31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
     we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 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.

1.     How much of the time do you assume God’s love is like human love? In what ways does that reduce your enjoyment of God’s love?

2.     Does Paul’s “more than conquerors” language empower you, discourage you, or simply unimpress you?

3.     Paul says God’s love for us is welling up from within us, and working every detail in our lives for our good. Does that strike you as a different kind of love? Can God’s love be the fundamental reality of your life? If God’s love isn’t, what is?

4.     How often do you accuse yourself of damnable sin? Do you believe Paul when he says God is the one who justifies us, and Jesus is the one who was condemned in our place? What should you do when you get into a rut of self-accusation?

5.     What are the “what ifs” that keep you up at night? Does God’s love in Christ help turn those into “even ifs”? Why or why not?