ROMANS 8, Who are the “we” and “us”?
Romans 8:35, 38, 39 are extremely important
texts for the doctrine of Eternal Security.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
…
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Using Romans 8:35, 38, 39 to teach eternal
security depends upon their interpretation that Paul uses the pronoun, “us”, to
refer to all believers who, at one time in their life, have made at the very sleast
singlular profession of faith.
This argument fails for two reasons. First,
the hundreds of participles discussed in this book teach that “believing
(faith)” which results in salvation” must be continuous believing and not a
one-time profession of faith.
Second, the following paragraph proves that
Paul’s use of “us” and “we” only includes believers who continue in the faith.
This is especially evident from the continuous participle “walking” in 8:4 and
“loving” in 8:28.
In 8:1 and 8:4, “us” refers to thoe who are
“continuously walking after the Spirit.” Notice the participle. In 8:5, “us”
refers to those who are continuously “living” [on-tes, participle] “setting
their minds on things of the Spirit.” In 8:6, “us” refers to thoe who are
“spiritually minded” and have “life and peace.” In 8:9, “us” refers to those in
whom the Spirit of God continuously dwells. In 8:13, “us” refers to those who continuously
“mortify the deeds of the body.”In 8:14, “us” refers to those who are “continuously
being led by the Spirit of God.” In 8:15, “us” refers to those who are not
fearful, but call God “Father.” In 8:16 “us” refers to those who know for sure
they are “children of God.” This same teaching is found in First John 5:13 with
a present tense participle of “believe.” In 8:28-30, “us” refers to those who
“continuously love God.” Notce the continuing participle for “love.” In 8:33,
“us” refers to the “elect” who have been “chosen” because God, in His
foreknowledge, knows who will continuously love Him. In 8:36-37, “we” does not
refer to the unrighteous. In the context of Psalm 44:20-22, verse 22 only
pertains to the righteous who are “more than conquerers.”
To summarize, the God-inspired present
tense verbs of Romans 8:9, 13 and 14 and the present tense participles of
Romans 8:1, 4, 5 and (especially) 28 all teach that that “we” in Romans 8:31
and “us” in Romans 8:35 and 38 all refer to “continuous” believers and not to
those who only made a one-time profession of faith.
