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SUFFERING AND GLORY WITH CHRIST
ROMANS 8:18-39
In this section, Paul explains and expands upon the last clause of the previous verse: “since we will suffer with him, in order that we might be glorified with him.” Paul here is echoing a biblical principle that suffering leads to glory. This was so for Christ (“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into glory?” Luke 24:26; Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31). And this is also true of those who follow Christ. Peter clearly teaches this (“But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” I Pet. 4:13; 5:9-10). The follower of Christ shares in Christ’s sufferings just as he will share in His glory.
ROMANS 8:18-27
In this section, Paul shows that suffering with Christ is more than just suffering persecution for Christ; suffering involves the whole of creation as well as ourselves, our bodies.
ROMANS 8:18-27.
18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19. For the anxious watching of the creation is eagerly waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. 20. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it in hope; 21. because the creation itself also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption unto the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22. For we know that all creation groans and travails together until now. 23. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24. For in hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25. But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. 26. And in like manner the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered;
27. and he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to God.
8:18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be revealed to us.
In this verse, Paul compares sufferings with glory. Obviously glory is better than sufferings. But Paul states it negatively: “the sufferings…are not worthy to be compared with the glory….” He does this to show that the glory about to be revealed unto the believer is so much greater than the believer’s suffering in the present. Paul sees sufferings as a prelude to glory. And suffering must be seen in this light. Although it is suffering now, the emphasize is on the glory that is to be revealed. The will of God for the believer is not just suffering but glory ( verses 28-30).
8:19. For the anxious watching of the creation is eagerly waiting for the revelation of the sons of God.
In this verse, Paul explains what the revelation of that glory means. It involves the whole of creation and that “the anxious watching of creation is eagerly waiting for the revelation of the sons of God.” The Greek word translate “anxious watching,” apokaradokia, literally means “watching with outstretched head,” that is, “watching anxiously.” The Greek verb translated “eagerly waiting,” apekdechomai, means “to expect eagerly;” Paul uses it here to describe the longing of creation.
8:20. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it in hope;
In this verse, Paul explains why the creation is eagerly waiting for the revelation of the son of God. “The creation was subjected to vanity.” The Greek word mataiotes, translated “vanity,” means “emptiness, frailty, folly, futility, purposelessness, transitoriness.” This word is used nearly 40 times in the Greek translation (LXX) of Book of Ecclesiastes, whose key phrase is “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” (Eccl. 1:2) Paul uses the word here to refer to the curse that God put upon creation because of Adam’s sin (Gen. 3:17-19; compare Rev. 22:3: “And there shall be no more curse.”). The Greek word hupotasso, translated “subjected,” means “to place under, to make to obey.” This leads Paul in the next verse to call this subjection to vanity “the bondage of corruption.” Paul adds that “the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it in hope.” Here Paul treats the creation as a person, personifying it, attributing to it will. It was not by the creation’s will or choice that it was subjected, but the will of God. And neither Satan or Adam could subjected it in hope. Only God could do this with the hope of its deliverance. God cursed the creation so man would know that it or any aspect of it is not God. Man in his idolatry seeks to deify it as God ( Rom. 1:25), but God by His curse made it obvious that it is not God. But God’s purposes for the creation went beyond the curse; they included the hope of its liberation from the curse, the bondage to corruption.
8:21. because the creation itself also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption unto the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
In this verse, Paul states the nature of the hope in which God subjected the creation: “the creation itself also will be set free.” Paul explains that this liberation is “from the bondage of corruption unto the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Thus this liberation has two sides: from something bad and unto something good. First, “from the bondage of corruption.” The Greek word translated “corruption,” phthoras, means “perishable, subject to decay or destruction.” Everything in the creation goes from order to disorder, from life to death. The Second Law of Thermodynamics in physics which states that in any closed system disorder increases, expresses this characteristic of all of creation. This law is the bondage of corruption; the Greek word translated “bondage,” douleia, means “slavery, the condition of being a slave.” And this slavery is to corruption. Creation cannot set itself free from this slavery; corruption is the law of its being. It is from this slavery that creation is to be set free. This liberation is from bondage to freedom. And this freedom is “the freedom of the glory of the children of God;” when they, the children of God, enter into their glory then the creation will be set free from the bondage of corruption.
8:22. For we know that all creation groans and travails together until now.
