Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5 ESV)
Paul says at the beginning of Romans
chapter 5 that because we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. “To
justify” is a word from the world of the law courts. It means “to declare innocent, not
guilty.” Paul has been arguing in Romans
that by God’s grace, we are reckoned as righteous through faith in Jesus Christ
who died on the cross and rose from the dead.
Already now, we know the verdict of
the Last Day. Along with the whole Old
Testament, it is a basic assumption of the apostle Paul that “we will all stand
before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10 ESV). This fact is certain. Yet what is also certain is that because of
Jesus we already know the verdict. It
will be “not guilty” because of Jesus.
The forgiveness won by Jesus Christ has removed sin and gives us peace
with God.
Yet peace with God – a peace that prepares us already now for the judgment of
the Last Day – does not mean the absence of problems. This is not the same thing
as what we would call a peaceful
life. Instead, Paul goes on to say, “Not
only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces
endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and
hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5 ESV).
It sounds very strange to say “we
rejoice in our sufferings.” God’s Word
is very honest in acknowledging sufferings. This is because it is very honest
about sin and what it has done to our lives and world. Peace with God for forgiven sinners does not
mean the absence of suffering. But it
does mean that we now have a completely different perspective on that suffering. Paul tells us that we do, because suffering
produces endurance. It produces the
ability to bear up under difficulties.
Endurance produces proven character.
Those who have trusted in God and gone through sufferings know that they
can … because they have. And proven
character produces hope. Those who have walked the way of faith live by hope.
The do not judge things based on what they see, but rather live the present in
the sure expectation of God’s final deliverance.
Paul says that this “hope does not put
us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5 ESV). This hope does not put fail us or put us to
shame because God has poured out his love into our heart through the gift of
the Spirit. It is the Spirit who has
created saving faith in Jesus. It is the Spirit who sustains this faith through
the Means of Grace. The Spirit guarantees that our hope cannot disappoint us because
it is the Spirit who will raise us up on the Last Day. As Paul says, “If the Spirit of him who
raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the
dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in
you” (Romans 8:11ESV).
No comments:
Post a Comment