Romans 8:37

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers nor height, nor depth nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All of the calamities mentioned here were suffered by Paul himself, as a glance at 2 Corinthians 11 will show; and, despite the fact of all things working together for good for Christians, the hardships and sufferings they endure prove that no exemption from life's sorrows has been provided for them. On the contrary, it was doubtless a fact that the Christians of that age suffered far more than other groups of mankind; and, due to the natural discouragement arising from such extraordinary sufferings, there was a constant temptation for the Christians to fall into doubt and discouragement, or grow cold in their love to the Lord, or to acquire deep feelings of guilt arising from a view of their hardships as being caused by their sins. It has ever been the tendency of troubled individuals to become depressed and doubtful, as was the case with John the Baptist when thrown into prison (Matthew 11:2). Paul in this marvelous peroration emphasized the fact that all guilt had been removed through the death of Christ, that condemnation of God's children is impossible. God himself is "for them." What a shout of victory is this passage!

Height ... depth ... Locke understood these to mean "the height of prosperity" or the "depth of misery."

Life ... in this context was interpreted by Lard as meaning the hard life they were called upon to live in the flesh, life with its burdens, toils and persecutions.

Angels ... if understood as a reference to good angels are only a conceptual hindrance to the Christian, meaning that even if an angel were to try to hinder them, such would be impossible; but if the word should be understood of Satan's angels (Matthew 25:41), the meaning is the same. Not even Satan's angels may finally hinder the child of God.

Whiteside pointed out that the impossibility of apostasy is not what Paul was teaching here. He wrote:

All the things mentioned are things without. Nothing is here said of what corrupting influences may do to the heart. No powers of persecutions can compel one to stop loving God; if he quits, he does it of his own accord. Love cannot be destroyed by force of imperial command, but it may wax cold. Some even depart from their first love (Revelation 2:4). Paul recognized that people depart from the faith, but he was persuaded that no evils coming on us from without could destroy the love of God.[62]

Whiteside's point is well taken; but it is God's love for man, not the other way around, that Paul primarily had in view here.

In Christ Jesus our Lord ... is the final word of this flourishing burst of eloquence; and it brings the mind back to the major proposition underlying all that Paul wrote, which is this, that salvation is "in Christ" alone, and that the totality of the Christian's hope derives from the fact of his having been baptized into Christ (the only scriptural baptism being that of a true believer who is penitent), and from the presumption of his continuance therein (in Christ) "unto death." Paul wrote many things, but the expression "in Christ" or its equivalent is the theme of all that he wrote, being mentioned no less than 169 times; and any "system" that omits this is like a symphony from which both the tonic and dominant chords have been deleted. Paul never left it out! Here is the point where his mind always came to rest.

One is reluctant to go on from the magnificent teachings of this wonderful chapter, even for the purpose of further studying Paul's epic letter; and, by way of a final salute to the inspiring thoughts of this chapter, the following words of Moule are appended:

Some years ago, we remember reading this close of the eighth chapter, under moving circumstances. On a cloudless January night, late arrived in Rome, we stood in the Coliseum, a party of friends from England. Orion, the giant with the sword, glimmered like a specter of persecution over the huge precinct; for the full moon, high in the heavens, overpowered the stars. By its light, we read from a little Testament these words written so long ago to be read in that same city - written by the man whose dust now sleeps at Tre Fontane, where the executioner dismissed him to be with Christ; written to men and women, some of whom, in all human likelihood at least, suffered in that very amphitheater, raised only twenty-two years after Paul wrote Romans, and soon made the scene of countless martyrdoms. ... We read the words of the Epistle, and gave thanks to him who had there triumphed in his saints over life and death, over beasts and men and demons. Then we thought of ourselves, in our circumstances so totally different on the surface, yet carrying the same needs in their depths. Are we too to overcome, in "the things present" of our modern world, and in the face of "the things to come" yet upon our earth? Are we too to be "more than conquerors," winning blessing out of all things, and really living in our generation as the bondmen of Christ and the sons of God?[63]

[62] R. L. Whiteside, op. cit., p. 193.

[63] H. C. G. Moule, op. cit., pp. 242-243.