In Romans 8:35 and 39 the Apostle Paul declares that “Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ/God.” This is one of the many Biblical Truths which, when read, is usually followed by the closing of the Bible because the reader is convinced that he/she knows all he/she needs to know. What the all-knowing reader misses is the all-important Truths that determine the END RESULT of what he/she has just read. which, he/she believes, is all he/she needs to know. The all-important Truths he/she refuses to consider are founded on one Word. Spiritually, this Word–the most powerful in the Bible–is comprised of only two letters–“I” and “F.” This tiny Word determines whether or not the popular statement produces the expected result in the life of the believer. The title of this series is true IF, that is, one learns, believes and obeys the “IF” connected to the promise. In other words, does God’s love for His most valued creations (human beings) do for churchman what he has been told it does for him? Let us examine the focal statement, then search out the “IF” factors (“fine print”) connected to that promise (“headline”). In so doing the reader will find that those “IF” factors determine the outcome of Romans 8:35 and 38. This popular “headline” is absolutely true. The ultimate question is, does that Truth mean what we are told it means? In this series the reader will find that, Biblically speaking, the “IF” Word serves as the “key” that unlocks the “safe” containing the promise.

In the focal passage Paul notes that neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword can separate us from God’s love for us. What do all of those entities have in common? THEY ARE ALL EXTERNAL FORCES THAT ATTACK THE BELIEVER FROM WITHOUT. By contrast, Isaiah 59:2 provides us with some “fine print” (“IF” qualifiers) relative to Paul’s Words. Here the prophet states that SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD HIMSELF. Does this separation affect His love for us? Does His love nullify our sins?

Sin is a choice that we make when we decide whether to obey God or Satan. Read Sin is a Choice. Key word–Choice. Did God love Adam and Eve? Having heard God’s Words, they then heard Satan’s totally opposite words, both of which were presented to them as “truth.” The only members of the Church of Eden had two choices. They could believe and obey their Creator or believe and obey His enemy. History reveals that they made the wrong choice, and that their descendants continue to follow in their spiritual footsteps–with the exception of a tiny remnant of mankind. Does God love both groups the same? Does He express His love for both groups in the same way? Will both groups receive eternal life because of His love for them? The answer to those questions form the foundation of the salvation promise. Let us examine that foundation.

In the Book of James the apostle explains how and where sin takes place in the life of both believers and nonbelievers. More on the mechanics of this process later. The sin-producing process and the outcome of the sin that is produced is the same for both the churched and the nonchurched. Recall that Paul was writing TO and ABOUT the church at Rome (and all churches then and now) when He noted that “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). “But the gift of God is eternal life,” believers will quickly add. Which is true–God’s gift is eternal life for the believer. Case closed? No. Recall that Adam and Eve were believers, as she made clear to the serpent (Satan) in Genesis 3:1-3. Note that there was no doubt in her words which she had heard straight from the lips of God. That meant that THEY HAD TO BE TRUE. You know the rest of the conversation. When God–the Word (Jn. 1:1-4,14) Who would later come to earth as Jesus of Nazareth–cast Adam and Eve out of paradise, did He still love them? If so, was His love for them the same as His love for their son–“righteous (obedient) Abel” (Mat. 23:15)? Does God love all people the same? Was His love for Cain the same as His love for Abel?

If one believer obeys God’s “IF” caveat (condition) and his identical twin–also a believer–does not obey His caveat, does God love them both the same? Does the fact that both believe that He is their Creator? that He sent His Son to die for them? Does the fact that they both have taken Him as their Savior make them equal in His eyes? Does the fact that one twin obeys His Law and the other twin has it nailed to the cross affect God’s love for them? This all-important “IF” determines the result of God’s love for them. Many Biblical passages spell out the IFs that must be satisfied in order for God’s promises to be awarded the believer, including the gift of eternal life. For example, when asked by a man what he must do to receive eternal life, Jesus said to him: “IF you would enter into (eternal) life, OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS” (Mat. 19:16,17/ see 1 Jn. 2:3-5). Notice that the promise (eternal life) depends entirely on the condition (Law-keeping) being met–the ultimate “IF.”

Christ’s death made salvation available to all of mankind. Speaking to His hand-picked, specifically-chosen disciples, Jesus promised that He would die for His friends. He then said to them, “You are My friends, IF you do whatsoever I command you” (Jn. 15:13,14). On another occasion He was talking with some Jews who “believed in Him”–they believed that He was Who He said He was–God’s son. To them he said: “IF you continue in (believe and obey) My Words, then (and only then) you will be My disciples indeed” (Jn. 8:30,31). If they did not meet His conditions, they were merely disciples in name only. Note in verses 31-59 that those Jews who “believed in Him” would, moments later, try to stone Him to death. Why? Because they did not like His message. Nothing has changed.

On another occasion Jesus was talking with a Pharisee named Nicodemus who admitted that he and his fellow Pharisees “… know that you are a man sent from God.” They knew that He had been with God and that God had sent Him to earth to speak His (God’s) Words to them. However, they not only rejected His Words, but later had Him crucified. Did God love them later? They were of the world, so the answer, according to John 3:16, is yes. Was His love for the murdering Pharisees the same as for those who were meeting in an upper room on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and the church was born?

