Introduction

If I were God, there would probably be a very long list.

A list of offenses.
A list of failures.
A list of words I regret saying—and some I regret not saying.
A list of selfish thoughts, impure motives, prideful moments, wasted time.
A list of failed (or at least delayed) intentions—I want to slow down (as I confessed last week) and focus on the things that are most important to me (as I mentioned two weeks ago), but I haven’t done a great job of either of those things since I wrote those words. I’m not giving up hope, but I’m also wondering when I’ll really get started.

If I were God, I might look at that list and say, “Wow, nope. Too much. He’s disqualified. I should write a mean post exposing the truth about him.”

But thank God I’m not God.
And thank God Paul wrote Romans 8.

Here’s the List

Nothing.

But What About…?

Here is Paul’s beautiful assurance:

Nothing.

The Beautiful Promise of Unshakable Love

That’s the word that echoes in my soul when I read that passage. Nothing.

Not death. Not shame. Not my past. Not my present. Not even the worst version of myself on my worst days.

Paul’s list isn’t short, either. It’s a sweeping declaration of God’s unwavering love and our unbreakable position in Christ.

Nothing.

But Wait—Is There a Loophole?

And yet, if we’re being honest, it still raises questions for many of us. First of all, because it’s impossible to fathom someone loving us so deeply that there’s nothing I could do to break it.

I love my wife and I’m confident in the love she has for me. But no matter how strong it is, it is still love built out of human strength. I can think of a decent-sized list of things that we each could do that would seriously jeopardize the love we feel for one another. Of course, out of love and respect for one another, we avoid doing those things.

The point is that as deeply as we love one another, I can’t say with confidence that there’s nothing we could do to destroy that love. I certainly don’t say this to downplay the strength of the love my wife and I share, but rather to point out how infinitely stronger God’s love is for us.

Now, on to another question I’ve wondered sometimes. I mean, I really want God’s promise via His Apostle Paul to be true, but on the other hand, we’ve also heard Jesus say something that sounds like an exception:

“Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

Mark 3:28–29 (NIV)

Wait—what? Is there a loophole to the promise of Romans 8?

What About the Unforgivable Sin?

To understand Jesus’ words in Mark 3, we need to look at the context. The religious leaders had just accused Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Satan. In other words, they were witnessing the unmistakable work of the Holy Spirit—and calling it evil. Their hearts were so hardened, their pride so rooted, that they rejected the very Spirit who was meant to lead them to repentance and salvation.

So what is this “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”?

It’s not just a moment of doubt.
It’s not a poor choice of words in anger or fear.
It’s a persistent, hardened rejection of the Spirit’s witness to and through Jesus Christ.

It’s choosing—intentionally, continually—to push God away.

And even then, the warning isn’t about God turning His back on us. It’s about us turning our back on Him so decisively that we no longer even hear His voice. We no longer want His love. We call His light darkness and His grace an insult.

That’s not a crack in the promise of Romans 8. It’s a tragic self-exclusion from it.

The Father Who Runs

Thankfully, that’s not most of us. In fact, if you’re even worried about whether you’ve gone too far or done too much, that’s a pretty good sign you haven’t.

You’re not hardened.
You’re still listening.
You’re still open.
Maybe you’re just more than a little stubborn, or not yet convinced that Jesus is who He says He is or that God is really in control. Maybe you listen too much to the wisdom of this world and not enough to the wisdom of the God who made it.

And more than that, and more important—God is still pursuing you.

Jesus gives us a beautiful picture of this in the story He told that has come to be known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32). We tend to focus on the younger son—the rebel who squanders his inheritance and ends up eating with pigs. But let’s not forget the older son either—the one who stays but is still distant, bitter, and joyless.

One son ran away. We might call him the rebel child whose heart finally softened when he realized how foolish he had been.
The other never left, but his heart sure did. We might call him the religious child whose heart has hardened to the point where he feels like the father owes him something.
And yet the father runs toward both.

He meets the younger son while he’s still a long way off—arms open, no questions asked.
He goes out to the older son too—inviting, pleading, reminding.

Why? Because the father’s love is not based on performance.
It’s based on relationship.
And he wants both of his sons to come home.

The Real List

So back to the title of this blog: The List of Things That Can Keep You from God.

According to Romans 8?
It’s empty.

Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Not addiction.
Not divorce.
Not failure.
Not depression.
Not doubt.
Not all the stupid things you and I have ever done or ever will do.
Not even death.

The only thing that can stand in the way is a heart that refuses to turn toward Him.

But if you’re willing to take even one step in His direction—even a limp, even a crawl—you’ll find that He’s already running toward you.

His love is relentless.
His grace is radical.
And His arms are open.

So today, tear up the list.
Come home.
He’s already on His way to meet you.