From Suffering to Hope


Romans 5:1-11
1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Through 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.
3Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5and 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.
6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

I’ve had more than a few people tell me over the years that they will come to God after they clean up their lives. They knew that there were aspects of their everyday life that certainly weren’t up to God’s standards, so improvements were going to have to be made in order for them to come to Him. And if we are earning our way into God’s presence through our own actions, I can see where that idea makes sense. But that’s just not how it works in God’s economy. This passage completely belies that concept.

Our reading for today is a big one. If you’re going for theological depth, here it is. In order not to miss anything, we’re going to take it point by point.

  • A thorough discussion of Abraham has proven that we are not justified by our actions or deeds but by God given faith.
  • Because of that faith, we are at peace with Christ; but that peace does not mean a stress free life. We will still suffer.
  • Even suffering has a worthy outcome – hope.
  • Jesus suffered and died because of our sins long before we had “cleaned up our lives.” He died for those who were inherently His enemies because of our complete lack of holiness.
  • Now we are reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ.

As I read back over the “points” I again marvel at the simple beauty of God’s plan and the overwhelming extent of His grace. We don’t deserve it, we didn’t earn it, we didn’t even expect it – yet Jesus died to reconcile us with God. It’s unprecedented and completely true.

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