Rm 8:35-39 
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 the day long; we are accounted as 
sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are 
more than conquerors through him that 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 creature, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is 
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The focus is on "separate us from the love of God" in verses
35 and 39.  These two verses seem to imply that God will
never us.  There are two misinterpretations: 1) it is we 
love God, not God loves us, and 2) this passage is for the 
persecuted church (as in the early Roman church), not the 
lukewarm church (as in the Western world).

The first misinterpretation is well explained by the 
commentaries by Adam Clarke.  The commentaries on Rm 8:35 by 
Adam Clarke cites:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?] I do think 
that this question has been generally misunderstood. The 
apostle is referring to the persecutions and tribulations to 
which genuine Christians were exposed through their 
attachment to Christ, and the gracious provision God had 
made for their support and final salvation. As in this 
provision God had shown his infinite love to them in 
providing Jesus Christ as their sin-offering, and Jesus 
Christ had shown his love in suffering death upon the cross 
for them; so, here, he speaks of the love of the followers 
of God to that Christ who had first loved them. Therefore 
the question is not, Who shall separate the love of Christ 
from us? or prevent Christ from loving us? but, Who shall 
separate us from the love of Christ? Who or what shall be 
able to remove our affection from him? And the questions 
that immediately follow show that this is the sense of the 
passage; for the tribulation, distress, &c., which he 
enumerates, are things by which they might be affected, but 
by which Christ could not be affected; and, consequently, 
the question most evidently refers to their love to him who 
had first loved them, and, while it affords a strong 
presumption of their perseverance, furnishes a most 
powerful argument against apostasy.

You will find it beneficial to read the commentaries on this 
whole passage by Adam Clarke.  Go to any search engine (like
Google) and type ["Adam Clarke" commentaries] and look up
Rm 8:35-39.  It is long, so I will not cite it.

For the second misinterpretation, understand that this
passage was written to the persecuted church (verse 36),
not the lukewarm church.  The persecuted church consisted
of committed Christians.  These people would gather together 
despite of jailing threats, executions, tortures, etc.  They 
have an active faith despite of their uncomfortable 
surroundings.  Apostle Paul was stating that their love for 
God would not diminish due to persecutions.  

This passage says nothing about lukewarm Christians.  It 
does not claim that lukewarm Christians will always love
God.

It is

"Once Saved" + "Commitment to Jesus" = "Always Saved"

where "Commitment to Jesus" means

- having an active faith,
- living a life of repentance, and
- obeying the Lord.

If one is "Committed to Jesus", then that person will love
God despite of persecutions.

**********

All scriptures are from the Updated King James Version
bible which can found at

http://www.geocities.com/updatedkjv/ .

This translation is public domain, but the author requests
that credit goes to this translation in the form of
"I love Jesus (UKJV)".

© Copyright 2018