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Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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   You Are Here: Bridge / Galley / Pastor's Pen / Pathways Through Paul
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Pathways Through Paul Daily Devotional
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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional

March 17
Click on verses for Full Scripture
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Today's Pathway:


 Romans 8:33-39
  1. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
  2. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
  3. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
  4. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
  5. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
  6. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
  7. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

His Majesty's Service

 One of the major themes of the second half of Romans 8 is that the believer has nothing to fear. Yesterday we saw that God is for us. We know this because Christ died for us. In verse 33 we see that God justified us. Because of that we do not have to fear anyone bringing an accusation against us. Since we have already been declared "not guilty", no one can ever bring a charge against us that would result in us receiving a guilty verdict. In verse 34 we see that the only One Who can condemn us is Christ, and Paul gives four reasons why He will never do that. First, He died for us and thereby removed our guilt. Second, He arose from the dead and is therefore able to give life to those who trust Him. Third, He has ascended to the position of supreme authority in Heaven where He sits at God's right hand. Fourth, He presently intercedes to the Father for our benefit Paul has already declared in verse 1 that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Therefore no one can judge us, and thus we have nothing to fear from anyone who would attempt to do so.

 In verses 35-39, Paul gives a final reason why the Christian does not have to live in the bondage of fear (vs. 15). God loves us, and nothing we or anyone else can do will ever make Him stop. In verses 35-36 he gives a list of things that Christians might be afraid of: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, the sword, and finally, death. Let's define some of these terms. "Tribulation" means "pressure or affliction" In times of difficulty when you are under a lot of pressure, do you ever feel like God doesn't care? Remember this - He does care. Nothing will separate you from His love . "Distress" comes from a word that means "to be narrow". The picture is of a person finding themselves in a tight corner without the possibility of escape. Do you ever find yourself in a tough spot and it seems like you can't get out? Does that make you afraid? Do you wonder if God knows and cares? He does. "Persecution" carries the idea of being pursued by an enemy who is continually trying to strike you down. Don't wonder if God has forgotten about you - He hasn't. We understand what famine and nakedness are. It is interesting that Paul wrote in I Timothy 6;8 that if we have food and raiment we should be content. But what if we don't have them? God still loves us. "Peril" refers to danger of any kind. The "sword" could kill us. In fact, verse 36 indicates that we might someday be slaughtered. Does God still care even when things get this bad? Paul says that He not only cares, but He makes us "more than conquerors". We are "hyper-victorious", and the verb tense indicates that this is an ongoing action. Ray Steadman made this comment:

" A 'more than conqueror' is someone who takes the worst that life can throw at him and uses that to become victorious. 'More than conqueror' is one who, by the grace and the gift of God, and in the strength of God within him, actually takes the very things that are designed to destroy him, and they become stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks."

 Paul concludes this section by stating that he has been convinced that nothing can separate us from God's love. Death does not, and neither do the tragedies of life. People can not, nor can any spirit beings, be they angelic or demonic. There is nothing happening to me today, nor anything that can happen to me in the future, that I need to fear. There is no place so high or so low that God's love does not reach me. In fact, the bottom line is that there is nothing in all of God's creation that can separate me from His love. What a blessing that is!

Pastor Mark J Montgomery

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His Majesty's Service
Home of Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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