#Hope Producer
Daily Reading: (Romans 5:1-5) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 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. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 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.
We have already been given new birth born into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3) and then God will use specific things to produce even more hope in our lives (Romans 5:2-5).
Romans 5:1 with the use of therefore connects the reader to Romans chapter four with the theme being Abraham justified by faith. Abraham’s faith was his confidence in the reliability of God’s Word (Romans 4:17), and Abraham’s hope was his strong confidence in the fulfillment of God’s promise (Romans 4:18).
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations”. Against all earthly hope, against the facts as we know them, the failures, and the feelings, Abraham in hope believed… how? Romans 4:20 reveals the answer: “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God”. The Hebrew word for glory is kabod. Glory is mentioned 376 times in the Bible and it means heavy in weight. Abraham gave more weight to what God had said than what he saw and experienced in the moment.
Now, that the groundwork has been laid, we can connect back to the therefore in verse one. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have”, the Greek word for have is (echo)- to have and to hold. This mean no one and nothing can take from us (eirēnē)- “peace with God” the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.
When we bring this together, Paul is saying that we have hope despite what we see, despite what we feel because we have been justified by faith and we have and hold the very peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
We boast or rejoice in an expectation of good, a confident expectation of salvation, the thing hoped for- the glory of God (Romans 5:2).
We have a confident expectation (elpis) of good God will bring about (hope) because we have been through affliction, distress (thlipsis) before- and in that enduring time (hypomonē) it produces tried character (dokimē) that believes God will bring good out of it again (elpis) [Romans 5:3-4].
What produces more hope in our lives are the trials and the tribulations that come. Hope- the expectation of good is only possible in a situation that is pressing (thlipsis) (Romans 5:3-4).