.
This was how they normally
treated condemned men,
and they believed that He
truly deserved it.
They didn’t know that they were
killing
the
Son of God
(see 1 Corinthians 2:8).
The mob didn’t really know whom
they were trying to destroy.
The Jewish leaders had
deceived them into believing that
Jesus was a fake and a troublemaker
(Acts 3:17).
In praying
“Father, forgive them,”
Jesus revealed His infinite mercy;
He still loved them
and would forgive them if only
they would
humble themselves and repent
Matthew 18:14; 2 Peter 3:9
Jesus’ prayer
“Father, forgive them” was answered in the lives
of many people.
The Roman centurion at the foot of the cross, upon
seeing how Jesus died,
exclaimed,
“Surely this man was
the
Son of God!
” (Mark 15:39).
One of the two thieves crucified with Jesus
exercised faith in Christ,
who promised him paradise
(Luke 23:39–43)
. A member of the Sanhedrin
publicly
aligned himself with Jesus
(John 19:39)
. And, a little over a month later, three thousand
people in Jerusalem
were saved in one day as the church began
(Acts 2:41).
On the cross Jesus provided forgiveness
for all those
who would ever believe in Him
(Matthew 20:28).
Jesus paid the penalty
for the sins
that we commit in our ignorance,
and even the
ones we’ve committed deliberately.
When we are born again,
we, too, become an answer to
Jesus’ prayer
“Father, forgive them.”
Galatians 6:2 says,
“Bear one another’s burdens, and
so fulfill
the law of Christ.”
The word burden here means
“a weight of personal
and
eternal significance.”
It can refer to a character flaw, a struggle, or a moral requirement. Some have wondered at the meaning of this verse as it compares to Galatians 6:5, which says, “Each one should bear his own load.”
Are these verses contradictory? How can we bear someone else’s burdens if we are each supposed to carry our own loads?
The Greek word translated “load” in Galatians 6:5 is phortion, which refers to an individual burden that is not transferable. We each have certain obligations for which we alone are responsible. For example, God has given each of us responsibilities for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), our churches (1 Corinthians 12:18), and our personal holiness (1 Peter 1:15–16).
We cannot assume the responsibility for someone else’s behavior. We can, however, bear other burdens; we can come alongside a struggling brother or sister and help shoulder the weight of a trial or temptation that threatens to pull him under.
We can illustrate the idea of bearing one another’s burdens with the picture of a man staggering beneath a heavy load of grain. He must somehow get this grain home to his family, but he is about to crumble beneath its weight. A brother sees his distress and rushes to his aid, lifting a part of the burden and thereby easing the weight of it.
Although the supportive one does not assume the whole load, his help allows the struggling one to carry on to his destination.
The church at Antioch is an
example of believers
bearing one another’s burdens.
Acts 11:27–30
records that the church learned of a
coming famine in Judea.
Though they did not personally know the ones who would be affected by this difficulty, they took up collections to
send to them by way of traveling apostles.
The Antioch church did
not assume
responsibility for total provision,
but their
generosity lightened the load
for those
who would be suffering.
We are each responsible
before God for the
gifts and resources He has
entrusted to us
Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10
We cannot blame others,
shift responsibility, or
make excuses about why we
were unfaithful
with the assignments we’ve
been given--
we must
bear our own loads.
But there are also times when life threatens
to overwhelm.
A spouse dies. A child is injured. A job
folds or a house burns down.
As part of the family of God,
we are to come
to the aid of our brothers and sisters in need
(Philippians 2:3–4).
When a load suddenly becomes too heavy for one person,
we are to bear one another’s burdens.
The added strength and encouragement of others is
often the difference
between pressing on and giving up.
Unfortunately, there are a few who isolate
Galatians 6:2
and make a career out of asking for help.
They misuse God’s command
to bear one another’s
burdens to avoid their own
responsibilities and habitually
harass their church
families with expectations of aid.
Walking
in the light of God’s Word
is a delicate balance between
selfless giving
and responsible boundaries.
If we err too far on one side,
we become self-focused and
overly independent. But erring too far
the other way
leads to assuming responsibility
for other people’s messes.
When we aim to bear our own loads,
while always being available to
bear the burdens of others as the Lord leads,
we will strike that perfect balance.
In the first section of
Colossians 3 (1–17)
Paul writes to encourage his readers in their
general
mindset and behavior.
Concluding that section,
Paul writes that
whatever we
do in
word or deed is for
God’s glory
(Colossians 3:17).
This is the
overarching principle
that should
govern
the life of the believer.
Paul provides specific descriptions
of what doing all for
God’s glory
should look like in how we think
(Colossians 3:1–4),
how we handle the desires of the flesh
(Colossians 3:11)
, and how we should care for and treat one another'
(Colossians 3:12–15).
He then identifies the basis for
empowering
that kind of thought and conduct
(Colossians 3:16).
Paul concludes the section with the exhortation that we make sure that whatever we do in word or deed is for God’s glory (Colossians 3:17). Following those general instructions, Paul offers specific ways believers can faithfully steward the various relationships God provides
(Colossians 3:18—4:6).
