Great Chapters Of The Bible: Romans 8 | No Separation! (Romans 8:31-39)

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither 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.
ROMANS 8:38–39 (NIV)

So what if all of the promises in Romans 8 are true? What then? If God really is our father, if we have been given all of these things in Romans 8, then how does that actually change our lives? Find out in this episode!

Show Notes

Promo: Making Time

You have the same 24 hours in your day as the most accomplished people in the world. So why doesn't it feel that way? Follow along on this special 6 episode series as we take a look at how to make more time. By following biblical principles and taking a look at what you really want, Making Time shares the secret to having all the time you need... with a little help from some friends.

Learn more and download group guides at https://lumivoz.com/making-time/

For questions, comments, or sharing your tips on how to make more time, reach out to makingtime@lumivoz.com

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SERIES OVERVIEW

Take a journey together with your small group to greater faith! If you’ve ever had feelings like, “I’m not good enough,” “I’m never going to change,” or “Life is too hard,” Romans eight is the chapter for you! Pastor Tom Holladay taught this series beginning at the bottom and moving to the top of Saddleback Mountain through each of the four sessions to help us see clearly the journey from doubt to faith—from discouragement to hope—that God has for us.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What verses about hope did you found during this last week?
Verse 31: Do you feel that God is on your side?
Verse 32: What do you think are some of the reasons many believers struggle with seeing God as miserly instead of as abundantly giving?
Verses 33–34: When in your life did you trust Jesus to forgive you and to no longer condemn you? If it was during this session, be sure to tell the group so they can pray for you!
Verses 35–39: What do you think might help you to be as convinced as Paul was that nothing can separate you from the love of God?

PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

Since God has given so much to us in Jesus, we are now set free to give to others. Who do you know that needs this week to experience God’s personal, liberal, merciful, unconditional, and eternal love. Spend some time on the mountaintop of God’s assurance this week. Take 10 minutes each morning or evening to read over these assurances once again. Look at your life and circumstances in light of these promises!

PRAYER DIRECTION

As you pray for one another’s needs, also take time to specifically thank God for the truth of some of the verses in Romans 8. (For instance, “Thank you that you groan for us...thank you that you are using all things to work together for good in our lives...Thank you that nothing can separate us from your love...)

Creators & Guests

Host

Tom Holladay

Tom Holladay is a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Tom’s passion in ministry is to help people discover a love for the Bible and an understanding of God’s truth that changes the way they live. In addition to his pastoral leadership and weekend teaching ministries at Saddleback, he assists Rick Warren in teaching Purpose-Driven Church conferences to Christian leaders all over the world. Books he has written include The Relationship Principles of Jesus, Love Powered Parenting with his wife Chaundel and (with Kay Warren) Foundations: Core Truths to Build Your Life On. He and Chaundel have three children and five granddaughters.

Producer

Saddleback Church

💙 Find your purpose and place at #SaddlebackChurch! 🏠 One family, many locations.

What is Great Chapters Of The Bible: Romans 8?

Romans Chapter 8: Climbing to a Place of Confident Faith
Take a journey together with your small group to greater faith! If you’ve ever had feelings like, “I’m not good enough,” “I’m never going to change,” or “Life is too hard,” Romans eight is the chapter for you! Pastor Tom Holladay taught this video series beginning at the bottom and moving to the top of Saddleback Mountain through each of the four sessions to help us see clearly the journey from doubt to faith—from discouragement to hope—that God has for us.

Keywords: Saddleback Church, Rick Warren, Tom Holladay, Small Group Curriculum, Lifeway, Studygateway, Zondervan, Bible, bible studies, church bible study, lessons from the Bible, what is the best Bible study?, What is a great study on Romans 8?, What is a good group curriculum for romans?

