Sometimes, we open our eyes after prayer to find that our problems remain unresolved. On days like these, what can sustain our assurance that God loves us? In his sermon on Romans 8:28–39, Pastor David Jang, founder of Olivet University in the United States, finds the answer in the love of God, who gave his Son for us and holds us fast to the end. Even as Paul faces the reality of suffering, he asks what could ever separate us from the love of Christ.
Understanding the Promise That All Things Work Together for Good
Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. This promise extends beyond the benefits we can immediately see. In verses 29–30, Paul describes the unfolding of salvation: God calls those whom he foreknew and predestined, justifies them, and glorifies them. To glorify them means to bring their salvation to its fulfillment in glory. Readers who have been asking what their present experiences mean encounter in these verses the God who begins and completes their salvation.
The sermon understands God’s foreknowledge and predestination as expressions of grace: he calls us in love while knowing even our shortcomings. Those who ground their salvation in their own moral excellence may find that foundation shaken whenever they make a mistake. But when we remember the love of the God who knows us and has called us, we still have a reason to return to him, even when we discover our failings. In this way, the teaching of predestination offers comfort to those who cannot see the future, assuring them that they can entrust the completion of their salvation to God.
Pastor David Jang’s illustration of a mosaic sheds light on this point. Pieces of different colors and shapes come together in a single picture, but when we hold just one piece in our hand, we cannot see the whole. Today’s setbacks or seasons we cannot explain do not tell the full story of our lives. Our hearts gradually move from judging God’s love by the pieces we can see toward trusting the completed picture we cannot yet see.
This does not mean that we must hurry to find a reason for our pain or call painful things beautiful. We can tell God when something makes no sense to us and acknowledge how overwhelming a difficult season feels. The promise that all things work together for good relieves us of the burden of thinking that every question must be answered before we can believe. It sustains those who have not yet found answers, enabling them to entrust today to the God who called them.
The Cross and Christ’s Intercession Uphold Our Assurance of Salvation
This trust has a firm foundation. After asking, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul points to the God who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us (Romans 8:31–32). The declaration that God is for us rests on the love he has already demonstrated at the cross. Before measuring whether our circumstances have improved, we are invited to consider the one who gave his Son for us.
Paul’s question about who can stand against us must be read alongside the accusations, condemnation, and afflictions that follow. He proclaims that God is for us while fully acknowledging the hostility believers face. Asking how powerful suffering is and asking whether it can undo our salvation are two different questions. Those who trust the love revealed at the cross can face their circumstances with that distinction in mind.
Romans 8:33–34 then addresses accusation and condemnation. Believers can grow weary not only from the criticism of others but also from the voices within that relentlessly accuse them. When a single failure seems to discredit their faith altogether, Paul reminds them that it is God who justifies. Our salvation rests on Christ, who died and rose again for us, rather than on the judgments we make about ourselves.
This is followed by comfort for the present moment. Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God, interceding for us. Christ’s intercession, his prayer on our behalf, allows us to lay down the burden of having to bear everything alone. We can entrust today’s fears to the Lord who showed his love for us at the cross. Here is the reason we can draw near to God even on days when our problems remain unresolved.
Believing in this love can also change the way we acknowledge our wrongs. We no longer feel the same need to hide our mistakes behind excuses or put off approaching God because we are endlessly reproaching ourselves. We can come before the one who has declared us righteous just as we are, with all our shortcomings, ask for forgiveness, and examine where we need to repent. Assurance of salvation does not mean taking our wrongdoing lightly. Trusting in grace gives us the courage to face it honestly.
Being More Than Conquerors amid the Reality of Suffering
Does the persistence of suffering mean that God’s love has left us? The tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword listed in Romans 8:35 show that Paul knows the reality of suffering. Verse 36 goes further, describing those who are being put to death for the Lord’s sake and regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. At the very heart of this assurance is the recognition that believers who are loved by God can still face suffering that threatens their survival.
After naming all these things, Paul declares, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). He does not wait until suffering has ended before speaking of victory. He declares that the very people enduring these hardships are more than conquerors within God’s love. The sermon understands being “more than conquerors” as a spiritual boldness rooted in God’s promise that he will ultimately bring salvation to completion.
Here, the source of our strength becomes clear. It is Christ, who loves us, who enables us to overcome. If we keep checking only how firmly we are holding on, seeing ourselves grow weary may make us even more anxious. But when we remember that God is already holding us fast, we do not have to hide our weakness and pretend to be strong. We can believe that we remain within his love today, even as we pray with fear still in our hearts.
Romans 8:38–39 broadens the list of things that cannot separate us from this love. Neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, neither height nor depth, nor any power or created thing can separate believers from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We can acknowledge that we do not know what tomorrow will bring and still confess that we can trust God’s love tomorrow. Even if we cannot address every future danger in advance, we can rely on that love as we face what today requires of us.
When Unbreakable Love Leads to Obedience and Care
This assurance also shapes the way believers live. Pastor David Jang connects this passage with the perseverance of the saints: God holds believers fast to the end and brings their salvation to completion. He explains that growing confidence in this grace makes deeper devotion and obedience possible. As our assurance that we are already loved grows, we can direct the energy once spent proving our worth toward responding to God’s will. Gratitude grows, and our reasons for taking up the responsibilities we have put off become clearer.
We might consider the choice to face honestly something we have long avoided or to make time for someone who needs help. Even if these choices do not immediately bring recognition or visible results, we have a reason to keep serving. The love we received came first, and today’s obedience is our response to that love. In this way, assurance of salvation moves us beyond the question of what we need to gain, leading us to consider whose will should guide our lives.
We need this same faith in the way we relate to the community that shares in this love. If we no longer judge our own lives by a single imperfect piece, we can also refrain from defining others by a single moment of weakness. Listening to their circumstances before rushing to speak, praying with them, and considering what help they need are first steps toward building one another up. Remaining beside those who are suffering, without pressing them to reach a quick conclusion, also expresses faith in a love that cannot be broken.
Even after prayer, there may still be problems to resolve. Yet as we face them, we have the love of God, who gave his Son for us, and Christ, who continues to intercede on our behalf. The assurance that this love holds us fast gives us strength to endure each day and a reason not to overlook our neighbors’ hardships. Trusting that God will not let me go, whom can I stand beside today in their suffering?
Dr. David Jang has proclaimed the gospel in various regions of the world through field missions and digital media ministry, and as the fruit of that ministry, many people devoted to the Great Commission have been raised up. Based on this missionary vision, Olivet first began as a small church school for missionary training. Later, in order to provide more systematic theological education and cultivate missionary leaders, Olivet Theological College and Seminary was established in Los Angeles and Seoul in 2000.
As the school grew, Dr. Jang officially founded Olivet University in San Francisco in 2004. In the diverse and dynamic environment of San Francisco, Olivet expanded its educational fields beyond theology to include music, journalism, art and design, and technology. The university also strengthened its educational capacity by recruiting faculty members, including Dr. William Wagner, and in 2005 moved to the former UC Berkeley Downtown Extension campus, further solidifying its foundation as a university.
In 2006, Dr. Jang transferred the presidency to Dr. David James Randolph in order to focus more fully on missionary work, while continuing to lead global missions as International President. Olivet University later received institutional accreditation in 2009, added a language education college and a business college, and continued to grow as a Christian educational institution for world missions by expanding its degree programs and international partnerships.