In this verse and in the next verse 23, Paul explains the effects of this bondage to corruption: groaning and travailing. In this verse, Paul states the fact that “we know that the creation groans and travails together until now.” The creation as a result of its bondage to corruption groans and travails together. The compound Greek word translated “groans,” sunstenazo, means “to groan with or together with.” It denotes an unexpressible internal feeling. He may be referring to the sounds that the earth makes as it moves, especially in areas of volcanic activity. The other compound Greek word translated “travail together,” sunodino, means “to be in travail with or together with”. The Greek verb, odino, comes from the Greek noun, odin, which means “birth-pains, travail pain” and denotes extreme pain or suffering. Paul uses these two Greek words to describe the effects of the bondage of corruption until now. The word now here does not refer to the present moment of time but to the whole period of time since the resurrection of Christ, since the day of salvation (II Cor. 6:2, Isa. 49:8).
8:23. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
In this verse, Paul continues his explanation of the effects of the bondage to corruption begun in the preceding verse 22. Here he explains that “we ourselves groan within ourselves.” Paul here is talking about Christian believers, “who have the first fruits of the Spirit” and who are “eagerly waiting our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Only Christian believers have the Spirit of God ( Rom. 8:9). The Spirit of God is the first fruits or the beginning of our salvation. The Greek word here translated “first fruits,” aparche, means “the beginning of a sacrifice, the first fruits offered in a sacrifice” ( Rom. 11:16), hence it is the beginning of salvation. Elsewhere, Paul speaks of the resurrection of Christ as the first fruits of the resurrection (I Cor. 15:20, 23). And it is the Christian believers who are eagerly waiting the adoption of sons. Paul has already spoken of this adoption as sons in verse 15 above. As was pointed out in the comments on that verse, the translation of the Greek word, huiothesia, with the word “adoption” gives the wrong impression, since the Greek word refers to the placing of one into the status of an adult son, in contrast to an adolescent child who does not yet have adult status. It does not refer to the acceptance into a family of a child who was not been born into that family. In this verse, Paul identifies this placing as son with “the redemption of our bodies.” Since redemption is the setting free from slavery, Paul is here referring to the believer being set free from the bondage or slavery to corruption. This will take place when Christ comes for His own, raising their bodies from the dead, or if they are alive transforming their bodies into the likeness of His glorious body (I Thess. 4:14-17; I Cor. 15:51-54; Phil. 3:20-21; II Cor. 5:1-5). This is the redemption of the body. When one becomes a believer in Christ Jesus, his spirit is redeemed and at the coming of Christ his body will be redeemed. This is the hope of the Gospel. The hope of the Christian is not the immortality of the soul but the resurrection of the body and its immortality (See II Tim. 1:8-10).
8:24. For in hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
In this verse and the next verse 25, Paul speaks about this hope. He explains here the future tense of salvation. There are three tenses of salvation: the past tense, the present tense, and future tense. The believer was saved in the past through faith in what God has done for him in Christ’s death and resurrection, he is being saved in the present through love by what God is now doing in the believer by His Spirit, and he will be saved in the future through hope in what God will do for him then. Paul argues that “in hope we are saved.” His argument is based on the fact that “hope that is seen is not hope;” that is, hope is based on what is not seen. He argues, “Who hopes for what is seen?” That is, anything that is future is not yet seen.
8:25. But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
In this verse, Paul concludes his explanation of the future tense of salvation. He argues that hope eagerly waits with patience. This is the paradox of hope; it waits eagerly with patience.
8:26. And in like manner the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered;
In this verse and the next verse, Paul discusses the intercession of the Spirit. He sees a similarity between the groaning of creation and of the Spirit. “And in like manner also helps our weakness.” The Greek verb here translated “help,” sunantilambano, literally means “to take hold with at the sides for assistance,” hence, “to take a share in, to help in bearing,” and in general, “to help.” The Spirit of God takes a share in our weakness. Paul goes on to explain what is this weakness; “for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought.” We can pray, but we do not know what we ought to pray for or about. But the Spirit of God does know and does “Himself intercede for us.” The Greek verb, huperentugchano, translated “intercede” means “to make petition for, or on the behalf of someone.” The Spirit Himself makes petition for us, Paul says, “with groanings which cannot be uttered.” This is the similarity between the creation and the Spirit. Paul uses a Greek noun here for “groanings,” stenagmos, derived from the Greek verb, stenazo, “to groan,” which verb he used in verse 23 for the groaning of creation. The Greek word, alaletos, translated here as “cannot be uttered” means “unexpressible,” hence, “cannot be put into words.”
