HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1390
RO MA N S 9
page 1020
among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having
chosen them, he called them to come to him.
And having called them, he gave them right
standing with himself. And having given them
right standing, he gave them his glory.
— promises —
from God
Nothing in all creation
will ever be able to
separate us from the love
of God that is revealed in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
R O M A N S 8:39
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
31 What shall we say about such wonderful
things as these? If God is for us, who can ever
be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his
own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he
also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No
one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us?
No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was
raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place
of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s
love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we
have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or
hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say,
“For your sake we are killed every day; we are
being slaughtered like sheep.”*) 37 No, despite
all these things, overwhelming victory is ours
through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever
separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons,* neither our
fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate
us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above
or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all
creation will ever be able to separate us from
the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
God’s Selection of Israel
With Christ as my witness, I speak with
utter truthfulness. My conscience and
the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled
with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for
my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.*
I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off
from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are
the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted
9
children.* God revealed his glory to them. He
made covenants with them and gave them his
law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping
him and receiving his wonderful promises.
5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors,
and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his
human nature is concerned. And he is God, the
one who rules over everything and is worthy of
eternal praise! Amen.*
6 Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into
the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s
people! 7 Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t
make them truly Abraham’s children. For the
Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom
your descendants will be counted,”* though
Abraham had other children, too. 8 This means
that Abraham’s physical descendants are not
necessarily children of God. Only the children
of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s
children. 9 For God had promised, “I will return
about this time next year, and Sarah will have
a son.”*
10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When
he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.*
11 But before they were born, before they had
done anything good or bad, she received a
message from God. (This message shows that
God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to
their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your
older son will serve your younger son.”* 13 In
the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but
I rejected Esau.”*
14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair?
Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses,
“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone
I choose.”*
16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We
can neither choose it nor work for it.
17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to
spread my fame throughout the earth.”* 18 So
you see, God chooses to show mercy to some,
and he chooses to harden the hearts of others
so they refuse to listen.
19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God
blame people for not responding? Haven’t they
simply done what he makes them do?”
20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere
human being, to argue with God? Should the
thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”
8:36 Ps 44:22. 8:38 Greek nor rulers. 9:3 Greek my brothers.
9:4 Greek chosen for sonship. 9:5 Or May God, the one who
rules over everything, be praised forever. Amen. 9:7 Gen 21:12.
9:9 Gen 18:10, 14. 9:10 Greek she conceived children through
this one man. 9:12 Gen 25:23. 9:13 Mal 1:2-3. 9:15 Exod
33:19. 9:17 Exod 9:16 (Greek version).