Romans 8:38-39 does not prove eternal security

By Luke Lancaster

Rom. 8:38-39 says, "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Some will take this passage to mean that Christians are eternally secure in their salvation and cannot commit any mortal sins to undo it. However, this passage is pointing to the fact that God stays faithful to us and cares for us no matter the circumstance. God does not simply love His creation, He goes so far as to send His only Begotten Son to die for us (Rom. 8:32). What love!

Yet, worldly people persecute us, suffering still creeps into our lives, and we can begin to think that God does not love and care for us. Paul himself had suffered things like, “tribulation…distress…persecution…famine…nakedness...peril…[and] the sword” (Rom. 8:35), but did those sufferings mean that he was separated from Christ’s protection? We might start to think, will the world win with their condemnations of us?

Nope. God will be eternally faithful to His children. It does not matter whether a person, a spirit, the time, or the universe is against us, because God is for us (Rom. 8:31, 38-39). The issue is whether WE will remain faithful to Him.

For example, Jesus spoke of a father who loved his child deeply. However, that child rejected his father and left the family. Only after spending all his father’s money and a famine hit the land did he realize how wonderful his father loved and cared for him. This caused him to want to return home, and as soon as he started going back, “His father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Lk. 15:20). This is the image of God’s love and protection. Nothing in this created world will separate us from that - except us.