Last week, we looked at the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:34 (CSB) when He said, “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” We discovered that instead of worrying about tomorrow, we are to live each day as it comes, trusting that whatever tomorrow may bring, the Lord is with us, ready to help us. We also looked at how Romans 8:28 gives us the added assurance to our faith by telling us that God will work all things, even tribulations, for good with us who love Him, if we are following Him. If trouble comes, then working with us, God will use that to bring about His purposes. That is why we are not to worry about tomorrow, for God can turn even bad things into useful tools to help us grow.
We see this concept discussed in-depth all throughout Scripture actually, and the Apostle Paul addresses it a lot in the book of Romans. Today, I want to look specifically at Romans 5:1-5, which says this:
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 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. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 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.
Is Paul saying that afflictions can actually be good? Let’s look at this passage one verse at a time and find out.
Verse 1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have peace with God through, as the Greek words it: “the Lord of us” Jesus Christ. Strong’s Concordance tells us this word is kurios, which means lord, master. HELPS Word-studies says this word means, “properly, a person exercising absolute ownership rights; lord.” The word for Lord means someone who has authority over another. This is important to note, for Paul is writing this to fellow believers, and just as he wrote it to them, we should be careful to apply this verse only to believers. I think you’ll see why that is important as we get into it, but the point in this verse is that only through faith in Jesus do we obtain peace with God. Unbelievers do not have peace with God, although they might think they do.
Verse 2 emphasizes that we have peace with God only through Jesus Christ. It says, “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.” If Jesus Christ is our lord and master, and we have faith in Him, having received the grace He offers us through His death and resurrection, then we have peace with God and then have access to God the Father. As believers, we can stand confidently and boast in the hope we have. Our ultimate joy is in the hope of the glory of God. Our boast is that we are looking forward to the glory of eternity and all that God has prepared for us.
Not only can we boast in the future we look forward to, but we can also boast in the afflictions we face here. Wait a minute, you might say, who would want to boast in afflictions? Look at what verses 3-4 say, “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.”
The word for afflictions in this passage is different than the word trouble or evil in Matthew 6. Here, the word, according to Strong’s Concordance, is thlipsis, and it means, “persecution, affliction, distress, tribulation, trouble.” Looking closer at this word, we see in HELPS Word-studies that this word “carries the challenge of coping with the internal pressure of a tribulation, especially when feeling there is ‘no way of escape’ (‘hemmed in’).”
That is a great definition of affliction, isn’t it? For isn’t that exactly what makes something an “affliction”? The fact that we can’t escape from a problem, that’s what makes it an affliction, doesn’t it? When we are forced to do something or go through something that we don’t want to do, that’s what makes it an affliction. We aren’t afflicted by something that we want to do or want to happen. It’s an affliction simply because of the internal pressure or distress that something is causing in our lives. Yet, in this passage, Paul is saying we can boast in our afflictions. That’s a rather different way of thinking, isn't it?
In N.T. Wright’s book, Paul for Everyone: Romans, Part 1, he says this about this verse: “Note, he doesn’t say that we celebrate our sufferings, (in the same way we celebrate our hope, in verse 2). We celebrate, he says, in our sufferings” (p.82).
That makes more sense, doesn’t it? We celebrate, not about the suffering or affliction we are experiencing, but we can celebrate while we are suffering an affliction. But why can we still celebrate when afflicted? We can celebrate if we know what God might produce in us through this suffering affliction or trouble we are going through. Again, look at what these verses say: we can celebrate, “because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.”
Now this is why it’s important that we clarify for people that this verse applies to Christians, for suffering in the lives of people who have not made Jesus the Lord of their lives doesn’t produce the same things that suffering in the lives of Christ followers does. I know that C.S. Lewis has famously said that pain is God’s megaphone which He uses to draw people to Him, and I agree that happens, but pain and suffering doesn’t naturally produce in all people the things it can produce in the lives of Christians. Look at what Isaiah 57:20-21 (CSB) says: “’But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its water churns up mire and muck. There is no peace for the wicked,’ says my God.”
Oftentimes, when unbelievers are afflicted, it doesn’t produce endurance. They crumble under the affliction and it destroys them further. But in the life of a believer, affliction is supposed to help us gain endurance. And not only that, but the more afflictions we go through, the more endurance we have, and the more endurance we have, the more proven character, and the more proven character, the more hope.
This passage is saying something very profound. It’s saying: the more we suffer, the more hope we have. Does that mean the more trials we go through, the deeper our hope, or faith, becomes? Yes! I think he’s saying that.
That is why the apostles could say they rejoice in suffering and count it as joy. James 1:2-4 (CSB) says, “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
What if we changed our entire perspective on afflictions? What if, instead of praying for no trials, what if we welcomed them? Fear of tomorrow would pop like a balloon. For this change of perspective would totally take the fear of tomorrow away, wouldn’t it?
We don’t need to fear afflictions then, but should actually welcome them, for trials increase our endurance. In the same way our muscles don’t get stronger without resistance, our faith can’t grow without gaining endurance. Endurance is much more important than we might have realized.
In Colossians 1:11 (CSB), Paul says that he prays for the believers to be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully.” He wants them to be strengthened so they may gain perseverance and patience. We need endurance so we don’t give up our faith.