Because of the work God has done to make us alive in Christ, we should be focused on things above where Christ is (Colossians 3:1–4). Because of the future return of Christ in glory and the associated glorification of believers, we should put on the new self—walking in the newness of life and avoiding the idolatry of focusing on things that serve the flesh (Colossians 3:5–11).
An important aspect of walking in this newness of life is in how believers treat one another, and that should be characterized by love and its specific expressions like compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience
(Colossians 3:12–14).
Those expressions of love ought to be based on the peace that God has provided us through Christ, and that peace of Christ should be a controlling factor in how we think and act within the body—because we have been called to be part of that body with other believers.
We ought also to be grateful for this
(Colossians 3:15).
The key
is to diligently allow
the
word of Christ
to be at
home in us—to dwell
richly in us
Colossians 3:16a
As His Word shapes us, we can be sure that whatever
we do in word or deed is for God’s glory.
The Word
should change how we talk to each other,
providing us avenues to build one another up and
to teach each other—again, this is always to be
accompanied by gratitude and
thankfulness to God
(Colossians 3:16b).
After providing these directions, and before discussing
the expectations of our conduct in specific relationships
(Colossians 3:18—4:6),
Paul covers overarching principles
that help us make sure
that whatever we do in word or deed is for God’s glory
Colossians 3:17
. In this also we are to express thankfulness.
We are given important tools that
enable us to make sure that whatever
we do in word or
deed
is for God’s glory
(Colossians 3:17).
Those tools include
a heavenly focused
mindset
Colossians 3:2
considering the “old self” to be dead and putting on
the new self (Colossians 3:5–10),
putting on a heart that expresses love and its individual
characteristics
(Colossians 3:11–14),
allowing His peace to govern our hearts
(Colossians 3:15), '
immersing ourselves in the Bible,
which is allowing His word
to be at home in us (Colossians 3:16)
, and being constantly filled with and focused on
gratitude and thanksgiving
(Colossians 3:15, 16, 17).
When we are putting these tools to use, we are more
likely to ensure that whatever
we do in word or deed is for God’s glory
(Colossians 3:17).
John 3:16 presents Bible readers with what is likely the purest,
most straightforward summary of the
good news
of
God’s saving
love
that Jesus Christ
brings to the world: “
For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever
believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.”
Jesus, speaking with the Jewish Pharisee
Nicodemus, continued,
“For God
did not send
his Son
into the world
to
condemn the world,
but to save
the
world through him”
(John 3:17).
Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save the world was an important truth and a new revelation that Jewish believers would need to wrap their heads around.
The Jews had no problem accepting the idea of God’s special love for Israel, but the notion that “God so loved the world” was groundbreaking theological material to the Jewish mindset.
With this statement, Jesus revealed the
all-embracing
scope of God’s love under
the
New Covenant
God’s agape love does not discriminate between Jew and Gentile, enslaved person or free, male or female (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). The Father sent His Son to destroy prejudices and break down barriers of division to bring God’s great love and salvation to every man, woman, and child in the entire world (Matthew 28:19).
And His plan of salvation has been a global strategy all along (See Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 14:6).
Jesus did not come to condemn the world because the world was already condemned. The Greek word (krinō) translated as “condemn”
in John 3:17 means “to declare guilty; to pronounce guilt and a punitive sentence on someone in a legal sense; to judge.”
The Bible says that all people are born in sin inherited from Adam
(Romans 5:12; Psalm 51:5).
We come into this world already pronounced
guilty and condemned to die
(Romans 5:17–19; 6:23).
In Romans 3:21–31, the apostle Paul teaches that Jesus Christ took the punishment for our sin upon Himself when He sacrificed His life on the cross. He died so that we could be “made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (verse 22, NLT). Anyone who puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ is restored to fellowship with God (verse 26).
Those who belong to Christ Jesus
are no longer condemned because “the power of the
life-giving Spirit” frees them “from the power of sin
that leads to death
''” (Romans 8:1–2, NLT).
Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to escape a guilty sentence: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the
name of God’s one and only Son”
John 3:18).
Rejecting Jesus results in condemnation and death (John 3:36).
Ultimately, salvation for everyone in the world,
from the beginning of history until the end of time,
'
is rooted in faith in Jesus Christ
(see Romans 4:1–24; Hebrews 11:6, 13, 26; John 1:12).
There is no other way to be saved
John 3:14–15; 11:25; 14:6; Acts 4:12
God sent His one-and-only Son to die,
not just for the people of Israel,
but as a loving Savior for everyone.
He is “the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world!
” (John 1:29).
Jesus did not come to condemn the
world but to save those who believe in Him.
Our Savior’s mission was not to sentence people to death
: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Christ laid down His life to take away the curse of sin
that separates sinners from God
(Romans 8:33–34).
Jesus came to bring His Father’s
gift of salvation so that all
who believe in Him might
enjoy fellowship in
His presence for all eternity.
Christ-honoring fellowship is only possible
when believers bear
with one another in a spirit of love.
The word for “bear”
in the original Greek means “to endure something
unpleasant or difficult.”