8:27. and he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to God.
In this verse, Paul explains the nature of the intercession of the Spirit. These groanings of the Spirit which are too deep for words is no hindrance to God. Paul says that “the one who searches the hearts of men,” that is, God, “knows what is the mind of the Spirit.” And the reason that God knows the mind of the Spirit is that the Spirit “intercedes for the saints according to God.” The petitions of the Spirit are in harmony with purposes of God. Even though Paul does not here use the phrase “the will of God”, it is not incorrect to translate the phrase “according to God” as such, especially in light of the following verses.
ROMANS 8:28-39
In this section, Paul begins his explanation of the glory that the believer has with Christ. He shows that it is the purpose of God that they should be glorified with Him.
28. And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. 29. Because those whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30. And those whom he foreordained, them he also called; and those whom he called, them he also justified; and those whom he justified, them he also glorified.
8:28. And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose.
In this verse and the next two verses, Paul sets forth the purpose of God for the saints. It is according to this purpose of God that the Spirit intercedes for the saints. In this verse, Paul states the great truth about the purpose of God that every believer knows. “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose.” Some manuscripts insert the word “God” as the subject of the sentence. “And we know that God works all things together for good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose.” It is God who in His love works all things together for good and not some impersonal force. The insertion of the word “God” as the subject of the sentence makes this clear. It is not true that all things works together for good for everyone; rather, it is only for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose that God works all things for good. Only those who love God are fulfilling the purpose of God for them. That we should love and trust God is the grand design of God’s purpose for us and God works all things together for that good. We do not always see this good and understand how all things are working together for that good. But the believer is sure that God does this because he knows that God loves him and always acts for his good.
8:29. Because those whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
In this verse and the following verse 30, Paul outlines the logical steps by which God works all things together for our good. Some theologians have misunderstood these as temporal steps in the order of salvation from eternity past to eternity future. They have failed to note that Paul uses the aorist tense for each verb which expresses a logical order, and not a temporal sequence of events. This will become clear as we examine each step. In this verse, Paul sets forth the first of the logical steps and in the next verse the other three logical steps in accomplishing God’s purposes.
“Those whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
The Greek verb here translated “foreknew,” proginosko, means “to know beforehand.” It is used in general to refer to knowledge that is previously had (Acts 26:5; II Pet. 3:17). The verb is used only 5 times in New Testament, two times in this letter to the Romans; here about believers and in Rom. 11:2 about Israel. The fifth occurrence is in I Pet. 1:20 about Christ “having been foreknown before the foundations of the world.” The Greek noun, prognosis, translated “foreknowledge,” occurs twice in the New Testament, in Acts 2:23 about Christ and in I Pet. 1:2 about believers as the elect or chosen ones. Paul uses the verb here to refer to God’s knowledge of believers before they knew God. It is equivalent to choosing beforehand someone as God did Israel ( Rom. 11:2). It does not refer to the omniscience of God whereby God knows all things before they happen. Paul is here talking about God’s personal knowledge and not His objective knowledge of things. The Greek verb here translated “foreordained,” proorizo, literally means “to set boundaries beforehand,” hence, “to decide upon beforehand, to appoint, designate, determine beforehand.” It is used 6 times in the New Testament, twice in this chapter, in this verse and the next, twice in Ephesians 1 (verses 5 and 11), in Acts 4:28 and I Cor. 2:7. In none of these places is a causal determinism taught that makes free will impossible. As Paul says in Eph. 1:11, God “works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Although some theologians have interpreted these words as teaching such causal determinism, Paul’s choice of words do not say that all things are causally determined by God. In this verse 29, Paul states the purpose of this foreordination: “to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” This purpose of His foreordination or prior decision of those who are “foreknown” is two fold:
1. that they are “to be conformed to the image of His Son”, and
2. “that He might be the firstborn among many brethern.”
The second follows from the first. Consider the following. Christ is the Image of God (Col. 1:15; II Cor. 4:4). And man was originally created in the Image of God. According to Gen. 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” But when man sinned, he fell from that image, that likeness of God. Man began to bear the image of the man of dust, Adam. For when Adam became the father of a son, Seth, he begat him in his own image (Gen. 5:3). So God’s purpose is to restore man to the Image of God and, since Christ is the Image of God, that restoration is conformation to the Image of His Son, to the Image of God.
“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (I Cor. 15:47-49), who is Christ.
