Persuaded: "peitho" Greek meaning, "to trust, to be convinced, to have faith, have confidence, to be confident"
Separate: "chorizo" Greek meaning, "to depart, divide, put asunder, to go away or place room between"
I often hear people verbalize feelings of woe, sadness, and remorse over past sin--the ruminating guilt of poor decisions and poor choices. There is a debilitating belief that God would not and could not ever forgive them. Some also feel that there is a great chasm between them and the Lord. Yet, this is not what the Bible teaches us. We learn in Romans 8:38-39, that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We must be persuaded--convinced of this truth. When we bring our hearts before the Lord in humility and repentance, He forgives us. It does not matter what we have done in our lives, although we may feel great angst, nothing can separate us from the loving arms of our heavenly Father. There is no condemnation in Him (Romans 8:1). And, when Christ makes us free, we are free indeed (John 8:36)!
Are you convinced of this?