Bearing with one another implies
willingness to endure with
other believers, despite differences
and frustrations.
We are to live in a spirit of humility
and treat one another
with patience and compassion.
Real relationship,
especially in a
community as diverse as the church
(Colossians 3:11),
will always require forbearance.
But this isn't just putting up
with each other or glossing over
difficulties
while harboring
bitterness or allowing sinful
behaviors to run rampant
(Colossians 3:5–11; Galatians 6:1–5; James 5:19–20).
We are to
be "eager to maintain
the
unity of the Spirit
in the
bond of peace"
(Ephesians 4:3, ESV).
This is based
on the work of Christ and grounded in the
truth
of who God is and what He has done
(Ephesians 4:4–6; John 17:20–23).
To that end, believers are called to
forgive one other as the Lord forgives us
(Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:19).
Jesus Christ
is our standard
in bearing
with one another
and
demonstrating forgiveness
(Colossians 2:13)
. He never compromises truth
and He always acts in love
(Ephesians 4:15–16).
Paul saves the
most crucial garment to put on for last:
“Above all,
clothe yourselves with love,
which binds
us all together in perfect harmony”
(Colossians 3:14, NLT).
Self-sacrificing,
agape love is the type of love
Paul speaks of here.
Only unconditional love can spin a
thread strong enough to stitch
the
tapestry of believers together
in perfect unity. Paul issues a similar
admonition
to the Ephesian church:
“Live a life filled with love,
following the example of Christ.
He loved us and offered himself
as a sacrifice for us,
a pleasing aroma to God”
(Ephesians 5:2, NLT).
Paul also prays for the believers in Rome to bear with one another: “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:5–7). Our readiness to accept one another with patience and to live together in peace and harmony brings praise and glory to God.
Bearing with someone, or forbearance, is a character quality of God that humans have benefited from: “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” (Romans 2:4, NLT; see also Psalm 103:8). God calls us to be holy, like He is, in all we do (1 Peter 1:15), but we all fall short. Since God’s nature is to be tolerant, gracious, and longsuffering with us, we must be the same with others. As we cast off the old sinful self and put on the holy attributes of God, we are transformed into His image. We become “kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
As members of Christ’s body, “each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:5). We endure difficulties and unpleasantries with one another because we are all one—parts of the same whole. We bear with one another when we forgive, when we allow love to cover a multitude of sins (Proverbs 10:12), and when we reach out to a brother or sister who is caught in sin and restore that person gently (Galatians 6:1). Only when we “let the peace that comes from Christ” rule in our hearts can we bear with one another and live in unity as we are called to do as members of one body (Colossians 3:15).
In John 3 a Pharisee named Nicodemus approaches Jesus, seemingly to inquire about the kingdom of God. The passage ends with a discussion of the results of belief and disbelief in the gospel of Christ. John 3:18clearly lays out the need to believe: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
To condemn, in this context, is to pass negative judgment on someone—to find him guilty of a wrongdoing. John 3:18 says that, without faith in Christ, everyone is found guilty. The guilt has already been decided—they are condemned already. The reason is that everyone is a sinner, and apart from the Savior, everyone will receive the penalty due for sin (see Romans 3:23; 6:23).
John 3:18 directly follows a wonderful declaration of the good news, the gospel of Christ: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:15–17).
The historical incident Jesus refers to in John 3:15 is found in Numbers 21. Israel was traveling from Egypt to Canaan. Along the way, they sinned against the Lord by grumbling and speaking against Him. God judged the people by sending poisonous snakes into their camps, resulting in the death of many Israelites. The Israelites asked Moses to intercede for them and deliver them from their condemnation.
The Lord told Moses to lift up a pole with a bronze snake on it; anyone who looked upon it would be healed and delivered from God’s judgment. The Israelites were condemned for their sin, but God made a way of salvation.
Just as the Israelites were
condemned in Numbers 21,
the world is condemned already because of their sins. The snake has already bit. However, God has provided the way of salvation. Just as the snake was lifted up in Numbers 21, Jesus was raised up on the cross. Just as looking to the serpent in the wilderness delivered the Israelites from certain death, looking to Jesus in faith delivers all those who believe in Him
(John 3:14–18).
Jesus didn’t come into the
world to condemn the world but to save it
(John 3:17).
There was no need to condemn the world, for
everyone already stands condemned
(John 3:18).
But there was a
need for a Savior.
Jesus came to save.
He provided
the proper sacrifice for sin,
and all those who believe in the person and
work of Jesus Christ are
relieved of their condemnation (
Romans 8:1).
They are made His children and provided eternal life (John 3:16).
Unity is a state
of oneness and harmony.
All believers in Christ are united in Christ.
We are in a relationship
that unites us with Him and with
every other believer.
Jesus prayed for His disciples—all who would believe in Him for all the ages—“that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21). Some look at the great divisions among Christian denominations and refer to this as Christ’s great “unanswered prayer.” However, Scripture is clear that all believers are united with Christ because of our relationship with Him and with all other believers. We are all in the same family, even it at times we do not act like it. Therefore, unity in Christ has two aspects—one is objective fact, and one is subjective experience.