This will happen at His coming again. For “when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). At the second coming of Christ (Acts 1:9), our bodies will be resurrected, if we die before he comes (I Thess. 4:14-17), or our bodies will be transformed, if we are alive at His coming (I Cor. 15:51-52; Phil. 3:20-21; I John 3:2). Thus we will be conformed to the Image of His Son. The result of this conforming to the Image of His Son is that Christ might be the firstborn among many brethern. As Paul will explain in his letter to the Colossians (1:15-18):
“15 He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; 16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities — all things were created through him and for him, 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
Christ, who was the firstborn of all creation, is the first-born from the dead. This does not mean that he was created, “for all things were created through and for him,” but that he is the head of creation and of the body, the church, the called-out people of God. They who were created are to be made like their creator, in whose image they were created. But since the old creation was made subject to death, God planned to reconcile to Himself all things, that is, to save it from death to life through the death and resurrection of His Son, who is the first-born from the dead. Since Christ shared in our spiritual and physical death on the cross, we who believe in Him share in the resurrection life of the risen Christ; He is the first-born from the dead, that is, He was the first among many to be raised from the dead. Christ is the first-born of the new creation, “the firstborn among many brethern.” Therefore, we who are alive in Christ are new creations in Him (II Cor. 5:17). We have become part of that new creation in Christ which is yet to be revealed (Rev. 21:1). Then the purpose of God intended in His original creation will be finally accomplished in the new creation through Christ.
“19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col. 1:19-20).
In the next verse, Paul sets forth the remaining three logical steps to accomplish this great purpose of His love.
8:30. And those whom he foreordained, them he also called; and those whom he called, them he also justified; and those whom he justified, them he also glorified.
In this verse, Paul sets forth the remaining logical steps to accomplish the believer’s conformation to the image of His Son. There are here in this verse three logical steps:
1. “And those whom he foreordained, them he also called;”
2. “and those whom he called, them he also justified;”
3. “and those whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
The Greek verb translated “called,” kaleo, means “to invite” (Luke 14:16; I Cor. 10:27), “to summon” (Luke 19:13; I Pet. 2:9), “to call” (Eph. 4:1, 4; I Tim. 1:9), to call by name, hence to name (Luke 1:31-32; Rom. 9:25-26). Paul here uses it in the same sense as in Rom. 4:17: a creative call which brings into existence what is called.
Here in this verse, the call brings about justification, the setting or putting one right with God, bringing that one into right relationship with God. As we have pointed elsewhere ( Rom. 1:17; 3:24; etc.), it is a synonym for salvation; to justify is to save. That is why sanctification is omitted here because sanctification is the other side of salvation; it is the separation of one from a false god to the true God. To be justified is to be sanctified (I Cor. 1:30; 6:11). Justification is that side of salvation which emphasizes right relationship to God. “And those whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
The logical sequence of steps starting with foreknowledge culminates in glorification. Justification leads logically to glorification; glorification is the completion of salvation. In it, the believer is completely conformed to the image of God’s Son, putting on a body like His glorious body (Phil. 3:21). The body is saved as well as the soul and spirit. The purpose of God is entirely accomplished. The salvation from death to life is fully completed.
ROMANS 8:31-39
Having finished in verses 28 through 30 his statement concerning the logical steps involved in accomplishing God’s purpose for us, in the following section Paul draw out the implications of these logical steps involved in God’s purpose for us by a series of questions.
31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who against us? 32. He who indeed spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? 33. Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34. who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36. As it is written, “For thy sake we are being put to death all the day long; We are considered as sheep for the slaughter.” 37. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39. 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.
8:31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who against us?
In this verse and the next four, Paul asks a series of questions that draws out the implications of logical steps involved in God accomplishing His purpose as well as applying them to his readers. In this verse, Paul asks the first of two questions:
1. “What then shall we say to these things?
2. If God is for us, who against us?”
In the first of these questions, Paul ties the following questions to what he has just said in the previous three verses about the purpose of God for us. In the second question, Paul states the clear implication of what God’s good purpose for us means. It means that God is for us. The Greek preposition translated “for” here, huper, means “on the behalf of, for the sake of.” This means that God acts on our behalf and for our sakes. Stated negatively, God is not against, nor opposed to us. The “us” here are those who love God and who are called according to His purpose, that is, those who are saved by God. God is against the sinner who trusts in false gods, rejecting the true God. This opposition is the wrath of God ( Rom. 1:18). God opposes them and their sin. But this is not last word about God’s attitude to the sinner; He in His love wants to save them from their sin and thus from His wrath. When they repent of their sin and turn in faith to the true God, accepting His Son, they are saved. Then He is for them, not against them. The marvel of this salvation is that God Himself provided it for us while we were yet sinners. In His love for us sinners, God gave His Son to die for us; so that through His death and resurrection, we sinners might be brought from death to life, from darkness into the light. By faith in His death and resurrection for us, we enter into life and are saved from death.
