1 Way Only--Who Shall Separate Us?

Who Shall Separate Us?--by Timothy A. Southall

Scripture speaks of the possibility of being separated from the love of Christ:

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . .³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither 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 8:35, 38-39 (NIV)

Does this mean that Christ will give us a "free ride" to heaven, regardless of what we believe or what we do? Absolutely not. The above passage of scripture shows that no outside source can separate us from Christ. So often, though, we forget about self. Our own actions or beliefs can separate us from Christ. As scripture teaches us, we must be obedient in order to remain in Christ's love:

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. –John 15:10 (NIV)

So, back to the original question, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" No one or nothing else can . . . only we, ourselves, can.