Creator, Father, King #269

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.

ON OCTOBER 6, 1536, local officials in the Dutch town of Vilvoorde bound William Tyndale to a wooden cross and fastened a rope and an iron chain around his neck. His alleged crime? Heresy against the Holy Roman Empire.

Tyndale, forty-two years old at the time, had already translated the New Testament from Greek to English and had been translating the Old Testament from Hebrew to English when he was arrested in May 1535. Back in 1523, the Catholic bishop in London had forbidden his translation efforts, so he had fled to various other cities in Europe to do his good work.

Tyndale produced his New Testament two years later, smuggled it back into England, and successfully managed to evade the authorities until he was betrayed by a supposed friend. At Vilvoorde, his executioners strangled him first before burning him at the stake.

Of the many tracts Tyndale wrote, one reads as follows (partially paraphrasing Romans 8:31):

Let it not make thee despair, neither yet discourage thee, O reader, that it is forbidden thee in pain of life and goods, or that it is made breaking of the king’s peace, or treason unto his highness, to read the word of thy soul’s health . . . for if God be on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes, or whatsoever names they will?^a

Wicked authorities could take Tyndale’s life, but they couldn’t separate him from the love of God.

What’s It Mean?

Romans 8 is a slow buildup to the glorious truth of today’s verse. In verses 28-30, Paul presents what’s commonly referred to as the Golden Chain of Salvation, highlighting God’s sovereign, unbreakable plan of salvation for every believer.

With that in mind, he then asks the question that Tyndale posed: “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (verse 31).

Clearly, we will face human opposition in this world. Tyndale certainly did, even to the death. But the authorities couldn’t separate him from God’s love.

If you have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, nothing in heaven or on earth can stand between you and God’s love (verses 38-39). Nothing can keep you from seeing your heavenly Father in eternity one day. That’s how amazing God’s salvation is. That’s how powerful his love is for you.

And that’s good news!

Now What?

Read some biographies of Christian Reformers such as William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.

Did You Know?

Only one copy of Tyndale’s New Testament remains today—at London’s British Library.