“God is love.” Paul’s statement was correct–no force from without us can separate us from the love of God, which includes God Himself. That Truth applies only IF we are serving Him in holiness within. We cannot continue to sin, which separates us from God, (Isa. 59:2) and be protected from Satan’s temptations coming at us from without. Sin destroys the “hedge” (armor/light) which surrounds and protects us from our enemy’s “fiery darts” of temptations, trials and turmoils of this life. Those things come at us, but we must ward them off and not allow them to enter and afflict our minds (hearts). Our spiritual hedge keeps them from doing this. However, if we allow a dart to penetrate our armor, an opening is created in our protective “armor of light” (Rom. 13:12/ Eph. 6:11-17). In Ecclesiastes 10:8 we are warned that sin creates a opening in our hedge (armor/light), enabling a serpent (demon) to enter and bite (tempt) us (to sin). A serpent’s bite affects more than just the bite area. Like leaven in dough, it affects the entire loaf (person).

The key is to be vigilant regarding temptation. It is our responsibility to guard our visual hedge by not watching things on t.v. , gadget, etc. that Jesus would not watch, by not reading what He would not read, by not listening to what He would refuse to hear, and by not entering into situations which He would avoid. We must keep our hedge in place and in good condition by “walking as He walked” while on earth (1 Jn. 2:6). We must identify our weaknesses and be on guard because Satan knows what they are. We must work on those areas of our lives and “build a hedge around them” through prayer, Bible study and fasting.

There is a famous television preacher who repeatedly quotes Romans 8:35 and 39, which would be fine IF he would also include the “IF” Scriptures. He invariably fails to provide those passages that must be believed and obeyed in order to make the Roman 8 passage a reality. He is giving his vast audiences a false security blanket. He tells church people that they are already saved, born again and heaven bound. Jesus says that they are “wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked” (Rev. 3:14-17). Like males who are females because they “know” they are, Law breakers are not true Christians simply because they “know” they are. By now you understand why I am not accepted by those in the Institutional Church who hate God’s message. After reading a newspaper article I had written in the local newspaper, a local pastor told me that I needed to come to his church so that I could “get saved.” Another pastor told me that I had fallen from grace. Why? Because I quote from the very same Bible they claim to believe but refuse to preach. Their hatred for me is not personal. It is God’s Holy Bible that they hate. It is His message that they despise, and thereby despise Him and His Son. For Christ-spoken proof of this statement read Luke 10:16. Nothing has changed.

Now let us address the external and internal forces relative to sin causation. In James 1:14 and 15 we find the apostle explaining to his spiritual brethren (vs 2) exactly how and where sin takes place. As he points out, we are tempted to sin when we are ‘DRAWN AWAY BY OUR OWN LUST (DESIRE) AND ENTICED’ to give in to that lust. This takes place when temptation arrives and is allowed into the heart (mind) where man’s normal lusts (desires) are found. If lust is allowed to “conceive” (by embracing the temptation), sin is produced. We will use the example of human conception to illustrate how sin is created. When a male sperm from without the female is allowed to penetrate the female egg that is within her, this union results in conception which produces a human zygote. In the same way, when temptation from without the mind (heart) is allowed to enter and penetrate the lust (desire) within the mind, this union results in spiritual “conception,” the product of which is sin. SIN TAKES PLACE WITHIN THE HEART/MIND OF MAN. The act that follows is simply the physical manifestation of a spiritual sin that has already taken place. Read Matthew 5:28. Sin, like a newly formed zygote, will increase in size if allowed to remain in place. For human reproduction, this is a wonderful thing in that it produces life. Not so with sin, which produces death.

The key to success regarding the sin process is to be constantly on guard so as to recognize what is happening and to reject Satan’s temptation before it can penetrate the normal human desire system. The same principle occurs in every temptation. Interrupted temptations produces righteousness and ultimately eternal life. Uninterrupted temptation produces sin and ultimately eternal death. Notice in the 11th commandment that lust (desire) itself is not a sin. It is the extent of that lust/desire that is the problem. The rich man written about in Mark 10:21 was denied eternal life because of his desire/lust for things, which is normal. However, his desire had BECOME SIN because he had lusted for more and more (Mk. 10:21). Commandment #11 does not condemn desiring a wife, as long as she does not belong to another man. Lusting for a home is normal. However, lusting for a dozen homes is a sin. We all have needs and desires, which are normal. It is when those needs and desires are overcome by the temptations coming at us that sin takes place in the mind as we envision doing what we are being tempted to do, to desire to much of a good thing or to lust for the wrong thing. We must, by the power of the Holy Spirit, resist Satan’s inevitable temptations AS DID JESUS OF NAZARETH WHO HAD THE SAME NEEDS AND DESIRES AS ANY OTHER MAN. Those who control them as He did will sit with Him on His throne (3:21). L.J.