{"id":1497,"date":"2010-02-01T21:26:14","date_gmt":"2010-02-02T03:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2010-02-01T21:26:14","modified_gmt":"2010-02-02T03:26:14","slug":"romans-54-rejoice-in-hope-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-54-rejoice-in-hope-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 5:4 – Rejoice in Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 5:4<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

and perseverance, character; and character, hope.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Difficulties should give us hope and assurance of our salvation.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCharacter<\/span>\u201d is translated from the Greek word dokim\u0113<\/span><\/em>, which is derived from the verb dokimadz\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto test for the purpose of finding good.\u201d It is the word used of testing gold to ascertain its value. Hence, dokim\u0113<\/span><\/em> refers to the quality that a person has after they have been tested and proven to be good or worthy. <\/span>In that sense it means \u201cproof of genuineness, trustworthiness or character (as it is translated here).\u201d<\/p>\n

This word \u201chope<\/span>\u201d is from a Greek word that we have looked at recently. It is the word elpida<\/span><\/em>, which is a form of elpis<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cthe desire of obtaining something good with the full expectation of obtaining it.\u201d It is the type of hope that Christians have of being resurrected to eternal life. We certainly desire it and we have full expectation that it will happen because God has promised it to us.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul has been describing for us the effects of the justification we have through grace. One effect is that we have peace with God. Another is that we have access into grace, that is the throne of grace and the eternal effects of grace by which we have access to the mercy and presence of God. Also, because of our justification by grace, we rejoice in tribulation, which produces patience in us.<\/p>\n

Paul now tells us that the patience we develop in times of tribulation, as it gets reinforced over and over again, produces character. Patiently enduring tribulation is a proof to us that the righteousness that God has bestowed on us is genuine.<\/p>\n

This character, or proof of genuineness, then creates hope in us. Hence, the patient enduring of tribulation produces a proof of the genuineness of our faith (our righteousness) and knowing that this is genuine, we have a confident expectation that what God has promised He will certainly do.<\/p>\n

If you think about it, believing His promise is what we did initially that resulted in God declaring us righteous. So, patiently enduring tribulation strengthens our faith. That\u2019s why we can rejoice in tribulation! It is through tribulation and trials that our faith grows and we are being made more Christ-like.<\/p>\n

In a sense, the trials that continually come our way are a confirmation that our salvation is real. And, as we encounter trials, we turn to our Heavenly Father for strength and wisdom, thus drawing us closer to Him. God does not isolate His children from difficulties; He graciously allows trials to help us grow.<\/p>\n

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul tells us that God will continue His work on us until the day He comes back:<\/p>\n

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform<\/span> it<\/span><\/em> until the day of Jesus Christ;<\/span> (Philippians 1:6<\/span>)<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The next time you go through a difficult situation (perhaps it\u2019s right now), be patient. Give thanks to God that He loves you and wants you to grow stronger, becoming more like Christ. And, when these trials come, rejoice!<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 5:4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Truth to Learn Difficulties should give us hope and assurance of our salvation. Behind the Words \u201cCharacter\u201d is translated from the Greek word dokim\u0113, which is derived from the verb dokimadz\u014d, meaning \u201cto test for the purpose of finding good.\u201d It is the word used of testing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[655,38,372,218,143,500],"class_list":["post-1497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-character","tag-hope","tag-patience","tag-perseverance","tag-rejoice","tag-tribulation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-o9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}