GOD'S EVERLASTING LOVE "For I am persuaded that neither. . . angels . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." – Tomorrow:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39, NKJV)
These are evil angels, not holy angels. The holy angels are not engaged in efforts to drive a wedge between us and the love of God. Instead, they are "all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation" (Heb 1:14). In Christ Jesus, we have come into the fellowship of an "innumerable company of angels" (Heb 12:23). These are the "elect angels" before whom men are given sacred charges and responsibilities (1 Tim 5:21). These angels will never be found attempting to move us away from the love of God and Christ. They will never promote competitive influences that would make us less aware of the "great love wherewith" Christ has loved us. Quite to the contrary, they no doubt bring rational, yet unapparent, influences to bear upon us, ministering in such a manner as to accent the Love of God and Christ.
Thus, the "angels" introduced in our text are not holy ones, but wicked and fallen angels. The devil also has angels. As it is written, everlasting fire has been "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt 25:41). These are the angels God "charged with folly" (Job 4:16). They are "the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation," and have consequently been "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). These are "the angels that sinned," and have therefore been cast "down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (2 Pet 2:4). They are associated with "the great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world," and they have been "cast out" of heaven with him (Rev 12:9).
This category of spiritual beings include "lying spirits" (1 Kgs 22:22), "demons" (1 Cor 10:20; 1 Tim 4:1), "unclean spirits" (Acts 5:16), "evil spirits" (Lk 7:21), "seducing spirits" (1 Tim 4:1), "a spirit of infirmity" (Lk 13:11), and "a spirit of divination" (Acts 16:16). They traffic in lies, promote deviate doctrines, and campaign for spiritual darkness, all manner of corruption, and immorality.
These beings are vastly superior to natural men. Scripture records the influence of these spirits upon people. One woman, herself a spiritual "daughter of Abraham," was so impacted by one of these spirits she was "bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself" (Lk 13:11) – for eighteen long years. Another evil spirit harassed a young boy, frequently throwing "him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him" (Mk 9:22). Another made a man "dumb," and unable to speak (Mk 9:32). Another caused a man to be both "blind and dumb" (Matt 12:22). Still another grievously "vexed" a young girl (Matt 15:22). One on occasion Jesus confronted a man with a "legion" of evil spirits that had so affected him he was like an untamed wild man (Mk 5:1-15). High-ranking spirits among these hosts are called "principalities," "powers," "the rulers of the darkness of this world," and "spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph 6:12). Those in Christ Jesus are engaged in combat with this wicked host.
It will do no good for people to pretend as though these spirits do not exist. Nothing in God's word remotely suggests this is the case. These are very real personalities. However, they are all subordinate to the Lord Jesus, the "Captain of our salvation" (Heb 2:10). Their head, Satan, together with themselves, cannot "touch" the one who is born of God (1 John 5:18). With all of their cunning craftiness and superiority over nature, they are impotent to separate us from the love of God!
The chief wicked angel is Satan himself. He is called "the angel of the bottomless pit," and is determined to destroy. One of his names is "Apollyon – the destroyer (Rev 9:11). He cannot change the fact that he is the primary fallen angel, but does transform himself "into an angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14). On a person-to-person basis, you are no match for him or any of his hosts! He is more subtle and more powerful than you are in yourself. Your ONLY protection against him is "in the Lord," "by the Spirit," and "through faith." Yet, he has no power whatsoever to separate you from the love of God.
Often, the people of God are tempted to oversimplify life in Christ Jesus. They do not see themselves as in a volatile and hostile environment, teeming with spiritual personalities who are set against them. Such poor souls view life from an academic viewpoint, imagining they have somehow become smart enough and powerful enough to stand against "the wiles of the devil." That is a delusion. The ONLY way to stand against him is to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might," and to "put on the whole armor of God" (Eph 6:10-11). Know that in such a stance, the wicked angelic order, from Satan himself down to the lowest demon, cannot separate you from the love of God!
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus I thank You for telling us of our foes, and of their great, but subordinate power. I praise You they have no ability to separate me from Your great love.