By Faith - Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1–5 CSB

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

We have looked at some great themes in Romans. We have seen the need for salvation. We have seen how we all fail, sin, and fall short. We have seen that God gives us faith. We have seen how when we use our the faith He gives us we are called or credited righteousness. We have seen how God justifies us. We have seen how these things build upon each other. Now we see that we have peace and that hope arrives.

Hope. If there is one word I want us to take away from today it would be hope.

The word in the Greek is eplis (el pece) and it does not mean, oh I wish. No it means confident expectation.

I can have hope in all sorts of things, but true hope, real hope, real confident expectation is only going to be found in trusting God and doing it his way.

I can have earthly hope in all sorts of things. But real hope that does not disappoint is only found one way.

Biblical hope is that we have gone through the process. We have walked the road God set before us. We have used the faith He gave us, we have received His righteousness, we have been justified, and we have received His peace so now we have hope. The hope we have is founded on something sure. It is something confident we can trust because of path we have been on.

Self Made is Self Sustained

We want hope. As human beings we desire hope and we want to trust that it will all work out. We can build structures that give us “hope” but if they are things we make then we have to sustain them.

IF WE BUILD FALSE STRUCTURES THEY CANNOT STAND UP TO THE AFFLICTIONS OR DIFFICULTIES THAT WILL COME

We can attempt to do this in all sorts of ways.

We get degrees so that we will be financially stable.

There is nothing wrong with an education.

In the UK one study reported that 1 in 12 homeless people had college degrees.

I think it is great and we should strive to learn, grow, and educate ourselves, but if that becomes our source of hope we have build a false system.

We can put money in the bank.

I think we should save money but that cannot be our hope.

The Great Depression was an economic crisis of a magnitude never before seen in the United States. During this time, stock prices plummeted, 9,000 banks went out of business, 9 million savings accounts were wiped out, 86,000 businesses failed and wages decreased by an average of 60%. - PBS

The Great Recession saw more than $2 trillion disappear in 2008.

If our hope is in our savings it can disappear in an instant.

Some try to put their hope in family.

I think family is great. I believe that the nuclear family of a mom and dad raising their children is God’s perfect design on how that should work. But it cannot be our hope.

In America, nearly 900,000 adults lose their spouse every year.

Even if it is not death, at some point children leave and go off on their own. Family dynamics are always changing.

Some put their hope in the future.

I think we should dare to dream. We should be looking towards the horizon and attempting to grasp greatness.

But if our hope is always in what tomorrow will bring we will be disappointed.

Some people put their hope in politics.

I think we should all vote. We as a church open our doors each time there is an election as a way to serve our community. I believe that the ability for every man and woman regardless of affiliation or view to vote is something that should be protected and exercise.

But if we put our hope in politics we are trusting in men and women who are just as broken as us.

None of these things or others are generally bad in and of themselves.

When we try and put our hope in anything that is not God and God’s ways we build structures and systems that must be self-sustained. We have to not only build the structure but we have to hold it up.

Psalm 20:7 ESV

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

God made is God Sustained

When we trust God’s way. When we do it His way by using the faith He gave us, then receiving the righteousness He gives us, then being justified by Him, then receiving His peace, we end up with true hope, true eplis that cannot be taken or shaken.

We don’t have a structure we have to hold up we end up with something that God holds and we trust Him because we did it His way.

At first it can be scary. We are just learning to trust the process. We are learning what it means to walk in the justification God provides. We are learning to walk in the righteousness He gives us. We are learning to live and rest in peace. We are learning what it means to have hope. Then we are learning to stand on that hope not matter what comes at us because God has built a sure thing.

When we surrender to God, when we trust Him and do it His way we get hope that does not and cannot disappoint. We stand on His ways and have hope.

Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior; Standing, standing,   I’m standing on the promises of God.

We do not have to hold it all together. It does not depend on us. We can let our full wait rest on Him.

We also boast in our afflictions because they produce more hope

Romans 5:3–4 CSB

And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.

If we go back to the idea of us holding it all together. If we are the ones responsible for holding the system and the structure together then when things come. When affliction, disorder, chaos, confusion, or difficulty come we get rocked.

But when we are trusting God. When we have done it His way and know that the hope we have is secure we can boast or stay a place of peace because we know that affliction produces endurance

endurance produces proven character

and proven character produces hope

In the end if we start with God’s hope, we will end up with more hope.

There are no shortcuts when it comes to spiritual growth

Our Hope does not disappoint

Romans 5:5 CSB

This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

If you have been disappointed in God let me ask you a serious and important question. Was it God that let you down or was it someone or something else? Did God fail or did people fail?

People will fail. People will let you down. If you place all your faith in your spouse, your boss, your pastor, you run the risk of disappointment.

People fail us, worldly systems fail.

I have had many situations not go the way I wanted or desired but never has God failed me or let me down. Never has He abandoned me or not done right. Because of that I can trust that even when I don’t see it He is working. Even when it does not go the way I want He is working. All of my hope is in Him and I trust that He is working it all out. I do not need to see it to believe it because I have seen enough to know it is true.

The hope we place in God does not and cannot disappoint when