What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 8:31-39 (TNIV)

Here is my favorite NT passage of Scripture. Paul is summarizing his grand exposition in Romans 8 as well summarizing as our Christian hope and destiny.

What are “these things” to which Paul is responding? Look back in chapter 8 for the answers. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (v1). We have been set free from the law of sin and death by Jesus’ death on the cross and through the working of the Spirit within us (2-4). Similarly, we have God’s very Spirit working in us and transforming us (9-10). Those who have the Holy Spirit living in us (as evidenced by our good works) are children of God and heirs of his promises to us (14-16). While we may have to suffer for a season, we have the New Creation to look forward to and we can count on the Holy Spirit’s help to sustain us in our trials (18-27). And despite our trials, we know that God works for good in all things for those who love him (28), in part because he has given us himself in Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

If all this is true, says Paul, who or what (besides our own conscious choice) can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ? Can other humans do it? Nope. How about spiritual powers greater than our own? Nope (because while the powers and principalities may be stronger than we are, they are not stronger than God). How about anything else in God’s created order? Nope. God has demonstrated his love for us in giving us himself manifested in Jesus and through his living Presence within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. This isn’t idle speculation. We simply have to open our eyes to the truth of it as well as our minds.

This is our Christian hope and this is our Christian destiny. It is a free gift offered to everyone. Only a closed mind and a proud heart can prevent us from claiming God’s great gift to us. Choose light, not the darkness.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant John Huss boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

When we begin to ask what the conditions of inner renewal are, we receive essentially the same answers from nearly all of those whom we have most reason to respect. Once major answer is the emphasis on discipline [emphasis mine]. In the conduct of one’s own life it is soon obvious, as many have learned the hard way, that empty freedom is a snare and a delusion. In following what comes naturally or easily, life simply ends in confusion, and in consequent disaster. Without the discipline of time, we spoil the next day the night before, and without the discipline of prayer, we are likely to end by having practically no experience of the divine-human encounter. However compassionate we may be to others, we dare not be soft or indulgent with ourselves. Excellence comes at a price, and one of the major prices is that of inner control.

We have not advanced very far in our spiritual lives if we have not encountered the basic paradox of freedom, to the effect that we are most free when we are bound. But not just any way of being bound will suffice; what matters is the character of our binding. The one who would like to be an athlete, but who is unwilling to discipline his body by regular exercise and by abstinence, is not free to excel on the field or the track. His failure to train rigorously and to live abstemiously denies him the freedom to go over the bar at the desired height, or to run with the desired speed and endurance. With one concerted voice the giants of the devotional life apply the same principle to the whole of life with the dictum: Discipline is the price of freedom.

—Elton Trueblood, The New Man for Our Time

The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, since they are inspired, really are the Word of God. This sacred Synod urges all the Christian faithful to learn by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures the “excelling knowledge of Jesus Christ.” “For ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” Therefore, [Christians] should gladly put themselves in touch with the sacred text itself. And let them remember that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that God and [humans] may talk together; for “we speak to him when we pray; we hear him when we read the divine saying.”

—Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation

O Holy Savior, friend unseen,
Since on thine arm thou bidst me lean,
Help me, throughout life’s changing scene,
By faith to cling to thee.

What though the world deceitful prove,
And earthly friends and hopes remove;
With patient, uncomplaining love,
Still would I cling to thee.

Though oft I seem to tread alone
Life’s dreary waste, with thorns o’ergrown,
They voice of love, in gentlest tone,
Still whispers, “Cling to me!”

Though faith and hope may long be tried,
I ask not, need not, aught beside;
How safe, how calm, how satisfied,
The soul that clings to thee! Amen.

—Charlotte Elliot