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...
Slaves to obedience [Romans 6:15-23] Last week, during a wedding service for a couple in our church's English ministry, I gave three recommendations under the title of the sermon titled “By Faith,” centered on Hebrews 11:23-26. One of those three exhortations was to have higher values by faith, refuse to enjoy the sinful pleasures of the world, but choose to be mistreated and to suffer for Jesus Christ. I took Moses as an example. What did Moses do with faith? He made the right choice “by faith”. Moses made the right choice with faith in the choice between to be called the son of Pharaoh's princess (v. 24) or to be called the son of God, to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a short time (v. 25) or to suffer with the people of God (v. 25), to choose all the treasures of Egypt or suffering disgrace for the sake of Christ (v. 26). In this way, faith makes the right choice on the path o...