Have you ever begun reading a passage in the Bible and started anticipating where it was going, and then it took a left-hand turn? I recently had one of those moments. In Romans 5, Paul takes four turns, each more surprising than the last. At the core of Paul’s argument is a counter-intuitive perspective on hope.
Having just worked through Abraham’s faith, Paul begins, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2). I’m tracking with Paul here. I got it: faith leads us to peace with God through our relationship with the one who secured that peace, Jesus Christ. And he has also has brought us into grace. Because of this, we rejoice at the in-breaking hope of the glory of God. Yes and yes!
But then Paul’s mind takes a left turn, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,” (Rom. 5:3). Wait, what? We just went from faith to peace to hope to glory to suffering? My mind would have probably moved from glory to heaven or maybe love. What the connection here? I think I see it: the grace we live in causes me to rejoice in the completion of that grace in the incoming glory of God, but that makes me recognize that the completion of that grace won’t come until we go through this time of suffering, and that isn’t a waste, it is doing a work in us.
Paul continues, and now I’m tracking, “and endurance produces character” (Rom. 5:4a). Got it, Paul. I’m with you. The work of suffering produces endurance and character. Any athlete knows this. And we know this of those who have gone through severe challenges in life—those who walk through those challenges with faith have their character molded to the image of Christ.
But then Paul loses me again, “…and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:4b). Wait, what? The end of the chain of what God produces in us through suffering is hope? Character produces hope? I would’ve probably ended that sentence with “grit” or “perseverance,” or “wisdom.” However, Paul concludes by saying that “character produces hope.” How is this? How does character produce hope?
In our jaded world, hope can get a bad rap. Hope is for the wide-eyed optimists, the inexperienced, the naïve. But for Paul hope is one of the crown jewels of the Spirit’s work in us. For those in Christ, suffering makes us more hopeful, not less. We think of suffering as something that extinguishes hope, but Paul thinks suffering is fuel for hope’s fire.
I’ve probably seen this best exemplified in my friendships with those in the persecuted church. I think of our church-planting friends in India, most of whom have been beaten and imprisoned for their courageous ministry. I can’t think of a single time one of them has ever asked for prayer that the persecution would stop. These men and women radiate with joy and hope. Their hope in the new heavens and new earth is clearer and brighter than mine.
But are they just being foolish? Will their unflinching hope not merely add to the embarrassment of their poverty and their suffering?
Certainly not, Paul concludes, “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Hope won’t put you to shame, but it’s not the hope of wishing upon a star, or asking the universe or self-will, it is from God almighty and “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” It’s the real deal.
If you want an enthusiastic friend to watch a game with you, I’m your guy, especially if it involves one of my teams. But I’m still much less emotional than I was in my earlier years. Some of that is good: I’ve matured a bit, and sports don’t matter as much to me as they once did. But part of it is because I’ve been jaded by the losses of many teams I thought would finally bring that championship home. My hopes have dimmed.
We live in a world where hope has dimmed. We are a cynical people. Some of that is probably good. After all, it wasn’t that long ago a United States presidential candidate’s face was seemingly plastered everywhere on the word “hope.” Sports teams and political candidates are faulty sources of true hope. But there is something sad about our anti-hope culture as well, something tragic and unbiblical. A teenager quickly learns that youthful excitement is uncool. “Try hard” is a pejorative term used for someone who cares too much.
Paul would urge Christians to buck the trend, to be a people who demonstrate their character not with flippancy, coolness, or dispassion, but with resonant hope.
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