I want to welcome you to the top of Saddleback Mountain. We've reached the top of the mountain. We've reached week four of our look through Romans chapter eight. We've reached this place where we've got this clear view, and that's really what it's all about. At the end of Romans eight, we get a clear view of life, a clear view of what God wants to do in our life. So congratulations for being at the end of this study and congratulations for being at the top of the mountain with us. When you get to the top of a mountain, you look around, you don't miss what you see there. When you get to the end of Romans chapter eight, you look around, you don't miss what you see there. As we've walked through this chapter. Romans eight. We've walked through sort of this process of walking up the mountain. And at the bottom. We've. Um. Reminded ourselves that there's some foundational truths that we need when we feel I'm never going to change. When we feel like I'm not good enough. When we feel like it's all falling apart. We need on our way up the mountain to know that God is with us all the way. And then when you get to the top and you see who God really is, there are these moments in life that you and I have where it just seems like the curtain opens and it's not always going to be there. Much of life is lived down in the valley. When you have those moments, like at the end of Romans chapter eight, you need to take advantage of those moments and enjoy those moments. So we're going to look at the end of this chapter at five questions that lead to five unshakable convictions in our lives. Now, speaking of questions you might be wondering, you might have a question you might be wondering, did we hike all the way up this mountain or did we drive up this mountain? And I just want to say, don't get caught up in minor questions. You don't need to be thinking about that. What you need to think about is these important questions of life. And there is at the end of this chapter, these questions, when you really get ahold of the answers, they can change who you are. They can change your life. They are the kind of questions that when you realize how obvious the answers are, you can live a different kind of life. These are the is the sky blue? Do fish swim? Do birds fly? Kind of questions. You should automatically know the answers to these questions. Let me read these five questions and then we'll look at them together in this study. Romans 831 to 35. If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with Him graciously give us all things? Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? It's God. Who justifies. Who is he that condemns Christ? Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? What do you need to see on the top of the mountain? What do you need to see clearly in your life? First of all, you need to see God is for us. God is for us. This is God's personal love. God is for us. He is for you at the beginning, at the end, and all the way through. In fact, in your life, you, in essence, can begin and end every sentence with, God is for me. God is for me. I'm going to work today. I'm going through some problems in my marriage. God is for me. God is for me. I've got some tough decisions to make. God is for me. We're going to have a baby in two weeks. God is for me. You need it at the beginning, at the end of that sentence. Every sentence, every day, every moment of your life is colored by this incredible truth that God is for you. Now, here's a way to think about this. God does not always take your side, but he is always by your side. There's no successful opposition. It's like being the littlest kid on the playground. And, um, your friend happens to be six too. As long as you're standing by your friend, you're going to be okay. And the truth is, God is always standing by you. There is no opposition in your life. You can count on that. There's a second security that you can count on in these verses, and that is God will give to us. This is the truth of God's liberal love. And Paul here argues from the greater to the lesser. He says, God gave us Jesus on the cross. Since he gave us Jesus, you can be sure that he's going to give you everything else. Now, some of us, we don't think that way. We don't think like God thinks. We think, well, if God gave me Jesus, why should he give me anything else? But that's not how God thinks. God shows you his character, what he's like, and the fact that he gave Jesus on the cross. Now, the words used here, the Greek words where he gave him up, it's one word, paradidmi. And it's the same word. This is almost shocking. It's the same word that's used for Judas betraying Jesus. In Mark, chapter four, verse ten. It's almost scandalous to use the same word. Judas gave up jesus, uh, gave him up. And here it says, God gave him up. Who gave Jesus to die Was it Judas? Was it the Jews? Was it the Romans? Was it you? Was it I? We were all involved in some way, but the truth is, it was God's decision. Ultimately, God gave Jesus. And because God gave Jesus, you can know he will give you everything else. John Stott has said, the cross is the guarantee of the continuing unfailing generosity of God. God is generous. We need to trust his generosity. I remember years and years ago, our, uh, youngest son, Luke was in preschool, and we got to Disneyland together, and we were watching this show of a guy in a Merlin costume who was pulling a sword out of the stone. And the idea was, the littlest kid gets to pull out the sword. They bring some dads up, and they can't pull the sword out. And you stand in the crowd and they pick some people to do this. Well, the Merlin guy picked me to be the dad who couldn't pull the sword out, and he picked another little kid to be the kid who pulled the sword out. So I went