Objective and subjective unity can be true for any number of groups, teams, or even families. All the members of a football team are unified by their membership in the group. They do not win or lose games individually. The individuals contribute to the group, but it is the group that wins or loses—that is the objective fact. However, there may be times that the team does not act in a unified way. Selfishness and rivalry may creep up, and, when it does, it is impossible for the team to act as a unit—this is the subjective aspect. The behavior of individuals on the team is not matching the fact of their unity with every other member of the team.
All who believe in Christ are part of His body, the church. The New Testament is clear on this. Ephesians 5:30 says it plainly: “For we are members of his body.” Whether a Christian feels like it or not, he or she is part of Christ’s body and therefore unified with every other believer. Paul uses the analogy of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:12–21:
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
“Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’”
The human body is a unified whole. If one part does not work right, the whole body suffers. If a person smashes his thumb with a hammer, it is not just the thumb in isolation that hurts. Other parts of the body may hurt, too, and the functioning of the whole body is impaired. This is true even when a person does not know about the malfunctioning part. If an internal organ is not functioning properly, damage may be done to the body before any pain or obvious illness is present.
In the same way, the church has unity in Christ. As part of His body, each member has a particular job to do and a place to belong. When any individual member is not fulfilling his or her purpose in the body, the whole body suffers. All the members are united, and because of that unity, when one acts in an individualistic or selfish manner (i.e., acts as if he is not part of the body), the whole body suffers because, regardless of his actions, the individual member is still in unity with all the others in the body.
Many of the commands in the New Testament direct Christians to live up to their position and demonstrate their unity in Christ. Christians are not commanded to become one in Christ—that is already an objective reality. Christians are told to make their subjective experience match the objective fact. Paul pleads with the Philippians for this kind of unity: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:1–4). If Christians, who are members of the same team, see themselves in competition with each other, then they are not playing as teammates. They are not living in light of the unity that exists.
Unity in Christ means that all believers are in a relationship with Christ and, by extension, to every other believer. All believers are united with each other whether they know it or not, like it or not, or feel like it or not. The challenge of Christian unity is to live up to the truth of that reality. Since we are all members of one body, we need to live like it. This means subordinating our individual needs to the needs of the body at large and using our individual gifts for the good of the whole body.
Unity in Christ does not mean that all differences between churches or denominations need to be abolished. Individual churches and denominations can keep their individual distinctives and emphases while still working together in areas where they agree. For instance, an evangelical Baptist church and an evangelical Presbyterian church will be in agreement on the gospel and the essentials of the faith, but because of different beliefs about baptism, it would be impossible for these two churches to simply unite as one church. It might be possible for a church to take a neutral position on infant baptism; however, it is hard to see how a church could teach that parents should baptize their babies (as do Presbyterian churches) and simultaneously teach that parents should notbaptize their babies (as in Baptist churches). While these two groups could never unite as a single local church or denomination, they can still cooperate in other ministry endeavors, and individuals within each local body can fellowship with and love each other.
Reconciliation is the restoration of a relationship to a harmonious state after a dispute; it is the bringing of accord out of discord between two parties. Christian reconciliation is the work of God through Christ by which He restores mankind to a favorable relationship with Himself.
Christian reconciliation can be illustrated by two erstwhile friends who are now feuding. The good relationship they once enjoyed is strained to the breaking point. They cease speaking to each other, and the two gradually become strangers. They may even be actively hostile toward one another. But then one day something happens. The two estranged friends begin to talk; pride and resentment are set aside; apologies are extended and accepted; trust is rebuilt. When peace is finally restored and the friends embrace, reconciliation has been achieved. Now, imagine that, between the two friends, only one was at fault. And the other friend, totally innocent, is the one who initiated the conciliatory process—that is what Christian reconciliation is like, as God has reached out to sinners.
Reconciliation necessarily involves change. In Christian reconciliation, God does not change. He remains perfect. But He changes us. As a result, our relationship with Him changes.
The means God used to reconcile us to Himself was His own Son, Jesus Christ: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:18–19). In fact, it was “while we were God’s enemies [that] we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). Jesus’ death makes all the difference. When Christ died, He was “making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20).
The fact that we needed reconciliation means that our relationship with God was broken. And the fact that God is holy means that we were the ones to blame. Our sin alienated us from Him. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the basis of our forgiveness and justification. By grace through faith in His Son, God thoroughly remakes us into the image of Christ. God and man are brought together: the formerly dead in sin are raised to new life. “We are no longer enemies, ungodly, sinners, or powerless. Instead, the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom he has given to us (Romans 5:5). It is a change in the total state of our lives” (“Reconciliation,” Woodruff, W., Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Elwell, W., ed., Baker Books, 1996).
It could be said that the entire Bible is the story of Christian reconciliation. We started off in the Garden of Eden as friends of God, unashamed and living in fellowship with God and each other. But then sin entered the world, and all our relationships were broken. We became enemies of God, seeking our own ways and living in open hostility to Him. The whole of Scripture, then, is a record of God’s reconciling us to Himself. We ran away, and He pursued us. We were scattered as sheep, and He sent the Good Shepherd. We hid in darkness, and He sent the True Light. We were dying in a self-made drought, and He sent the Living Water.
