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neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:39 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV 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.
  • NASB nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • NLT No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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

Neither height, depth, nor anything in all creation can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus. The chapter ends with an unconditional guarantee of the believer's eternal security.

Overview

Completing the list begun in v. 38, Paul sweeps in every remaining possibility and concludes that no created thing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The love that saves is located in Christ, so it is as secure as Christ himself. This triumphant climax of Romans 8 assures believers that their salvation rests on God's invincible love, not their own fragile grip.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 36

  • John 10:28–30I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
  • Rom 8:35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
  • Rom 5:8But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
  • 1 Jn 4:19We love because He first loved us.
  • Eph 3:18–19will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth
  • 1 Jn 4:9–10This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
  • John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
  • Eph 1:4For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
  • John 17:26And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them.”
  • John 16:27For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.
  • 1 Jn 4:16And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
  • Col 3:3–4For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
  • Titus 3:4–7But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
  • Eph 2:4–7But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
  • Exod 9:16–17But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
  • Rom 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
  • Isa 24:21In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.
  • Ps 64:6They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.
  • Prov 20:5The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.
  • 2 Th 2:9–12The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
  • Dan 4:11The tree grew large and strong; its top reached the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth.
  • Isa 10:10–14As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
  • Matt 24:24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.
  • Dan 5:18–23As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.
  • 2 Cor 2:11in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
  • 2 Cor 11:3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
  • Isa 10:33Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
  • Rev 2:24But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you.
  • 2 Th 2:4He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
  • Rev 12:9And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
  • Rev 13:14Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.
  • Rev 20:7When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison,
  • Ps 93:3–4The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
  • Rev 20:3And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.
  • Rev 13:1–8Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
  • Rev 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 8:39YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 8:39 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.