Supreme Conquerors

At the supreme summit of this final paragraph of Romans 8, this portion of the letter that Dr. James M. Boice calls “a soaring pinnacle of revelation,” Paul at last casts aside all rhetorical devices and turns to sheer didactic power to proclaim the absolute certainty of the salvation of God’s people. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he here pens some of the most comforting, reassuring, and strengthening words known to Christians.

The contrast between this verse and the previous ones is stark. As we saw in yesterday’s study, Paul asked whether any circumstance of life might separate the believer from the love of Christ, then listed seven dire providences that might be thought to do so. In speaking of martyrdom, he quite rightly quoted Psalm 44:22, which speaks of God’s people as “sheep for the slaughter.” This is the unbelieving world’s opinion of those God loves, and it is indeed true in the world’s frame of reference, where the body may be put to death. But it is not true in the eternal sphere. In tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or even violent death, God’s people are “more than conquerors,” Paul affirms. The word behind the phrase “more than conquerors” actually means something along the lines of “super-conquerors.” Believers are the victors of all victors. This is so, Boice notes, because believers battle not against natural foes but against supernatural ones (Eph. 6:12); because this spiritual warfare is lifelong (Heb. 12:1); because the victory is eternal (Rev. 12:11–12); because the rewards of victory are surpassing (1 Cor. 9:24–25); and because the end for which believers fight is God’s glory, which must be vindicated (Rev. 4:9–11).

Paul is careful to note how this victory is achieved: It is “through Him who loved us.” No difficult circumstance can separate a Christian from Christ’s love for him or her. On the contrary, because of His love for us, He enables us to endure it all and brings us through refined more and more in His own image. “In contrast to the world and its power, Christians are indeed weak and despised,” Boice writes in his Romans commentary. “They are as helpless as a flock of sheep. But they are in fact conquerors, because they have been loved by the Lord Jesus Christ and have been made conquerors ‘through Him.’ ”