Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 5:5
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
5. hope ] Lit. the hope; not any hope, but the hope thus produced.
maketh not ashamed ] Same word as Rom 9:33; 2Co 7:14 ; 2Co 9:4; nearly the same as Php 1:20; 2Ti 1:12. In all these passages the idea of disappointment is in the verb. So here: “the shame of disappointment never follows this hope.”
because ] The connexion of thought is illustrated by e.g. Eph 1:13-14. See too Rom 8:11; Rom 8:16-17. Our certainty that the hope will end in fruition is deepened, if not begun, by the fact that the Holy Spirit is already given to us, and so given as to assure us of the love of God.
the love of God ] i.e. His love to us. So Rom 5:8; Rom 8:35; Rom 8:39. The following context decides against the meaning “our love to Him.”
is shed abroad ] Lit. has been poured out, as rain from a cloud. The tense indicates the lasting result of that past act by which the Holy Spirit first revealed the Divine Love to the soul.
by the Holy Ghost which is given ] Better, which was given; a past bestowal, whether viewed ideally as to the Church, or actually as to each justified person. The Divine personal Spirit is here seen working as in Rom 8:15-16; and in such work He is recognized as the “earnest” of heaven, where the Love of God will be fully realized for ever.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And hope maketh not ashamed – That is, this hope will not disappoint, or deceive. When we hope for an object which we do not obtain, we are conscious of disappointment; perhaps sometimes of a feeling of shame. But the apostle says that the Christian hope is such that it will be fulfilled; it will not disappoint; what we hope for we shall certainly obtain; see Phi 1:20. The expression used here is probably taken from Psa 22:4-5;
Our fathers trusted in thee;
They trusted; and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee,
And were delivered;
They trusted in thee,
And were not confounded (ashamed).
Because the love of God – Love toward God. There is produced an abundant, an overflowing love to God.
Is shed abroad – Is diffused; is poured out; is abundantly produced ekkechutai. This word is properly applied to water, or to any other liquid that is poured out, or diffused. It is used also to denote imparting, or communicating freely or abundantly, and is thus expressive of the influence of the Holy Spirit poured down, or abundantly imparted to people; Act 10:45. Here it means that love toward God is copiously or abundantly given to a Christian; his heart is conscious of high and abundant love to God, and by this he is sustained in his afflictions.
By the Holy Ghost – It is produced by the influence of the Holy Spirit. All Christian graces are traced to his influence; Gal 5:22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, etc.
Which is given unto us – Which Spirit is given or imparted to us. The Holy Spirit is thus represented as dwelling in the hearts of believers; 1Co 6:19; 1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:16. In all these places it is meant that Christians are under his sanctifying influence; that he produces in their hearts the Christian graces; and fills their minds with peace, and love, and joy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 5:5
And hope maketh not ashamed.
Christian, hope
There is no word more beautiful than hope. It is alight with the radiance of futurity; in it murmurs a prophetic music of good times coming. Its influence upon mankind it is impossible to over-estimate. As it has waxed or waned, society has risen or declined. The sinfulness of the first pair threatened life with a collapse; but in the first promise the day star of humanity arose. A watery deluge rolled around the world; and in the solitary ark, among the dearest objects which survived was the hope of the race. At the time of Jesus, upon the universal heart was settling the sickness of hope deferred. The virtues of force, courage, endurance, had failed. The intellectual hope of the world likewise had suffered; philosophy had sunken into sophistry. Religious hope, too, was dead; buried in the superstition and atheism of the times. It was now that Christ appeared the dawn of the world–material, intellectual, and spiritual. Among the many obligations the Divine Man imposed upon mankind was the redemption of the hope of the race.
I. The nature of Christian hope.
1. Hope is sometimes confounded with desire; but the yearning of the soul after unrealised good may not only not be hope, but the keenest form of despair. It is also confused with belief; but as the perceptive faculty, faith may reveal to us evils that will befall us. Taken separately these conceptions are inadequate and untrue; in combination they yield the wished result. Hope is made up of desire and faith–it is the confident expectation of coming good.
2. This world is the special scene of hope. Because of the perennial freshness of the great source of all things, every life has about it a vigour of unlimited hope. To the young the disappointments of the past go for nothing. As if no anticipations had perished, every heart comes into life like the recurring spring crowned with flowers of hope. Until the summit of life is reached, earthly hope guides man onward; but the time must come when the summit of earthly welfare is reached and life becomes a subdued decline–when, from the guardianship of Hope, man is handed over to the weird sister Memory.