up and did the thing and came back. And Luke, his little lip was quivering because he didn't get to go pull the sword out. So I pick him up and he's crying, and the Merlin guy walks the costume guy walks by, and he just sort of leans over and he says, come back next time. I'll take care of you. Well, do you think we came back for the next show? Absolutely. We knew because the guy in the costume said he was going to do it, he would do it. And of course, Luke got to pull the thing out, and the whole thing happened. And I thought later I showed up at the next show because I trusted some guy in a Merlin costume. How come I don't trust God more? How come I don't trust what he says more? God will give to us. Life does not always work out like you want it to work out. But you have a giving God, a God who loves you, who has this love that he wants to pour out on you. That is the life that we should expect in Him. That is how we should live in Him. That's what Romans eight tells us to do. I can conquer my fear of provision. I can conquer my fear of thinking. Is God going to supply my need of not having enough? When I realized that he's giving me everything I need in his son and in his son, he will give me everything I need. God is for us. God will give to us. And then number three, god will forgive us. This is God's merciful love. Now, remember, forgiveness is not saying that sin doesn't matter. Forgiveness is saying sin matters enough that Jesus died on the cross for your sin. And the word that seals our forgiveness in these verses is justifies. God is the one who justifies that word, justifies. It's a legal term. It's a legal term that means to declare not guilty. In essence, you can picture yourself as standing before God and all your sins are on trial. And because of what Jesus did, the gavel comes down and God says, not guilty. Justified. Justified. You may be embarrassed that someone might find out about the sins you've committed. The truth is, God already knows. He knows more deeply than you do about every sin you've ever committed. And he has said, I declare you not guilty. That means you can conquer your fear of accusation. You don't have to be afraid of anybody accusing you, because God has decided he's not going to accuse you. You don't have to be afraid, as Satan wants you to be afraid. You instead can live in this confidence of God's forgiveness. That's the clear view from the top of the mountain. And then there's a fourth truth in these verses, in these questions, and that is god will not condemn us. This is God's unconditional love. The only one with the right to bring a charge against you has said not guilty. And the only one with the right to condemn you has decided instead to love you. Let that sink in. The only one with the right to bring a charge against you has said not guilty. The only one with the right to condemn you has decided instead to love you. That's the assurance that we live in. Now, God knew that many of us would struggle with this assurance. We would struggle with really believing that we're not condemned. And so he gives us, in this one phrase, this one few verses, he gives us four assurances. How do I know this to be true? Well, I know it to be true because look at the verses. Jesus died for me. Jesus lives for me. Jesus sits at God's right hand for me. Jesus intercedes for me. Now, uh, you might be thinking, you don't know what I've done. Maybe there was unfaithfulness in your past. Maybe you've neglected your kids and you just can't live with yourself. Maybe you're saying, you just don't know what I've thought. The thoughts that go through my mind, these are four assurances for every follower of Jesus Christ for assurances that God will not condemn us. Jesus died for you, Jesus lives for you. Jesus is sitting in God's right hand right now, interceding, praying for you. Jesus loves you. And because of his love for you, he will not condemn you. Now, when you realize he will not condemn you, does that make us excuse our sins and want to sin more? Of course not. When you realize this kind of love, it causes you to begin to grow, to become more holy, to become more like Him. Instead of excusing your sin, you feel the freedom to live in a new kind of way, forgiven of your sin. No condemnation. A condemned man, a condemned woman is still in prison. And some of you right now, you're still in the prison of your own condemnation. God has said I will not condemn you from beginning to end of Romans chapter eight, I will not condemn you. He has opened the prison door and in essence, if you're still sitting in that prison, you're sitting in a prison with the door open. You can walk out because of what God has done. You are free to walk out. You need to live in that freedom. There is no condemnation for those who know Christ Jesus. I can conquer, you can conquer your fear of condemnation. God will not condemn us, god will forgive us because of his love for us in Jesus Christ, god will give to us, god is for us. And because of that, because of that, you can have a relationship with Him. Now, all through this study we've talked about a relationship with Him. But I'm always aware that in any group listening, there may be someone, you may be sitting listening right now, and you've never crossed the line and said, jesus Christ, I want to start a relationship with you. How do you do that? Well, it's God's gift. It's his gift that he gives to you through Christ. And that gift comes by simple prayer. You just say to Him, I want to start a relationship with you. In fact, I want to invite you to start that relationship with Him right now. Would you pray with me just right now where you are? If you want to begin a relationship with Christ, you're not sure you have start one now by saying, jesus Christ, I want