Persecution Bible Study - Part III

     Continuing on with my Bible study of persecution I'm beginning to understand more and more. Here's the last installment of my findings:

     There are many adversaries against us and our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. As I read more of this passage I see key verses that add a little here and there, but it isn't until the end of the chapter that I get my answer in verses 37-39 of Romans chapter 8 which reads:

     "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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."

     So that's why nothing can be against us. Nothing can take away the love of God for those that love Crhist. Jesus still loves us no matter what they do to us and we love Him back. That kind of exorbitant love calls for us to love back and we answer with our whole hearts. Can you imagine telling that to your captors? What if, in the midst of them beating you and mistreating you, you still shared the love of God with them? What if you told them, "I love you"? What if you told them that God's love is still available to them if they would just receive it? I think those words of reconciliation would stick in their hearts for the rest of their lives. I think it would melt their hard hearts and begin to soften the ground to receive the seed of the Gospel. I imagine you could reap a great harvest for the kingdom of heaven.

     As I look over verses 31-39 of Romans 8 again, I see something I failed to mention earlier. In verse 32 it says:

     "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

     Huh? I am clueless as to what this means. The first part leads me to think that since God didn't spare Christ from suffering on the cross (for a higher reason), He likewise won't spare those people persecuted for His names' sake (for a higher reason), but that is not what it says. It ends talking about God giving us all things freely. What that has to do with the first part of this verse I have no idea. I'm asking the Holy Spirit for revelation. I'm also going to ask my priest (A.K.A. - dh) for a translation.

     There's one more verse I want to meditate on. It sounds very strange to me. It's verse 36which reads:

     "As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

11:06 AM - Oct. 27, 2005 - post comment

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Persecution