3. But to the Christian there is a higher hope, which knows no decay, which can sustain the spirit in an unending course of dignity. Christianity renews the youth of men.
II. Its ground. The best earthly expectations are based upon innumerable contingencies which any moment may give way. The Christian hope is built upon a rock–the being and providence of a gracious God. There are some to whom the throne of the universe is vacant and man an orphan. Others have filled the supreme seat with a formless shadow of fate–without knowledge, without love. In distinction from all such theories the ground of the Christian hope is, first, the infinite perfections of Gods character. In the grand unity which pervades the whole material universe, which guides even those matters disturbed by the perverse will of man towards a purpose of good, we gather that the Divine nature is a unity. Then, again, from the works of nature we gather suggestions of a power that is omnipotent, a wisdom that is boundless, a goodness that is infinite. Here, then, we seem to touch the very granite of mortal confidence–a personal, loving Godhead. Give us this, and the only fatal sin among men is despair. According to his faith shall it be done unto man. To illuminate and supplement the manifestation already given, the Almighty spoke the truths contained in the Bible. Beyond all, in the person of Christ, the very heart of the Father was unfolded to men. And is there no warrant for hope here? He that withheld not His own Son but freely gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things!
III. Its characteristics.
1. Solidity. It is a good hope. This fact arises from the nature of its foundation and from the character of its securities. Here, however, we prefer to notice some of the testimonies of experience, In support of Christianity we can show an array of witnesses unapproached in the defence of any other system. Surely, to follow the religious footsteps of Bacon, Milton, and Newton is no slight comfort. Not only in the vigour of their life have great men attested to the truth of Christianity, but likewise in the hour of their dissolution. The best of all, said the dying father of Methodism: The Lord is with us. Hast thou hope? said the attendants upon the death bed of John Knox. He answered not, but merely pointed his finger upward.
2. It is a purifying hope.
(1) This is so from the nature of the objects which excite it. The soul is tinged by the phenomena amid which it moves. He who anticipates the impure becomes impure; he who aspires after the trivial only becomes frivolous. Before the Christian, on the contrary, are placed objects of standard worth. In this world he is called to holiness; in the world to come he is promised heaven.
(2) It is purifying in itself. Give a man hope, and though steeped to the lips in evil, he will, under the Divine grace, clarify himself. Give a man hope, and you place his foot on the first stair of heaven. This is the reason of the success of the gospel over every other religious system.
3. It is a living or lively hope. There is such a thing as a dead hope. Some have made shipwreck of faith and have cast away their confidence. Then there are some who have a kind of galvanised hope–while operated upon by outward excitement it seems to move, but the moment this is taken away it collapses. The Divine principle which animates the Christian heart beats a pulse of undying ardour. When the soul enters heaven it only begins a career of endless progress. Throughout that course hope will be the unfailing guide of man.
IV. Its proper objects. These comprehend all that is good, i.e., all that is in accordance with the will of God. It only requires a moments reflection to see the necessity of such a condition. The mind of man is necessarily defective, and confounds shows with realities. As a child perplexed in an intricate path gladly resigns himself to the guidance of his father, so the Christian exclaims, in the presence of Divine love, Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel. Another reason for making hope contingent upon the Divine will is found in Gods infinite goodness. Assured of this, man realises his highest blessedness. Carry with you the thought of Divine rectitude, and you cannot anticipate too much from infinite compassion. The fact of Gods willingness to bless man being manifested in all the mercies received, should add zest to their enjoyment. No good thing is withheld from them that walk uprightly. But, in regard to religious benefits, the certainties of hope are still greater. They have regard–
1. To man individually, and begin with human life. Of such is the kingdom of heaven. Their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven, are passages which hang like a luminous cloud over the heads of little children. In them is opened a boundless field of hope in regard to incipient life. All who depart before the years of responsibility are safe in the protection of Christ. In the case of those who survive it is made possible to train them up in the way they should go. Still, so early does man become sinful that the prophet said, We go astray from the womb, speaking lies. Just as the prodigal left the house of his father, men go astray from the Divine rectitude, and then there is only a single voice which speaks of hope, that is the voice of the gospel. The promises of God suggest that there is no room for despondency on the part of the vilest, but every reason for hope.