The grace and goodness of God are on full display in Christian reconciliation. “You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” (Colossians 1:21–22, NLT).
As those who have been reconciled to God, we have been given “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). We have been entrusted with “the message of reconciliation” (verse 19). We now take the gospel to a dying world, saying, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (verse 20, ESV). Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross has made atonement for sin (Hebrews 2:17). By His death, He brought harmony to our relationship with God. We plead with the unsaved to have faith in Christ and know the joys of Christian reconciliation.
In a letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul discusses the ministry of reconciliation, and he uses the term “ambassadors” for Christ: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, emphasis added).
Generally speaking, an ambassador is a respected official acting as a representative of a nation. Sent to a foreign land, the ambassador’s role is to reflect the official position of the sovereign body that gave him authority. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul likens his own calling to that of an ambassador, and he urges all Christians to consider themselves ambassadors for Christ. The gospel of reconciliation was always at the heart of Paul’s preaching: “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:17).
Our reconciliation with God is possible only because Christ went to the cross and received the punishment due for our sin. When our Savior cried out, “It is finished,” the barrier between sinful man and Holy God was removed, making all those who trust in Him “holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:22). Our reconciliation is based on the salvation Jesus provides, and it is accepted by faith (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Christians are God’s ambassadors in that they have been “approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel” (1 Thessalonians 2:4). As we go through this world, we represent another Kingdom (John 18:36), and it is our responsibility to reflect the “official position” of heaven. We are in this world, but not of it (John 17:16). God’s ambassadors are to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we must take the message of our King to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), imploring men and women everywhere to be reconciled to God.
The Christian life is defined by the believer’s identification with Jesus Christ. It is not enough to know that Jesus died for us; we must also understand that we died with Him.
Because we died and were
raised with Him,
the power of sin over us is broken. “
For you died, and your life is
now hidden with Christ in God,”
explains the apostle Paul in
Colossians 3:3.
We are
"hidden with Christ in God”
through
the work of the Holy Spirit,
who
baptizes all believers
into one body--
the Body of Christ
(1 Corinthians 12:12–13).
At salvation, we essentially step into Christ. Our history becomes one with Christ’s history; therefore, we have died with Christ to sin. This truth is the basis for Paul’s teaching in Romans 6. Believers are hidden with Christ in His death, or, as Paul writes, “buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:4–7).
When we followed Christ in baptism, we showed that our previous way of life was put to death, buried out of sight—hidden with Christ in God. At the moment we were saved, sin lost its dominion over us (see Romans 6:9, 14). We are no longer obligated to submit to the control of our old sin nature. Now, we are both dead and alive all at once—dead to sin and alive to Christ. We are free to live a brand-new life in Christ (Galatians 5:1, 13; John 8:32).
The Christian life is Christ’s life. Real life for the believer is not about Jesus Christ; it is Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:4).
He imparts God’s resurrection life to us. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25–26). Jesus is the source and center around which our Christian lives are oriented.
Being hidden with Christ in God means our previous history—the old life—is over and done, and the new life with an entirely different and glorious future has begun. Paul said, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, NLT). Our new future involves sharing in Christ’s glory (Colossians 3:4; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2).
When God the Father looks at us,
He no longer sees the old sinful self. The old you is now hidden with Christ in God. The Father ceases to count your sins against you because of your identification with the death and resurrection of His Son. In the eyes of God, you are changed into a new creation in Christ’s image and likeness (2 Corinthians 5:17), yet at the same time still being transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:22–24; 1 Corinthians 15:42–49).
Believers immediately experience life in Christ but will fully experience its reality at His future unveiling (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2). There is a balance between what has already happened and what is yet to come. This truth is proven in Paul’s exhortation: “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. . . . You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us” (Colossians 3:5–11, NLT).
The idea of being
“hidden” with Christ
in God also relates to the believer’s eternal security. Scripture often portrays God’s people as securely hidden in the “shelter of His presence,” concealed under “the cover of His tent” or “in His quiver” (Psalm 27:5–6; 31:19–20; Isaiah 49:2).
The spiritual life of a believer in God’s kingdom is, in a very real sense, a secret life (Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11; Ephesians 1:9–10; 3:9; 1 Corinthians 2:7). Until we die (or until the Lord comes again in glory), the fullness of our inner life in Christ is hidden from the world’s view and sometimes even from us (1 Corinthians 15:51–53). But in the future God’s righteous redeemed will “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). Then, on that glorious, long-awaited day, those hidden with Christ in God will be given “the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award” to “to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
Religious education has taught generations of Catholics that grace is a free gift of God’s favor. It is received through the sacraments and makes our salvation possible. Unfortunately, this popular conception of grace is sometimes misconstrued, presenting grace as a commodity rather than a reality experienced in our lives. From this view, “receiving grace” through the sacraments may be interpreted as getting more grace, as if sacraments were transactions imparting a quantifiable spiritual good.
