Yes, God is for us even in suffering, because nothing that happens to the body—persecution, famine, or sword—can separate believers from His love or their eternal security.
Les Feldick teaches that the promise in Romans 8 is that no external affliction can separate a believer from the love of God. Believers like those in Hebrews 11 endured torture and death, yet their suffering did not mean God had abandoned them. God provides the strength to go through trials and guarantees eternal security because of the finished work of Christ.
Romans 8:35 — This verse lists the very afflictions—tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword—that believers suffer, and asks what can separate us from Christ's love.
Romans 8:35 asks, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" These are the very trials believers face, yet the passage answers that none of these can separate us from God's love. Hebrews 11 records that God's choicest believers "quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens" (Hebrews 11:34). But the same chapter also says "others were tortured, not accepting deliverance" (Hebrews 11:35). The Scripture does not promise that believers will escape suffering, and it shows that many faithful believers were killed by the sword, as Paul himself was beheaded.
Les teaches that being a believer does not mean a rose-petaled pathway. Believers are still in this old world, in a body of flesh, and living in a time of trials and tribulations. God does not remove us from suffering, but He says, "I'll see you through it." He will never forsake us. Les explains that persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword cannot separate a believer from God's love because God's security is based on the finished work of Christ, not on what we do or merit. He points to the early believers who suffered horrible persecution and martyrdom, and to the fact that Paul was beheaded—he was not spared the Roman sword. Yet the promises of eternal security are sure. Les also teaches that believers should be ready for persecution even in America, and that the grace of God will be sufficient when the time comes, just as it sustained countless martyrs.
According to Les, no. Suffering does not mean God has abandoned His people. In Hebrews 11, the people being tortured, mocked, beaten, and imprisoned were God's choicest believers. They refused to renounce their faith even though accepting deliverance would have stopped their suffering. Their endurance shows that faithfulness to God mattered more than escaping bodily harm, and their suffering did not change God's care for them.
Les addresses this directly: never. The devil cannot bring enough persecution to force a believer out of his place in the body of Christ. God guarantees our security because of the work of the cross. We do not maintain our salvation because of who we are or what we are; it is only because of what Christ has done.
Les makes clear that God does not. Just because you become a believer does not mean you will have a rose-petaled pathway or live in a Garden of Eden. We are still in this old world, in a body of flesh, living in a time of trials and tribulations. God does not remove us from that; instead, He sees us through it. We can go through valleys, but God will always escort us and never forsake us.
Les teaches that famine, nakedness, peril, and sword are things believers have experienced. Many in Hebrews were famished and likely died of starvation. Paul experienced nakedness, cold, heat, and thirst. Paul himself was beheaded. None of these separated them from the love of God, and nothing says we will be spared either.
Les explains that the same Lord who permits persecutions and testings to come into the believer's life is the same Lord who will provide the strength needed to go through them. Early believers under the Roman yoke were under constant surveillance, and becoming a believer was practically an invitation to persecution. Yet the consolation of Christ abounds in proportion to the sufferings.
Les says believers should have no fear of death, because death is only temporary because of resurrection power. He points to the early apostles who were nothing scares them—Rome doesn't scare them, the Jews don't scare them—because of resurrection power. Even in America, persecution could come awfully fast, but believers should be so bound in the hope and power of resurrection that they are not afraid of what man can do to the body.
Les shares a pastor's advice: today you cannot take persecution, but when the time comes, the grace of God will be sufficient. This must be the case, because millions of Christians went through the rack and burning at the stake without screaming and carrying on. Many prayed as the fire rose, and God's grace overwhelmed them.
Les emphasizes that everything that keeps us secure is the finished work of Christ. We are secure not because of what we have done or merited, but only because of what He has done. None of the things listed in Romans 8:35 will separate us from our Lord.
God's choicest believers suffered
Les shows from Hebrews 11 that even God's choicest believers were tortured and refused deliverance rather than renounce their faith, proving suffering is not a sign that God is against us.
Persecution cannot displace a believer
Les teaches that no amount of tribulation or persecution can force a believer out of the body of Christ because security rests on the finished work of the cross.
No rose-petaled pathway
Les tells believers not to expect an easy life; God does not remove us from trials but escorts us through them and never forsakes us.
Famine, nakedness, and sword
Les applies Romans 8 to real suffering, including famine, nakedness, and beheading, showing none of it can separate us from the love of God.
God provides consolation in suffering
Les teaches that the Lord who permits persecutions is the same Lord who gives the strength to endure, and that early believers expected persecution.
The promise of Romans 8:35
Les highlights God's promise that nothing—including tribulation, persecution, famine, or sword—can separate believers from the love of Christ.
Resurrection power removes fear
Les urges believers to be unafraid of what people can do to the body because death is temporary and resurrection power made the apostles fearless.
Grace sufficient in martyrdom
Les explains that the grace of God becomes sufficient when persecution actually comes, as seen in the countless martyrs who endured calmly.
Romans 8:35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
This verse explicitly asks whether the greatest trials a believer can face can separate them from Christ's love.
Romans 8:38-39: 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.
Paul's conclusion that absolutely nothing can separate believers from God's love.
Hebrews 11:34: Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Shows that faithful believers experienced deliverance from danger, but this was not a guarantee of immunity.
Hebrews 11:35: Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
Makes clear that faithful believers also suffered torture and death, refusing to escape through renunciation.
2 Corinthians 1:5: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
Les cites this to show that God supplies consolation in proportion to the suffering He permits.
2 Corinthians 1:7: And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
Believers who share in Christ's sufferings will also share in His consolation.
Les Feldick teaches that God never promised believers a rose-petaled pathway. Suffering is part of living in a fallen world, and God does not remove us from it. Instead, He sees us through it, escorts us through the valleys, and never forsakes us.
No. Les points to Hebrews 11, where God's choicest believers were tortured, mocked, and imprisoned. Their suffering did not mean God had abandoned them. Persecution cannot separate a believer from the love of God in Christ.
No. Les explains that believers in the past have experienced famine, nakedness, peril, and the sword, yet none of these separated them from God's love. Paul himself was beheaded, but the promises of God's security remain sure.
Les teaches that the grace of God becomes sufficient when the time of testing actually comes. Millions of martyrs went through torture and burning at the stake because God's grace overwhelmed them with strength and peace.
No. Les emphasizes that believers are secure because of the finished work of Christ, not because of what we have done or merited. We never maintain our assurance by who we are or what we are.
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