09 Mar Rejoice in Suffering
Read: Romans 5:1-5
Last Sunday Pastor Ken finished up Romans 4, where we considered that true faith believes that God is able to keep his promises, God is faithful to keep his promises, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This Sunday Ken will preach from Romans 5:1-5 and will consider the benefits that result from justification by faith, namely peace with God, access to God, rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God, and rejoicing in suffering. As you prepare your heart for our corporate gathering, let these words from Tim Keller encourage you in what it means to rejoice in suffering.
Heart Preparation
What are [the] positive results of suffering? Remember that Paul is telling us how suffering affects a person who knows he or she is justified strictly by grace, not works. In that case, Paul says suffering begins a chain reaction:
- Suffering leads to “perseverance” (v 3). This is a word that really means “single-mindedness.” Suffering makes us “focus”— it helps us focus on what is really important. It makes us remember what really is lasting, helps us to re-align priorities, and so on. It removes distractions.
- “Perseverance” leads to “character” (v 4). This is a word that really means “testedness.” It is a quality of confidence that comes from having been through an experience. It only comes from following through and doing your duty despite it all. And the result is a growing poise that only comes from the experience. For example, a sports team new to the championship play-offs may play poorly because they have not been in that position before. But a “tested” team, who have experienced the play-offs in previous seasons, will have fewer jitters. They perform well because they have been there before. Notice that without the first step, the second step won’t happen. Suffering, if it first leads you to focus on God and proper priorities, will lead to greater confidence as you come through it.
- All this leads to growth in “hope,” which is a stronger assurance of and confidence in one’s peace, access to God, and future glory. Suffering removes from us rival sources of confidence and hope; other places we might look to for our sense that, deep down, we are OK, and that our future will be OK. Suffering drives us to the one place where we find real hope, real confidence and certainty: God.
Paul’s addition of verse 5 right after verses 3-4 seems to mean that Christians who focus single-mindedly on prayer and obedience to God, and who therefore grow in confidence, will experience more of his love during suffering— an outpouring of love into our hearts. Many Christians testify that they feel more of God’s presence and love during suffering because it makes them focus on and trust in him more.
Here is Paul’s amazing assertion. When he shows that suffering starts a chain reaction that leads to hope (which is one of the fruits of justification), he is saying that the benefits of justification are not only not diminished by suffering, they are enlarged by it. In other words, if you face suffering with a clear grasp of justification by grace alone, your joy in that grace will deepen. On the other hand, if you face suffering with a mindset of justification by works, the suffering will break you, not make you.
Consider how suffering affects people who are seeking salvation by works. Self-justifiers are always insecure at a deep level because they know they aren’t living up to their standards but they cannot admit it. So when suffering hits, they immediately feel they are being punished for their sins. They cannot take confidence in God’s love (v 5). Since their belief that God loves them was inadequately based, suffering shatters them. Suffering drives them away from God, rather than toward him. It is when we suffer that we discover what we are really trusting and hoping in: ourselves, or God.
Excerpt from Romans 1-7 For You, by Timothy Keller
Song List for Sunday
1. “At the Cross,” by Daniel Renstrom
2. “Good, Good Father,” Arr. by Shane and Shane
3. “Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me),” by Casting Crowns
4. “It Is Well with My Soul,” by Aaron Keyes