These transactional descriptions of grace tend to portray sin and grace as competing entities on the spiritual side of our existence. The souls of holy persons are filled by grace, these depictions suggest, while the souls of unrepentant sinners are so stained by sin that grace can find no home.
For those of us caught somewhere in the middle, venial sins diminish and sacraments increase our souls’ stores of grace. Avoiding mortal sin is of paramount importance because such acts sap the soul’s supply of grace, thereby fracturing our relationship with God.
Father Thomas O’Meara describes this way of thinking as “grace as the electric company.” Sacraments give us grace (the lights come on), we sin and lose grace (the lights go out), and sacramental confession and absolution cleanse sin and restore grace (the lights come on again). This framework was particularly influential before Vatican II and continues to persist in the minds of many Catholics.
Father James Keenan, writing about the anxieties of his own Catholic childhood, reveals the limits of this transactional model. According to the electric company model of grace, if a person neglects to confess a significant sin, its stain remains and grace cannot refill the soul. If he or she then forgets the unconfessed sin, believing it absolved, the stain of that sin remains on the soul indefinitely, thereby making impossible a direct ascent to heaven after death. Luckily, it would seem, a postmortem layover in purgatory could eventually provide the necessary soul cleansing.
However, beyond the personal spiritual anxiety this transactional view can induce, it also problematically distorts the Catholic sacramental system. Sacraments, as it turns out, do not convey certain quantities of grace on the soul so much as they enliven us to the very conditions of our existence.
While grace is a free gift from God, Father Michael Himes reminds us, God has nothing other to give nor wants anything other to give than the gift of God’s self. This gift is most profoundly realized in Christ’s incarnation and is repeated and made new in every sacramental moment.
Because God is love, grace is a gift of love that invites us into relationship with God, the source of our existence. When we speak of loving more or less, we don’t refer to quantities but to the quality and strength of our relationships. Sacraments, then, are not transactions of a spiritual commodity but relational encounters in which the God who created us out of love, for love, and in order to love us offers us the divine gift of self-giving love: grace.
Customary greetings and partings in Eastern cultures usually include a word of peace (Ephesians 1:2; Luke 10:5; John 20:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:16). But in John 14:27, as Jesus prepared the disciples for His departure, it was no ordinary “go in peace” farewell that He imparted: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).
Rather than a routine, transient, worldly kind of peace, the spiritual peace that Jesus offers to His followers is a permanent gift. The New Living Translation renders John 14:27 like so: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” Jesus knew that the earthly journey awaiting His disciples and all future believers would not be easy. Many trials and sorrows lay ahead, so He left them with this assurance: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Shalom, translated as “peace,” is perhaps the most widely known word in the Hebrew language and conveys various meanings in Scripture. “Success,” “prosperity,” “completeness,” “wholeness,” “well-being,” and “welfare” are just some of its uses. In the Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words, we find this explanation: “When shalom is best translated as ‘peace,’ this peace is more than the mere absence of war or strife. It describes a peace that is positive; a time, place, and condition that features love, righteousness, calmness, political and moral uprightness and much more. It is a word reserved for those who walk with God in a positive relationship” (“Peace,” Carpenter, E. E., & Comfort, P. W., Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000, p. 135).
The Greek word for “peace” carries many meanings as well, including the traditional welcome and farewell. It can be used to describe the end of war and conflict, inner tranquility, and calm. But Jesus came to bring a different kind of peace on earth. At His birth, the angels declared, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).
The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of this Prince of Peace, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
When the Messiah came, He brought with Him God’s kingdom peace. This same otherworldly peace was Jesus’ parting gift to His disciples. The ultimate endowment of peace was granted to us in God’s gift of salvation purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ through His sacrifice on the cross. By way of Christ’s death, we have been granted access to the throne of God and restored fellowship with our Heavenly Father: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1–2, ESV; see also Isaiah 53:5).
Paul told the Philippians to take their anxious thoughts and worries about this life to God in prayer, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV). By the power of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, our minds are now governed by God’s peace (Romans 8:6).
Jesus left us with His peace in another sense, as well, that we would become peacemakers for His kingdom (Matthew 5:9; Romans 12:18; 1 Peter 3:10–11) and dwell in harmony with our brother and sisters in Christ: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone” (Hebrews 12:14; see also Colossians 3:15).
God’s peace reflects His divine character, strength, love, goodness, sovereignty, dominion, and power. It emanates from His presence in our lives (Isaiah 26:12; 2 John 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:16). The Lord dispatches His peace to us like a troop of armed forces sent to stand watch over our hearts. Although we cannot fully fathom this peace with our human minds, it is real and obtainable in Christ. Still today, to anyone who believes in Jesus and commits to following Him, He says, “My peace I leave with you.”
