“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” -Romans 8:37
The answer to his question in vs. 35 is an emphatic, No!
To recall his line of reasoning, in anticipation of questions as to why those who are in Christ will still face tribulation and be possessed of the infirmities of the flesh since they are now justified, adopted sons of God filled with his Holy Spirit, he argues that in God’s providence, all things will work together toward our being conformed to the image of Christ.
Citing Psalm 44 as an example of God’s people asking why and how long they should suffer since they are righteous, he asks: Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword (separate us from the love of Christ)?
The answer is, no! These tribulations and persecutions do not mean we are abandoned or unloved by God. We may seem as though we are “being killed all the day long” and “regarded as sheep to be slaughtered,” but this is not the final word. In all these things, because of the paternal love of the father toward us, we are more than conquerors. We are victors, occupiers of better station.
For the believer, tribulations, distress, and persecution are sanctifying opportunities that demonstrate the power and lovingkindness of God toward us. In all these things we are being conformed more and more into the image of Christ, making us worthy of our inheritance with him.
This virtually the same message Paul shares with the Corinthian believers in most eloquent terms”
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:7–18
Awesome!