in his epistle to the Romans that finds its
climax in these verses. The message is unmis-
takable. God's love triumphs!
but from a veteran who has gritted his way through
horrendous trials, betrayals and dangers, never know-
ing if he was to be carried on shoulders as a victor or
escorted one last time to a violent death. Though the
earth sway beneath his feet, Paul was totally con-
vinced he stood on the solid ground of God's love.
marshaled hosts of medical personnel, devices and
cures must finally yield to its power. No determination
can ultimately defeat it; no human love can hold it off
forever. But Paul says that even this great inevitabil-
ity surrenders to the love of God. To his audience, the
specter of martyrdom with its cruel torments preceding
death was a real fear. But the executioner can only do
so much. Whether death's onset sneaks in quietly or
squeezes pain out of every nerve cell, its power is even-
tually spent. Death might beat its fists against us, but
the love of God remains in each moment of our dying.
than mountains they must climb. The little things, the
are the forces that cause Christians to drift away from
God far more so than earth�shattering events. One
of the early Church Fathers, Arles, wrote, "Spiritual
souls are not separated from Christ by torments, but
carnal souls are sometimes separated by idle gossip.
The cruel sword cannot separate the former but car-
nal affections remove the latter. Nothing hard breaks
down spiritual men, but even flattering words corrupt
the carnal." There is no external force that can shake
us free from the love of God. In that we are secure. But
not mentioned by the apostle are the personal choices
people make that cause them to drift away. For Judas
it was 30 pieces of silver. For too many it is a much
cheaper price, like an extra hour of sleep on a Sunday
morning. Paul says that none of the things that come
in this life are powerful enough to separate us from the
love of Christ. The sad truth is that all can be lost from
making a poor choice. Adam and Eve serve as terrible
examples of the unintended consequences of a selfish
decision.
the love of God.
favorably. Bible commentator William Barclay speaks
of the ancient Jewish belief that angels were every-
where, so much so that even a blade of grass had it own
angel. And the angels, because they were jealous of
man's favored status in God's eyes, were antagonistic
toward humans. Demons were largely believed to be
angels who had fallen when Lucifer rebelled. The de-