The Greek word agape is often translated “love” in the New Testament. How is “agape love” different from other types of love? The essence of agape love is goodwill, benevolence, and willful delight in the object of love. Unlike our English word love, agape is not used in the New Testament to refer to romantic or sexual love. Nor does it refer to close friendship or brotherly love, for which the Greek word philia is used. Agape love involves faithfulness, commitment, and an act of the will. It is distinguished from the other types of love by its lofty moral nature and strong character. Agape love is beautifully described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Outside of the New Testament, the word agape is used in a variety of contexts, but in the vast majority of instances in the New Testament it carries distinct meaning. Agape is almost always used to describe the love that is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). God does not merely love; He is love. Everything God does flows from His love. Agape is also used to describe our love for God (Luke 10:27), a servant’s faithful respect to his master (Matthew 6:24), and a man’s attachment to things (John 3:19).
The type of love that characterizes God is not a sappy, sentimental feeling such as we often hear portrayed. God loves because that is His nature and the expression of His being. He loves the unlovable and the unlovely, not because we deserve to be loved or because of any excellence we possess, but because it is His nature to love and He must be true to His nature.
Agape love is always shown by what it does. God’s love is displayed most clearly at the cross. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5, ESV). We did not deserve such a sacrifice, “but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s agape love is unmerited, gracious, and constantly seeking the benefit of the ones He loves. The Bible says we are the undeserving recipients of His lavish agape love (1 John 3:1). God’s demonstration of agape love led to the sacrifice of the Son of God for those He loves.
We are to love others with agape love, whether they are fellow believers (John 13:34) or bitter enemies (Matthew 5:44). Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan as an example of sacrifice for the sake of others, even for those who may care nothing at all for us. Agape love as modeled by Christ is not based on a feeling; rather, it is a determined act of the will, a joyful resolve to put the welfare of others above our own.
Agape love does not come naturally to us. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such a love. If we are to love as God loves, that love—that agape—can only come from its Source. This is the love that “has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” when we became His children (Romans 5:5; cf. Galatians 5:22). “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). Because of God’s love toward us, we are able to love one another.
In Galatians 5:1, Paul reminds the Galatian believers that “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Believers’ sins are forgiven on the basis of Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Now believers can live in freedom from the law, and they can live in freedom from the consequences and power of sin. The NLT says, “Christ has truly set us free”; believers are “truly free” to live for the things of God.
The occasion of Paul’s letter to the Galatians was that false teachers had come into the churches there. These teachers promoted legalism and tried to require Christians to observe the Old Testament rules, laws, and ceremonies, especially circumcision (Galatians 2:3–5). Paul, in no uncertain terms, says that “for freedom Christ has set us free” and that Christians should not be placed back under the law’s yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1). The law’s purpose was to reveal our sinfulness (see Romans 3:20) and to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24).
Before Christ’s sacrifice, we lived under bondage to the law (Galatians 4:3). We were burdened by demands we could not keep (Acts 15:10). Christ’s death and resurrection broke our bondage to the law. Jesus’ perfect life and holy sacrifice on the cross was the complete fulfillment of the law, and anyone who trusts in Him for salvation is made right with God. Only Christians have true freedom from the law. John 8:36 confirms, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
In Christ, we are free from the Mosaic Law’s oppressive system, and we are also free from the penalty and power of sin. Before Christ, we lived as slaves to sin (John 8:34). We sought to gratify our desires and lived for ourselves. We were dead in our sins (Colossians 2:13) and were destined to face the consequence of our sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). Yet, when we trusted in Christ for our salvation, our course in life completely changed. We were released from the law’s bondage because for freedom Christ has set us free.
Believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and are characterized by a joyous freedom to follow Christ and God’s design for life (Galatians 2:20). The Bible is clear that Christian freedom is not a license to sin. Instead, believers are free not to live for sin and are free to live holy lives in Christ. For this freedom Christ has set us free: to live in relationship to God and others the way He intended (Galatians 5:13). Believers are free to live an abundant life (John 10:10), and we have been given everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
Jesus did what the law could not do—He took away our sin and saved us, and in doing so He set us free from the penalty and power of sin. For freedom to follow His design of life He set us free. “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit” (Romans 8:3–4, NLT). Now we who have this freedom can live in God’s ways and love others well in the power of the Spirit (Galatians 5:13–26).
First Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” This comes just after Paul’s eloquent and famous description of what true love--agape love—is. There are several ways in which love can be said to be the greatest.
First Corinthians 13:13 lists love along with faith and hope as a gift that lasts forever. The lasting nature of faith, hope, and love make them greater than all other gifts of the Spirit, which are temporary; the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:8 as coming to an end. Of the three “forever gifts,” love is the greatest.
Love is greater than faith and hope in that both faith and hope depend on love for their existence. Without love, there can be no true faith; a loveless faith is nothing but an empty religious exercise. As Paul says, “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Without love, there can be no genuine hope; a loveless hope is an oxymoron, because we can’t truly hope for something that we do not love. Faith and hope are dead, sterile things if not accompanied by love.
One of the reasons that love is the greatest gift is that it is essential to God’s nature. First John 4:8 tells us that God is love. The book of John and John’s three letters are replete with the theme of love. God gives us His love, and we reflect that love back to Him: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. . . . You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:9–17). Here we see that love is something that has always existed among the persons of the Trinity. Love has no beginning and does not end. And this is the love into which we are invited. Jesus desired for future believers to be part of His love as well: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:26).
