Sounds Good, But Is It The Truth? (2)

 

The last post began with the following:

 

I recently heard a radio spot that said, “Nothing can separate you from the love of God. God loves you more than your parents, your spouse, your friends. No matter where you are in life, no matter what you are going through – God loves you and nothing can separate you from His love.”

 

Now let me ask you, is this true? Is the entire statement true? And if it isn’t true, does it really matter? If most of it is true, does the fact that some of it isn’t true matter?

 

I then asked us to think a bit about context, for while Paul writes in Romans 8:35 – 39 that, in essence, nothing can “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” who was he writing to? Who was Paul’s audience? Does Paul’s audience matter? Does our audience matter?

 

Consider Paul’s words, “in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Does everyone on the planet acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord with both their words and their actions? Do they have a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives?  

 

Note that the “love of God” which Paul is writing about “is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” There is a specific location for the love of God which Paul is writing about, and that location, the place where it can be found, is in Jesus Christ our Lord – it isn’t anywhere else.

 

Let’s consider the context of Paul’s statement about nothing separating us from the love of God in his letter to the Romans, what precedes the statement, what leads up to it?

 

In the early section of Romans, Paul surveys the human condition and concludes that we are all “under sin” (2:9) and that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (3:23). He then points his audience to Christ Jesus (3:21 – 4:25) and faith in Him as our salvation from sin and spiritual death. He concludes this first section with a glorious passage (5:1 – 11) in which he extols our new relationship with God in our Lord Jesus Christ, which is a result of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.

 

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…and we exult in hope of the glory of God…the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us…But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him…And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” (Excerpted from Romans 5:1 – 11).

 

Let me also point out Paul’s sobering reminder in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

After this first section, represented by the above passages, Paul moves into a new section in his letter which explores what it is to live as the sons and daughters of the living God. Here we have the following:

 

“For you have not received a spirit of bondage again to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:15 – 16).

 

Shortly after 8:15 – 16 we have Paul’s question in 8:35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” followed by his glorious affirmation that, in essence, nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

But again, who is the “you” and the “we” and the “us” of Romans 8:15 – 16 and 8:35 – 39? It is, of course, those who have, in Christ, been made new people in Him (2 Cor. 5:17 – 21); those who have repented of their sins, their way of life, and who have acknowledged Jesus Christ as their Lord and Redeemer – those who have had their sins forgiven in Jesus Christ and have entered (by the enabling grace of God) into a relationship with Christ Jesus and the Father in the Holy Spirit.

 

Paul is not making his statement about nothing being able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord to the world, to mankind in general, for such a statement would not be true. Let’s recall that the “wages of sin is death,” and consider God’s words to ancient Judah, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear,” (Isaiah 59:2).

 

Suppose a doctor, not wanting to make a patient “feel bad,” does not tell him that he has cancer and needs immediate treatment? Is this doctor being faithful to his patient? Is he being faithful to the oath he took to care for his patients?

 

I once had a doctor who cared enough about me to ask, “Do you want to die early? Because if you don’t want to die early, you need to lose weight and change what you eat and get active.” His words and his concern motivated me to make changes in my life, I needed to hear what seemed like bad news at the time so that I could experience the good news of the benefits of changing my lifestyle. I will always be grateful to him; I had seen other doctors since I’d been overweight and had elevated blood readings, but he was the only one who cared enough to tell me the truth about my situation.

 

Certainly a doctor who tells a patient with cancer that “everything looks great” is engaging in malpractice. Most assuredly sin and separation from God is far worse than cancer.

 

Does it matter whether the radio spot is true? Does it matter if some of it is true and some of it isn’t? What is the central message of the radio spot? Is it true? If it isn’t true, does it matter?

 

Here is another question, suppose the radio message was anchored in John 3:16 instead of Romans 8:35 – 39, would it make a difference in its message to a general audience? What elements are there in John 3:16 that might make a difference?

 

Does context matter when seeking to understand and teach the Bible’s message?