God’s Unbreakable and Inseparable Love

One of the most profound statements on God’s unbreakable and inseparable love for his people in Christ is Romans 8:38–39. In these two verses Paul basically states that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love in Christ. According to Grant Osborne, this results in the “absolute security and victory of the believer.” Let’s see how he explains these profound verses in his commentary in the IVP New Testament Commentary.

The Inseparable Love of God

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.

Romans 8:38-39

From the love of Christ, Paul now turns to the love of God (vv. 38–39), emphasizing the inseparability of that love as well. The message is virtually the same as that of verse 35 but with the opposite order; this verse begins with the list of troubles and then proceeds to the affirmation of God’s love. I am convinced points to Paul’s absolute certainty that nothing can come between him and the God who loves him. He wants to impart to his readers a similar conviction in the face of adversity. The list of afflictions is organized for the most part in a series of pairs, except for powers and the concluding anything else in all creation.

A. Neither death nor life.

This reflects the same idea as in Philippians 1:21, “for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Death has been often discussed in chapters Romans 5—Romans 8 as “the great hostile power … the fullest measure of sin’s power over this age” (Dunn 1988a:506). Here the contrast is between the two forces at work in the believer (though this is likely simply life in the abstract rather than spiritual life).

B. Neither angels nor demons.

This takes us from daily life to the spirit realm. The second term is literally “rulers,” and while it can apply to any kind of angel or even to civic powers, here it is probably drawn from passages where Paul links them with “principalities and powers” to designate fallen angels (Eph 1:21; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:15). These powers have already been conquered by Christ on behalf of the church (Eph 3:10; 6:10–12; Col 2:15) and cannot overpower Christians, only deceive them.

C. Neither the present nor the future.

This brings in the temporal realm. Nothing that can happen to us today or at any time in the future can separate us from God’s love. This was certainly true of Paul’s life, where the present saw one crisis after another (2 Cor 11:23–29) and the future was even more difficult (Romans and 2 Corinthians were written in the period reflected in Acts 20:1–3; read the rest of Acts as well as the prison and pastoral epistles to trace his “future”).

D. Nor any powers.

This is a single entry, and probably it is intended to sum up the celestial beings. While some have thought of these as “miracles” (the term is used this way in the Synoptic Gospels, in Acts, and in 1 Cor 12:10, 28–29; 2 Cor 12:12), that is unlikely in this context. It is difficult to know why Paul would add this since the point has already been made. Perhaps spiritual warfare was especially on his mind, or perhaps he wanted to be sure the readers noted it since cosmic powers were not mentioned in verses 31–37.

E. Neither height nor depth.

There are two possible meanings for this: some (M. Black 1973; Käsemann 1980; Fitzmyer 1993b) note the use of these terms in Greek literature for the heavens above and the subearthly realm and for the beings that inhabit them and so see these as celestial powers. But such a use is not found elsewhere in the New Testament (so Moo 1996), so it is more likely that the emphasis is spatial and refers either to anything above the earth or below it or perhaps anything in heaven or hell. Schreiner (1998:465) argues against such specific connotations and believes this refers metaphorically to the boundless nature of God’s love (compare Eph 3:18 for this use of “height and depth”). Either way it means that nothing in this world can separate us from God’s love.

F. Nor anything else in all creation.

Paul wants to make absolutely certain he has left nothing out and so sums up the issue—absolutely nothing in the created world we inhabit can threaten the relationship between God and his children.

This inseparable love of God is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord, with the in Christ theme once again emphasizing both our union with Christ and our membership in his family (see on Romans 3:24; Romans 6:11, Romans 6:23; Romans 8:1). But this longer formula adds a stress on his Lordship. Cranfield (1975:444) points out that this final section of the first half of the book (Romans 5:1—Romans 8:39) is framed by this formula (Romans 5:1; Romans 8:39) and that it is also used to conclude several sections (Romans 5:21; Romans 6:23; Romans 7:25). Jesus is cosmic Lord, and this guarantees the love of God even further. There is no question that Romans 8:31–39 is a magnificent passage on the security of the believer. It is indeed one of the most powerful in all of Scripture.

Keep Reading the IVP New Testament Commentary

We hoped you were encouraged by this excerpt from the IVP New Testament Commentary. Written by some of evangelicalism’s best scholars, the IVP New Testament Commentary series contains readable and reliable commentary on the message of the New Testament for today’s church. Visit our store now and add this series to your Olive Tree library!