Jesus taught that the greatest two commandments both include love, the greatest gift: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37–40).
John Calvin puts forward a very simple reason why love is the greatest gift: “Because faith and hope are our own: love is diffused among others.” In other words, faith and hope benefit the possessor, but love always benefits another. In John 13:34–35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Love always requires an “other” as an object; love cannot remain within itself, and that is part of what makes love the greatest gift.
Love is core to God’s character and central to the Christian life. The law of Christ is to love God and love others. Love infuses all that God does and should infuse all that we do. “Love never fails ” (1 Corinthians 13:8), and it will never cease. Because of this, love is greater than even hope and faith.
Galatians 6:2 states, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (emphasis added). What exactly is the law of Christ, and how is it fulfilled by carrying each other’s burdens? While the law of Christ is also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9:21, the Bible nowhere specifically defines what precisely is the law of Christ. However, most Bible teachers understand the law of Christ to be what Christ stated were the greatest commandments in Mark 12:28–31, “‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’”
The law of Christ, then, is to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In Mark 12:32–33, the scribe who asked Jesus the question responds with, “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In this, Jesus and the scribe agreed that those two commands are the core of the entire Old Testament Law. All of the Old Testament Law can be placed in the category of “loving God” or “loving your neighbor.”
Various New Testament scriptures state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15). In place of the Old Testament Law, Christians are to obey the law of Christ. Rather than trying to remember the over 600 individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would truly and wholeheartedly obey those two commands, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us.
Christ freed us from the bondage of the hundreds of commands in the Old Testament Law and instead calls on us to love. First John 4:7–8 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” First John 5:3 continues, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
Some use the fact that we are not under the Old Testament Law as an excuse to sin. The apostle Paul addresses this very issue in Romans. “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” (Romans 6:15). For the follower of Christ, the avoidance of sin is to be accomplished out of love for God and love for others. Love is to be our motivation. When we recognize the value of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, our response is to be love, gratitude, and obedience. When we understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and others, our response is to be to follow His example in expressing love to others. Our motivation for overcoming sin should be love, not a desire to legalistically obey a series of commandments. We are to obey the law of Christ because we love Him, not so that we can check off a list of commands that we successfully obeyed.
In Romans 8:38–39, the apostle Paul articulates one of the most profoundly comforting reassurances in Scripture: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The psalmist echoes Paul’s conviction that neither death nor life can separate us from God’s love: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there!” (Psalm 139:7–8, NLT). God is present everywhere. There is no place we can go and be cut off from His presence. The Bible also tells us that God, by His very nature, is love (1 John 4:8, 16). And if God is love and exists everywhere, then it stands to reason that nothing and no place can isolate us from His love.
Paul relates a laundry list of things that could potentially have the power to barricade us from God’s loving presence: life, death, angels, demons, the present, the future, powers, height, depth, and anything else in all creation. With that last item, nothing is left out! And then Paul affirms that none of these things are powerful enough to create a barrier between us and the boundless love of God in Christ. Everything in all the universe, whether in this present life or the life to come, is under God’s sovereign control and the dominion of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (Ephesians 1:22; 1 Corinthians 15:27–28; Hebrews 2:8).
God displayed His great love for us on the cross (Romans 5:8; John 3:16–17). On Calvary, Jesus Christ triumphed over all things, including death and every living enemy, by offering His life in our place (Colossians 2:15). When we receive God’s gift of salvation, we are “buried with Christ” through baptism and “raised to new life” by “the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead” (Colossians 2:12, NLT). Paul continues, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13–14, NLT).
The redeemed of the Lord are made spiritually and eternally alive in Christ. We died and were buried with Jesus and then raised and restored to newness of life. Not one thing in this life or even in death can ever cause lasting harm to us because Jesus Christ rescinded all charges against us. For this reason, nothing and no one will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ. We belong to the Lord forever (Isaiah 43:1; John 1:12; 10:28; Romans 8:15; 14:8).
We may sometimes feel like our pain, sorrow, and loss distance us from God’s affection. But to this deception, Paul asks, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” (Romans 8:35–37, NLT).
When we feel separated from God’s love, the problem is not any lack on His part. The hindrance comes from our perception. When instability and insecurity threaten us, our confidence must rest securely in the knowledge of God’s love for us and not in our own feelings. Human love is often erratic, weak, fluctuating. Doubt, circumstances,
and fear can obscure our awareness of the Lord’s presence.
We must stand on the
sure promise of
God’s Word
that His love never fails
(1 Corinthians 13:8). It is never-ending
(Lamentations 3:22)
. The Lord’s faithful love endures forever
(Psalm 136:7, 13, 21).
God does not promise us a life
free of affliction,
but He does promise to be with us through
anything and everything we face
with His all-powerful, steadfast
agape love.
For believers in Jesus Christ,
God’s love
is a constant supply poured out
by the Holy Spirit
(Romans 5:5).
His love can be counted on
in the calamities of life
and leaned upon in the crisis of death.