ROMANS 8:31

The apostle Paul labored under no illusions. From the outset, it was revealed to him that it was not going to be easy. In fact, not only was he informed about some of the marvelous things he was going to experience as a handpicked vessel of the Christ, but he was unmistakably told of the “great things he must suffer” for the sake of Jesus” (Acts 9: 15,16). The gory also came with the glory. However, Paul was able to testify – “but none of these things move me . . .” (Acts 20:24). He survived! I strongly propose that the apostle Paul flourished against all odds because he had a triumphant theology.

Nothing from the enemy moved or shook him. I could just imagine how this perturbed and exasperated the enemy. Instead of destabilizing Paul, all the contraptions and concoctions of the enemy served only to reinforce and to reinvigorate Paul’s faith and determination to become more steadfast and unmovable. The more the enemy attacked, the stronger the apostle became and the more committed to holding fast to his profession and showing others the way. In Paul’s theology, the battle was already won, and nothing the enemy could do, could change the history and outcome of the salvific works of Christ on Calvary. We are now more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

If we can only grasp that today. In Christ, there is no defeat, no weakness, no going under. Perhaps that’s the reason Jesus instructed us to often celebrate the Eucharist – the Lord’s Supper – to remind us constantly of His finished work, effecting our salvation now and for eternity. It’s not just the memory of an empty tomb, but in joyful celebration of the risen Savior who soon returns. He constantly accompanies us in our present lives and in all our transactions of the everyday. Nothing now or ever can separate us from His love (8:38,39).

Like the great apostle, we too choose to see our sufferings in a new light. He positively, triumphantly declared “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). We know that the Holy Spirit perpetually helps our infirmities assisting us in our persistent frailties always as we pray (8:26). We are undergirded by the incontestable knowledge of God’s unsearchable love for us. Because we know that all things are graciously working together for our good (8:28) – we rejoice.

If only the church of Jesus in 2025 could get our theology right, how much more victoriously we would be presently living. It really changes the landscape when we fully understand and walk in the knowledge of “. . . if God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). God being in our destiny, nothing else matters!