8:32. He who indeed spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?
In this verse, Paul buttresses his case that God is for us by pointing to the death of Christ for us. “He who indeed spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?” There is no stronger argument that God is for us, than that He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. But Paul says in this verse, something more than that God is for us; he says that God will freely give us all things with Him. The gift of all things is part of the package; when we receive His Son, we get all of the rest of the package.
8:33. Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
In this verse, Paul removes that last vestige of the thought that God might be against us. “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.” When the sinner is justified, that is, saved, all charges are dropped; he is freely forgiven. Not because the charges were false or that someone paid the penalty for them; but because he is saved, he is no longer a sinner but a saint. He belongs to God and the true God is his God. He is now in a right relationship with God, having been justified or set right with God through faith. This change of personal relationship to God means he is no longer a sinner (he has turned from his false gods, and turned to the true God) and he is now a saint (separated from all false gods unto the true God) and God’s elect, chosen in His Son (Eph. 1:4). But does he not have to pay the penalty of his past sins? Paul answers this question in the next verse.
8:34. who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
In this verse, Paul deals with the problem of the saved sinners past sins. “Who is he that condemns?” Paul does not say who it is that condemns; it really does not matter who it is that condemns, whether it is Satan, the world, or man’s own conscience. Paul answers the condemnation. “Christ Jesus is the one who died, but rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” Paul says that it is not God who condemns but who has provided a salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ has died to take away our sins, literally, not just the penalty of our sins. By saving us from death, the occasion for sin, God saves us from sin. But the resurrection of Christ is necessary to save from death, the dead must be made alive. God did this by raising Christ from the dead, making us alive together with Him. And the risen Christ is now at the right hand of God, making intercession for us, on our behalf. There He is answering the accusations, that condemn the ones He has saved, not to God but to Satan, and any other who condemns. Not only is the Son of God for us, but so is the God the Father as well as the Holy Spirit. Christ does not need to plead our case before God the Father. God, including the Father, does not condemn those who are in Christ ( Rom. 8:1).
8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
In this verse, Paul deals with those who would separate us from the love of Christ. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” In the remaining verses of this chapter, Paul answer these questions.
8:36. As it is written, “For thy sake we are being put to death all the day long; We are considered as sheep for the slaughter.”
In this verse, Paul, quoting the Old Testament scripture, Psa. 44:22, acknowledges that there are those who attempt to destroy the elect of God, separating them from the love of God.
8:37. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
In this verse, Paul asserts that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us in all the circumstances which would seek to conqueror us. The Greek word hupernikomen translated “we are more than conquerors” means literally “super conquerors”, or “victors over”. Those who persecute us for our faith in Christ may conqueror us, putting us to physical death, but because of Christ’s victory over death in His resurrection, we are superconquerors, victors over death. As Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:54-57 NAS;
“54 So when this perishable will put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.’ 55 ‘O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’ 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And this victory over death is through Jesus Christ “who loved us”. And nothing can separate us from that love, as he asserts in the next verses.
8:38-39.
38. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39. 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.
In this and in next verse, Paul asserts his firm conviction that no created things can separate us from the love of God in Christ our Lord. This conviction of Paul’s is not based just on a personal revelation to him, but on the work of Christ accomplished in His death and resurrection, as Paul has argued in the previous verses. Because of His love for us, God spared not His only Son who entered into our sparation from God, spiritual death, so that we who put our faith in Him might never be separated from Him and His love, that is, eternal life. None of the created things that Paul lists here is able to separate us from God and His love; neither physical death nor physical life; neither angels nor principalities (none of the spiritual beings and rulers); neither things present, nor things to come (nothing in the course of time); neither powers (none of the physical forces); neither height, nor depth (nothing in the expanse of space); nor any other created thing (nothing in the whole universe that God has created) is able to separate us from the love of the Creator which was manifested in Christ Jesus (His death and resurrection) whom we have acknowledged as our Lord.