Untitled Sermon
But the glory of God is the end for which he created mankind (see note on 3:23), and it is through the redemptive work of Christ that this end will be achieved. So long as his people exist in mortal body, it remains a hope, but it is a sure hope, one that is certain of fulfilment, because those who cherish it have already received the guarantee of its realization in the gift of the Holy Spirit, who fills their hearts with the love of God.
But the glory of God is the end for which he created mankind (see note on 3:23), and it is through the redemptive work of Christ that this end will be achieved
Hope is not superficial optimism but the confident assurance of that which will surely come to pass
5:1–5 The “therefore” with which chap. 5 begins connects it to what Paul had written in the previous verses. In fact, “since we have been justified through faith” (v. 1) summarizes the entire argument of chaps. 1–4. Those who have placed their trust in Christ can rest assured that their faith has been credited to them as righteousness (Rom 4:24).
In a certain sense, everything that a Christian suffers is “on behalf of Christ.” The evil things we face reflect the conflict between “this age,” dominated by Satan and sin, and “the age to come,” to which the believer has been transferred by faith. All suffering betrays the presence of the enemy and attacks our relationship with Christ. Furthermore, as we have argued, the end of chapter 8 and the beginning of chapter 5 are closely related. This means that the suffering Paul mentions in 5:3 is likely related to the trials he lists in 8:35: “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword.” More than persecution per se is included.
Yet some Christians almost go this far in their application of verses like Romans 5:3—as if we are to praise God for cancer, the loss of a job, or the death of a loved one. We must never praise God for, or rejoice in, evil things. God hates these things. They are no part of his original creation, and he will someday eradicate them. Paul calls on us to rejoice in the midst of afflictions, and even to rejoice because of afflictions (knowing what God will accomplish with them). But he does not ask us to be joyful about the affliction itself.
Alongside this subjective evidence of God’s love, we also have objective proof of that love in the cross of Christ. At the time God determined, at just the right point in salvation history, “Christ died for the ungodly” (v. 6; cf. also, for this sense of time, 3:26; 8:18; 13:11).
How can we be sure? In Romans 5:5b–10, Paul gives two basic reasons: God’s love for us in Christ (vv. 5b–8) and God’s work for us in Christ (vv. 9–10). God does not mete out his love for us in tiny measures; he “has poured” (ekcheo) it into our hearts
WITH THE WORDS “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,” Paul signals an important transition in his argument. He has established the truth of justification by faith in chapters 1–4. Now he will elaborate the results of the new status God has given us in Christ.
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.