Assurance of our Salvation
Today, I will be sharing with you guys a few verses out of Romans about the everlasting love of God, and traditionally I would use my own commentary and notes, but not today. I will be using the notes of a man in my life who has seen the glory of God with his own eyes, my dear godfather, David Vierling. Let me tell you a little bit about David first.
My father and mother moved into a house on Sleepy Hollow in Highland Village and they quickly made a small community of friends in the cul-de-sac, one of those being the Vierlings. One morning, David came over to our house and asked my dad if he wanted to join him in going to a men’s bible study in the morning. My dad joined him, and thus a spiritual friendship, and journey had begun. Not long after this journeybegan, I was born and David’s daughters would come over and babysit me and both of our families grew together. Fast forward to the end of 2015, David had begun to have symptoms, he just wasn’t himself, forgetting things like how to fill out a crossword puzzle. This alarmed him and his family, so he sought the help of his doctor. After running a series of tests, the doctor diagnosed him with a brain tumor. After a 15 month fight, David was called home to be in Glory on April 18th at 2:30 in the morning in his sleep.
When I turned 18, Paula (David’s wife) gave me a piece of paper and told me it had a special meaning to her, and probably would to me as well. On the paper was an excerpt from David’s bible journal that he kept while he was fighting brain cancer and the Scripture was from the book of Romans 8:35-39. The notes I use for this teaching today are directly from that piece of paper, which hold truth and meaning to me and hopefully to you as well.
It is written, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘for your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What David pulled from these verses during his battle was “I don’t have to worry anymore.” David wrote this knowing he was handed a death sentence and had a very short time left on this earth. He goes on to write, “I do not have to worry anymore, because what could separate me from the love of Christ? No tribulation, distress, nor height nor depth, no cancer, no gun, nothing in all creation could separate me from the love of God.” An interesting thing that David points out in his notes is look at each of those five verses and there is some evidence of God’s love in each. In verse 35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” This love that Christ gives us, as Peter describes it, is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” (1 Pet 1:4) In verse 36, “We are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” We are becoming martyrs for Christ because of the love in which we have for Him. In verse 37, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” We are strengthened by the love of Christ. In verse 38 and 39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” None of these things, whether it is a worldly death or a life here on Earth, any ruler here on earth or otherworldly principality, anything past, present, or future, any kind of measure we can make here on earth, or anything that God considered good in the very beginning in Genesis will EVER be able to separate us from this overwhelming, overflowing, overpowering love of God. David, in his final days, leaned on this verse because he knew that he had nothing to worry about, and the excitement of finally closing your eyes on this world and opening them again to face Jesus Christ, and for the words “Well done my good and faithful servant” to be said.
This is what David left me with to consider on these few verses, so I challenge you today, do not worry about what today nor tomorrow will bring, but live a life of faith and open handedness, and open-hearted towards what God’s plan is for you. He could call you home today or in a hundred years, we cannot know, but what we are called to do is “keep loving one another deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Pet 4:8) Thank you for reading my godfather’s takeaway on such an important text for us all. I hope you find encouragement to rest in the never-ending love of God today.