to start a relationship with you. Thank you for your forgiveness, thank you for the kind of life you want to give me to live. I ask you to come into my life. I commit myself as best as I know how to following you, Jesus. Thank you for loving me, thank you for the assurance of your love in your name I pray now. If you prayed that prayer just now, I want you to be sure in a few minutes to share with your group that prayer that you prayed. I want you to be sure to share with the most important people in your life that prayer that you prayed. Having somebody else know is what allows you to begin to grow in that commitment that you've made. Finally, there's a fifth truth, and it's really the very top of the mountain. It's the end of Romans, chapter eight, verses 35 to 39 says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or danger, or sword? No. And all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else at all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul says, I am convinced that's the view from the mountaintop I am convinced. The tense of those words indicate I have become convinced, and I will remain convinced. I have become convinced. I will remain convinced God's love will never leave me. Since Jesus proved his love for you by his sufferings, our sufferings cannot possibly separate us from his love. These verses say that you and I are more than conquerors through his love. You may not feel like that in daily life. You may feel like there's defeat all around you. But the spiritual truth about you is the eternal truth about you is you are a more than conqueror. Some people in life are contained by their fears. Other people conquer their fears. Many people, their fears build a box around their life. They're afraid to do anything, maybe everything. But through the love of Christ, you and I can begin to conquer our fears. Now, we don't have a promise, uh, here we talked about this last week. We don't have a promise here that suffering will never afflict us. But we do have a promise that our sufferings will never separate us from God's love. In fact, as Paul talks about the enemies that might separate us, he knows by personal experience, these are the very things that as you go through them, as you trust Christ, they can draw you closer to Christ. And so this is a reminder that you and I, we can conquer our fear of separation. You can conquer our fear of separation from God. The truth of the matter is, this is the truth you need to get in your mind from the mountaintop. God cannot stop loving you in Christ. Once you come to Christ, God cannot stop loving you. It would go counter to who he is, everything that he is. God cannot stop loving you. And I encourage you, I encourage you to spend some time on the mountaintop of this no fear of separation. This mountaintop, no matter what happens, I can trust in Christ's presence. I can trust in God's glory. We spend so much of life in the valleys, so much of life living with our own doubts, our own struggles, our own insecurities. Much of my life, my own life, I struggle with my own insecurities. So I need these mountaintop moments you need these mountaintop moments where we recognize, it's not about me and what I see in myself. It's about God and what I see in him, who he is. And he is a god. Because of his love for you, you will never be separated from his love. So let's make this personal. Just run this through your mind again. What have we talked about? God is for me. Just say that back to yourself in your mind. God is for me. God gives to me. God will forgive me. God will not condemn me. God will never leave me. Just take that perspective in from the top of the mountain. Let it soak in, so you have it in your life. Don't let the experiences you have in the valley cause you to miss what you're seeing on this mountaintop. Let's pray together. And as we pray, I want to invite you to make the truths of Romans eight personal in prayer. Just pray back to God right now. Some of the verses from Romans eight as we close this study in your mind, just say, thank you, Father, for the truth about me. You've told me in this chapter there is no condemnation because I'm in Christ Jesus, the spirit of life has brought me to life. You're my abba Father. I can run to you. You pray for me with your spirit, through your spirit, with your groaning. That's too deep for words. Thank you that you're praying for me right now. With the problems I'm facing, it cause all things to work together for good. Nothing can separate me from your love. Thank you for that love. Thank you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Well, I want to invite you to spend some time on this mountaintop this next week. You might take ten minutes each day just to walk through these five assurances. Just so they soak into your mind, they soak into your heart. I also want to invite you as we come to the end of this study, if you would like to finish. Do an entire study of the book of Romans. Uh, you can listen to a ten minute daily devotion through the Book of Romans that I teach. Go to drivetimedevotions.com. You can get there that ten minute daily devotions through the entire book. You can also get a study for your group if you want to, uh, walk through it on a weekly basis, the, uh, entire book together. If you want to look at other Bible studies that we have, you can go to Saltabackresources.com and see a lot of great Bible studies and campaigns that churches can do. I invite you to do that. Now, as we end this study of Romans eight, I'd like to end by reminding you of the first verse and the last verses of Romans eight as an assurance. There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor the present, nor the future, nor powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You.