Are You Persuaded?

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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[Romans 8:38-39]

This verse is one of the most often-cited and important verses, I believe, that speaks to the assurance of security in Christ - once your spirit is made alive in Christ by the Holy Spirit (the moment you truly believe that Jesus died for your sin and rose from the dead!), there is NOTHING that can separate you from God's love.

Am I truly persuaded that there is nothing that can separate me from Christ's love?

This verse was on my mind this morning - and I was letting it tumble around in my heart and mind. God says here there nothing shall be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ. Nothing. But the word that kept sticking was persuade. What exactly does that mean, anyhow?

If I am indeed persuaded, what does that look like? How would my persuasion manifest itself in my life and my walk with the Lord?

Have you ever come across a word in the Scriptures and wondered what it meant? I do, all the time. (Especially when I read my husband's KJV Bible!) I've found it helpful to keep the following tools on hand to quickly research words:

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (James Strong), and
A Reader's Greek New Testament (Richard Goodrich).
{these are not affliate links}

from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, KJV

First, look up the English word you're wanting to know more about. For me today, it was 'persuaded'. Then, find the verse listed under the heading [Romans 8:38]. In the far right column is a list of numbers. Those are Strong's Numbers, and they indicate which Greek word to look up in the included Greek dictionary (in the back of the concordance). {The Old Testament references are to the Hebrew dictionary in the back.} Strong's Number for persuaded in Romans 8:38 is Greek, 3982...so I turn to the back:

from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, #3982

In the King James Version of the Bible, the Greek word that is translated as 'persuaded' in English is found 23 times in the New Testament.

It's "peitho" (pronouned pay-tho). Above we see that 'persuaded' as it pertains to Romans 8:38 means to convince, pacify or conciliate (root word for reconcile); to assent, to rely, to agree, assure, believe, have confidence, wax confient {had to look that up, too: to be assured/self-confident}, make friend, obey, trust, yield.

Then, I look up Romans 8:38-39 in the Greek New Testament to see if I can find the work peitho (it will be conjugated, though: "I am persuaded" - just one big word), and see if there are any notes associated with that word (sometimes there are and sometimes not, but it's helpful to look):

pepeithoai - the conjugated form of peitho,
as best as I can guess, from what I've learned about Greek!
from A Reader's Greek New Testament

There's no further insight into "persuaded", but that's okay. What have I gleaned from my quick word study?

If I'm honestly persuaded that nothing can separate me from Jesus:

I am CONVINCED by the Scripture when it says I am His.
I RELY on this truth, even when I don't feel it.
I AGREE that Scripture - all of it - is absolutely true. Even when I hear accusations of a contrary nature.
I am CONFIDENT that Jesus' atoning sacrifice was sufficient to pay for all of my sin. ALL of it.
I choose to OBEY the Lord and His commands, because I believe that He is Truth and Goodness.
I put my TRUST in the Lord and His wisdom, even when I don't understand (because I often don't).
I will YIELD my life, my desires, and my plans with thanksgiving to whatever He has planned for my life - whether I perceive it to be bad or good.

Are you living like you're persuaded that nothing can separate you from His love?! I know that I have such a long way to go - some days, I come up so short in these areas - but that's the beauty of it: even on my most foul days, my most apathetic days - there is TOTAL security in God's love for me! Lord, stir our hearts, that we might live persuaded - relying on and confident in You, and willing to trust & obey You in all things. And thank You, thank You!, that when we are Yours, there is nothing ever that can tear us from Your love.

Safe in the love of Christ,
for His glory!
~Lisha

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