2. To Christian attainments. The real life of man is that of progress. The objects which are held up to us in the Christian course are calculated to stir the pulse, to call forth the continued aspiration of the soul. Above all, there is a standard of Christian character placed before us we can never transcend–namely, that of Jesus Christ. We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Well was it added, He that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself.
3. To heaven. The life above will be of–
(1) An intenser character.
(2) Permanent blessedness.
(3) Improved circumstances. There the religious life instead of being hindered will be helped by the surroundings.
(4) Better society. (Stephen Clarke.)
The glorious hope
Consider–
I. The confidence or our hope. We are not ashamed–
1. Of our hope. Some persons have no hope, or only one of which they might justly be ashamed. I shall die like a dog, says one. When I am dead theres an end of me. The agnostic knows nothing, and therefore I suppose he hopes nothing. The Romanists best hope is that he may undergo the purging fires of purgatory. There is no great excellence in these hopes. But we are not ashamed of our hope who believe that those who are absent from the body are present with the Lord.
2. Of the object of our hope. We do not hope for gross carnal delights as making up our heaven, or we might very well be ashamed of it. Whatever imagery we may use, we intend thereby pure, holy, spiritual, and refined happiness. Our hope is that we shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father; that we shall be like our perfect Lord, and where He is that we may behold His glory.
3. Of the ground of our hope. The solemn promises of God confirmed in the person and work of Christ. Inasmuch as Jesus died and rose, we that are one with Him are sure that we shall rise and live with Him.
4. Of our personal appropriation of this hope. Our expectation is not based upon any proud claim of personal deservings, but upon the promise of a faithful God. He hath said, He that believeth in Him hath everlasting life. We do believe in Him, and therefore we know that we have eternal life. Our hope is not based on mere feeling, but on the fact that God hath promised everlasting life to them that believe in His Son Jesus.
5. As to the absolute certainty that our hope will be realised. We do not expect to be deserted, for He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?
II. The reason of this confidence.
1. Our hope has for one of its main supports the love of God. I trust not to my love of God, but to Gods love for me. We are sure that He will fulfil our hope because He is too loving to fail us. If it were not for the Fathers love, there would have been no covenant of grace, no atoning sacrifice, no Holy Spirit to renew us, and all that is good in us would soon pass away.
2. This love has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost–like a rain cloud, black with exceeding blessing, which pours forth a shower of silver drops innumerable, fertilising every place whereon it falls, making the drooping herbs to lift up their heads and rejoice in the heaven-sent revival. After a while, from that spot where fell the rain, there rises a gentle steam, which ascends to heaven and forms fresh clouds. Thus is the love of God poured upon our heart, and shed abroad in our nature till our spirit drinks it in, and its new life is made to put forth its flowers of joy and fruits of holiness, and by and by grateful praise ascends like the incense which in the temple smoked upon Jehovahs altar. Love is shed abroad in us, and it works upon our heart to love in return.
(1) The Holy Ghost imparts an intense appreciation and sense of that love. We have heard of it, believed in it, and meditated upon it, and at last we are overpowered by its greatness I
(2) Then there comes an appropriation of it. We cry, He loved me, and gave Himself for me.
(3) Then follows, as a matter of course, that return of love which the human heart must feel–we love Him because He first loved us.
3. But notice the special sweetness which struck our apostle as being so amazingly noteworthy.
(1) That God should give His Son for the ungodly. He loved us when we hated Him. Marvellous fact!
(2) That Christ died for us. That Christ should love us in heaven was a great thing; that He should then come down to earth was a greater; but that He should die, this is the climax of loves sacrifice, the summit of the Alp of love.
(3) That the Lord must ever us now that we are reconciled.
(4) That we have now received the atonement. The hope of glory burns in the golden lamp of a heart reconciled to God by Jesus Christ. Grace is glory in the bud. Agreement with God is the seed corn of perfect holiness and perfect happiness.
4. Note the Divine Person by whom this has been done. Only by the Holy Ghost could this have been done. We can shed that love abroad by preaching, but we cannot shed it abroad in the heart. If the Holy Ghost dwells in you, He is the guarantee of everlasting joy. Where grace is given by His Divine indwelling, glory must follow it.
III. The result of this confident hope.
1. