For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
Parallel translations
- WEB For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
- KJV For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
- NKJV For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
- NASB For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
- NLT And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul is convinced that no power in any realm, whether death, life, angels, or rulers, can separate believers from God. He begins listing every conceivable threat to drive home our security.
Overview
Paul moves from outward hardships to cosmic powers, declaring his settled persuasion that nothing can sever us from God's love. He surveys the whole range of created and spiritual forces, death and life, angels and principalities, present and future, every power, to leave no possible exception. His confidence rests not in himself but in God's unbreakable commitment in Christ, completed in the next verse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- John 10:28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
- Rom 14:8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
- 2 Tim 1:12For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
- 1 Pet 5:8–10Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- 1 Pet 3:22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
- Col 1:16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
- 1 Cor 3:22–23whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you,
- Col 2:15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
- Eph 6:11–12Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
- Eph 1:21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
- 2 Cor 4:13And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,
- 1 Cor 15:54–58When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
- Rom 4:21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
- 2 Cor 5:4–8So while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.
- Phil 1:20–23I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
- Heb 11:13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- 2 Cor 11:14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 8:38 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.