Lesson 57
Romans Chapter 5 -
Results of Justification by faith.
Review:
#4. in the
inventory of blessings of justification is hope.
"we
exult in hope of the glory of God."
- exult v.2;
3; 11 kauca,omai meaning can range
from rejoiceful
confidence to boasting; here
speaks of an inner joyful confidence;
- hope English word hope as it is used today
has uncertainty all over it; not so in Grk evlpi,j speaks of hope in
the sense of an expectant confidence;
* Why is our hope
a strong confidence?
#1 our hope is in
God 1 Pet 1:21
#2 our hope is in
Christ 1 Tim 1:1
#3 our hope is also
related to the word! Psa. 119:81 [49, 114, 147]
* Many times the use of hope speaks of
something not presently in hand but is still sure because of the one who makes
the provision.
- Titus
* Results
of "hope" in our lives;
- patience 1 Ths 1:3 patient
endurance related to the circumstances of life.
- Hope in the right object leads to purity of life 1 Jn 3:2-3.
- "we exult
[inner joyful confidence] in hope
[expectant confidence] of the glory of
God."
- also Christ in you Paul says is
the hope of glory
- He called us through the gospel so that ultimately we
might gain this eternal state, the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5:3-4 We not only exult in our
future hope but we also exult in the present assurance that we have in the
midst of present tribulations.
Blessing #5 in the
inventory of blessings - having the capacity to exalt in the midst of pressure,
tests
Being
justified and therefore a believer is not an escape from life, from the
realities of living
in a sin scarred world, a godless and
hostile world.
Every day
we must make many decisions to walk by the Spirit in the will of God.
- This on the surface, seems to
defy common sense; How can any one exult, glory in, have joy in tribulations,
and pressures??
But what
he's going to say, which is consistent with other Scripture, is that as you
work through the tribulations, the pressures of life, the CHP's, YOU KNOW that
there is definite fruit being produced;
in that is the joy, the exultation.
- All this is impossible for the unbeliever since he lives
without hope; everything is now for
them.
The how
that we acquire this capacity to rejoice in the midst of pressure is KNOWING a sure knowledge from the Word
- What's the fruit of this knowing??
1. perseverance; 2. proven
character; 3. hope
- Point Paul is making here is that even the pressures of
life, and they can be enormous at times, they do not overthrow the reality of
the blessings, the peace, the introduction/access, the standing, the hope, but
are themselves, that is, the pressures/tests of life, an occasion or basis for
joy as we realize the fruit from them.