<p>8:38&nbsp;<i>For I am persuaded</i>- Just as we also need lengthy persuasion as to the ultimate truth that we are saved in Christ, so Paul too had gone through this process of persuasion. The same word is often used to describe how Paul &ldquo;persuaded&rdquo; people to continue trusting in God&rsquo;s grace rather than in their own works (Acts 13:43; 18:4; 19:26; 26:28; 28:23; 2 Cor. 5:11; Gal. 1:10)- indeed, persuading people seems to have been a hallmark of Paul&rsquo;s preaching. Yet Paul persuaded others on the basis of how he himself had come to be persuaded; and this will be the characteristic of any truly effective preacher of the Gospel.</p><p><i>That neither death nor life</i>- In Rom. 8:35 Paul has argued that no suffering nor disaster in our lives can separate us from &ldquo;the love of Christ&rdquo;. Now he starts to talk in more cosmic terms, leading up to the same conclusion- that we cannot be separated or divorced from God&rsquo;s love for us which is &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo;. For those &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo;, nothing can stand in the way or change that status; only we can decide to file for divorce / separation. If we die- we shall be raised again. More tellingly, however, we may fear that &ldquo;life&rdquo; can separate us from God&rsquo;s love; Paul may refer to &lsquo;the tribulations of life&rsquo;, but he may also have in view the way we can mess up in our lives. But not even that can separate us from God&rsquo;s love for those who are &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo;. In what sense could&nbsp;<i>life</i>&nbsp;separate us from God's love? Surely only in the sense of sins committed in human life. Yet even these cannot separate us from the love of God which is so ready and eager to forgive us. This is the extent of grace; that not even sin, which on one hand separate from God, can actually separate us from the love of God in Christ. We are often plagued by a desire to separate out the things for which we are justly suffering, and things in which we are innocent victims. We struggle over whether our cancer or her depression is our fault, or whether we only got into unhealthy behaviours as a result of others' stressing us... etc. This struggle to understand the balance between personal guilt and being a victim of circumstance or other people makes it hard for some people to free themselves from guilt. Seeking to understand is especially acute when we face death, suffering, tragedy, or experience broken relationships. How much was I to blame? In how much was I merely a victim? My determined conclusion is that it is impossible, at least by any intellectual process, to separate out that suffering for which we are personally guilty, and that suffering which we are merely victims of. The cross of Jesus was not only to remove personal guilt through forgiveness; all our human sufferings and sicknesses were laid upon Him there. Our burdens, both of our own guilt and those which are laid upon us by life or other people, are and were carried by Him who is our total saviour.</p><p><i>Nor Angels, nor principalities... powers</i>- I have argued elsewhere that Paul and the New Testament do not support the Jewish ideas of sinful Angels operating in various hierarchies and dimensions. Indeed, I have argued in&nbsp;<i>The Real Devil</i>&nbsp;that Paul consciously deconstructs these ideas. But for now Paul is prepared to allude to them, as if to say &lsquo;Whatever you fear, whatever you believe is out there, however you believe it is in the cosmos- the wildest fears of your worst nightmares about the spirit world are not going to get in the way of God&rsquo;s love for those in Christ&rsquo;.</p><p><i>Nor things present nor things to come, nor powers</i>- Whatever present crises you face, and whatever you may yet face. Knowing we are secured in Christ enables us not to fear the future. For even death itself, and all that may lead up to it, emotionally or physically, are unable to affect our &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo; status. &ldquo;Things to come&rdquo; may refer to the expected latter day tribulation.</p>