Yes — Romans 8:36 pictures believers as sheep for the slaughter, meaning that for Christ's sake they may be killed all day long, yet nothing can separate them from His love.
The Bible's analogy is that believers are treated by the world as helpless sheep being led to killing because of their relationship with God. Les Feldick teaches that tribulation, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword cannot break a believer's security, because that security rests on the finished work of Christ and eternal life cannot be touched by death.
Romans 8:36 — This is the verse that directly describes believers as 'accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'
Romans 8:35 — It lists the hardships—persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword—that the sheep-for-slaughter analogy refers to.
In Romans 8:36, the Bible compares believers to sheep for the slaughter: 'As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' The passage asks who shall separate us from the love of Christ—tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? The answer is that in all these things believers are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). Then comes the unbreakable promise: '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.'
Les Feldick teaches that Romans 8:36 describes the world's attitude toward believers, and has since Old Testament times—the world accounts them as sheep for the slaughter because of their relationship with their Creator God (Clip 5). He insists the devil cannot bring enough persecution to force a believer out of his place in the body of Christ, because God's guarantee comes from the work of the cross, not from anything we merit (Clip 0). He points to early believers who were tortured without accepting deliverance and went to their deaths singing hymns like Paul and Silas (Clip 2). He also marvels that martyrs at the stake sang hymns and offered a prayer because those who have eternal life may have their flesh burned, but their eternal life cannot be touched (Clip 6). Les challenges his listeners: how many of us could endure the rack or the stake? He says we must be so rooted in the Word of God that none of those things would scare us (Clip 4). He also reminds believers that even in America freedom is no guarantee; persecution could come to us, and we should not fear those who can hurt only the body (Clip 3). And he reports that in 1991, more Christians were being martyred than at any other time in human history (Clip 7). He also identifies believers as sheep who, out of love for Christ, put their own necks on the block to help others, as Christians hid Jews in Nazi Germany (Clip 1).
Romans 8:36 is the center of the comparison: 'As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' The picture is of believers being put to death for Christ's sake, while the world regards them as nothing more than sheep being led to slaughter. Les Feldick says this is the way the world has always viewed believers—from Old Testament Israel to Christians today—because of their relationship with God.
Paul's context names the very things that might seem able to separate—tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword. Les Feldick answers with an emphatic 'Never,' because the believer is secure through the finished work of the cross. He then points to Romans 8:37: in all these things believers are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Paul's words 'I am persuaded' should be our own, and Les says the Greek word is much stronger than what we normally think of as finally consenting to something.
Les describes martyrs in the early church who went through horrible persecutions without flinching, sometimes going to their death singing hymns. He says people with eternal life can lose the flesh but not their eternal life, which is why believers could stand at the stake and sing as the flames were lit. He asks how many of us could endure the rack or the fire, and warns that even in America, freedom is no guarantee. The answer, he says, is to be so rooted in the Word of God that such things do not scare us.
Eternal Security Through the Cross
Les says no amount of persecution can force a believer out of the body of Christ, because security comes from the finished work of the cross.
Sheep Who Risk Their Lives
Les applies sheep imagery to believers who, out of love for Christ, put their own necks on the block to help others, as Christians hid Jews in Nazi Germany.
Martyrs Who Sang Hymns
Les points to early church believers who endured torture and went to their death singing hymns rather than renounce their faith.
Persecution Could Come to America
Les reminds Americans that persecution may come even here, and believers should not fear those who can only hurt the body.
Rooted in the Word to Face Death
Les questions whether we could endure the rack or the stake, and says being rooted in Scripture keeps those fears from controlling us.
The World's Attitude Toward Believers
Les explains that being 'accounted as sheep for the slaughter' is the world's attitude toward believers, yet believers are more than conquerors through Christ.
Eternal Life Cannot Be Touched
Les uses martyrs singing at the stake to show that they can burn the flesh but cannot touch eternal life.
A Warning About Modern Martyrdom
Les notes that more Christians were being martyred in 1991 than at any other time in history, and Americans should not assume persecution cannot happen here.
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 opening question sets the scene: the chapter is asking whether extreme hardships can break the believer's union with Christ's love.
Romans 8:36: As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
This is the exact verse that makes the sheep-for-slaughter analogy and connects it to believers being killed for Christ's sake.
Romans 8:37: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Paul's answer is that even when believers are treated like sheep for slaughter, they do not lose—they conquer through 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.
This is Paul's final assurance that not even slaughter or any other created thing can separate believers from God's love in Christ.
It is Paul's quote in Romans 8:36, picturing believers as sheep led to killing for Christ's sake. Les Feldick describes this as the world's attitude toward believers from Old Testament times onward. The verse does not promise an absence of suffering; it assures us that such suffering cannot separate us from Christ's love.
No. Les Feldick teaches that the devil cannot bring enough persecution to force a believer out of his place in the body of Christ, because security comes from the finished work of the cross. Romans 8:38-39 says neither death, life, angels, principalities, powers, height, depth, nor any other creature can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus.
Les points to early Christian martyrs who went to their deaths singing hymns and praying at the stake. He says they could burn the flesh but could not touch eternal life. He also teaches that believers need to be so rooted in the Word of God that the threat of torture or death does not scare them.
Watch the Teaching: Can Anything Separate You from God's Love? Romans 8:33-39