What is it that separates us from God? In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul asked, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom. 8:35) He then answered himself, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39) Today’s first reading, from that same letter, talks about the one thing that can separate us from God: sin.
Freedom: Sin and Virtue
Sin, like virtue, comes from our free will. We as humans have the capacity to freely choose for sin or for virtue. Paul reminded the Romans of the fall of Adam and Eve and the consequences of that fall: original sin. The lack of obedience of that first fall which sprang from listening to the temptation of the serpent, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” (Gen. 3:1), was the consequence of a free choice against God. It came from a lack of trust in God fostered by that temptation, “Certainly you will not die!” (Gen. 3:4) The choice to doubt God and act on that doubt brought the consequence of death. (Gen. 3:22) The question, “What can separate me from God?” can have only one answer: me.
God’s Love
Paul wrote, “In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.” (Rom. 5:18) Even though our free acts of sin separate us from God, He gives us a way back to Himself through the very freedom we have abused. The free acts of obedience of Jesus, every time He rejected temptations and chose virtue, have brought us the possibility of reconciliation!
What then does it mean to be separated from God? It means that I choose not to be with Him. But can anything separate me from God’s love? This is different. God’s free choice to love me does not depend on me. It’s completely up to Him. Nothing, not even my free choices, can separate me from God’s love. He never stops loving me.
