The Inseparable Love of God (1) [ Romans 8:38-39 ] Why can nothing separate us from the love of God? 1. Because God’s love is eternal. Romans 8:29a says: “For those whom He foreknew…” The word “foreknew” refers to before eternity began —before the creation of heaven and earth . The phrase “those whom He foreknew” does not simply mean knowing about someone intellectually, but rather loving them. In other words, it refers to “those whom God loved from eternity past.” Amos 3:2a says: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” If “known” merely meant intellectual knowledge, that would imply that God only knew Israel and did not know the other nations—which cannot be true, because the all-knowing God lacks knowledge of nothing. Therefore, “I have known you only” means “I have loved you only.” God loved Israel among all the nations of the earth. Hosea 13:5 says: “I knew you in the wilderness , in the land of great drought.” The “wilderness” was where the Israelite...
The testing of your faith "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance" (James 1:2-3). How do we react when trials come? How do we react, especially when the trials are not one or two, but many? Isn’t it so hard and painful that we aren’t only discouraged, but even in despair? But the Bible James 1:2 says “Consider it all joy”. How is this possible? How can we consider it all joy when we encounter various trials? The reason we should consider it all joy when we are subjected to various trials is because the testing of our faith produces endurance (Jam. 1:3). And when we are patience to the end, we will be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (v. 4). In fact, when we are faced with various trials, we sometimes realize our shortcomings. For example, when we face trials we realize th...