For the benefit of enduring afflictions is that it strengthens our faith. When having faced troubles, our faith grows stronger, for we learn to trust God and we see His provision and help. Our faith grows. It’s the same way that the discipline of the Lord strengthens us. As Hebrews 12:11 tells us, “For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
Once again, think about physical strength. If you have ever trained for any sports event or even for personal fitness, you know that when first starting out, it’s difficult to get in shape. Even after a person is in good shape, the way to keep improving your fitness level is to keep pushing the limits of endurance or weights. We know the workout was worthwhile if we reached that point where our muscles burn. That physical discomfort signals that we gave our body a workout. It indicates that it was effective. Then the next time we exercise, our endurance should be a little better. Over time, things that were once difficult become easier. Following the Lord is just like that. As we run with Him, things that once distracted us should capture our attention no longer. Things that might have tripped us up in the past, we now can hurdle over. As Hebrew 12:1b-2 says, “let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We only grow in our faith and hope in God if we have gained endurance. But again, endurance is so vital because without it, we will abandon hope and give up. But if we can endure the affliction, then endurance will produce in us “proven character.”
Strong’s Concordance tells us this word is dokimé, and it means “(the process or result of) trial, proving, approval.” HELPS Word-studies says this: “dokimḗ – proof of genuineness (approval, through testing), a brand of what is ‘tested and true.’”
It’s not just character, but proven character. We see what we are made of. It’s easy to be polite and kind, patient and forgiving when everything is going our way, isn’t it? But when things go wrong, and we are under pressure, that’s when we discover who we really are. Enduring afflictions strengths our character. It proves who we are.
Again, that is what Romans 8:28 (N.T. Wright) means when it says, “We know, in fact, that God works all things together for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” No matter what happens tomorrow, we don’t need to worry about it today, for God loves us, and if bad things happen, He will be with us and will use it to strengthen our faith in Him. He will work with us to increase our endurance and strengthen our character. And that proven character produces hope.
We gain hope for tomorrow, because our faith in God has been strengthened by enduring the affliction and proving our character. Which is exactly what verse five of our passage for today says. It says, “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.”
This hope, which results from proven character, will not disappoint us. Why not? Because, exactly as it tells us, “because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” We have hope because we know that God loves us.
But do we all know how much God loves us? We might know that superficially, and in our heads we might even recite Bible verses that tell us God loves us, but do we know that deeply? Do we really believe it? Or is it similar to how all of us who are Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, but not all Christians live in the fulness of the Holy Spirit? I think not every Christian has had God’s love poured into his or her heart in the way this verse is describing. Maybe you are asking, ‘But aren’t we already “filled with the Holy Spirit” if He is already living in us?’
Let’s look at what Scripture says. Ephesians 5:18 says, “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit.” We are told to be filled. That means it is something we participate in. We see in Acts, too, how the Apostles waited for the Holy Spirit to fill them. The Day of Pentecost happened, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now, we don’t have to wait for His infilling, but as we surrender our lives over to the control of the Holy Spirit, then He fills us in increasing measure. The more we surrender our lives to God’s control, the greater the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Our goal should be to yield every part of ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit. But many Christians don’t do this. They hold back and don’t surrender all of their life to the Holy Spirit’s control. Therefore, the filling of the Holy Spirit is not as great as it could be. And the more we surrender our lives over to the control and filling of the Holy Spirit, the greater is God’s love poured out into our hearts.
And the more that God’s love is poured into our hearts, the more hope we have. And it is a strong hope that will not disappoint us, for it has been formed from suffering through afflictions which because of our faith in Jesus, produces endurance inside of us, and that endurance produces character, and that proven character produces that hope which will not disappoint us, because no matter what happens, we trust that God loves us. Do you see how it all works together?
An example of someone who embodies this chain reaction of growing hope is a woman named Joni Eareckson Tada. She is a Christian who became paralyzed in her teens while swimming, and has been confined to a wheelchair her whole life. On the website, https://joniandfriends.org/hope-inspiration/wheelchairs-in-heaven/, she writes that when she dies someday, she “will then turn to Jesus and say, ‘Lord, do you see that wheelchair right there? Well, you were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble, because that wheelchair was a lot of trouble! But Jesus the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. So thank you for what you did in my life through that wheelchair[…].’ My wheelchair is a gift from God – a gift! I never would’ve chosen this gift, but since God chose it for me, I will take it as a gift, hard as though it may be at times. So there may be such a thing in heaven as holy wheelchairs. If God’s throne has wheels – and the book of Daniel makes it crystal clear it does – then who am I to say that there won’t be other chairs in heaven with wheels on them, too? Not to sit in, thank the Lord, but wheelchairs as symbols of the bruisings of a blessing that God has given, well, people like me, when he has blessed us with the gift of suffering.”
Because Joni is a follower of Jesus, she has peace with God. And she is able to boast in her afflictions, because she has discovered that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. She has hope that won’t be disappointed, because she has faith that God deeply loves her. Her faith is deep, for she has submitted her life to Jesus, and as she’s done that, the Holy Spirit has filled her, increasing her understanding of God’s love for her. She has not crumbled under afflictions, but has actually grown closer to God through them, and therefore she rejoices in her afflictions and is actually thankful in them.
When we experience afflictions, let’s hold fast to our faith in God. Let’s trust that God will use them to strengthen our endurance, prove our character, and increase our hope. If someone like Joni can give thanks to the Lord for her immense suffering, then let us be encouraged that we, too, should give thanks in the suffering we endure. May the Lord use afflictions to help us gain endurance, prove our character, and grow our hope, thereby leading us deeper into our faith in Jesus.
Pray: Heavenly Father, we pray that You would help us to change our perspective on afflictions. Help us to see them as opportunities for You to grow our hope in You. Please help us by Your Holy Spirit to endure them, so that You can prove our character and make us more like You. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
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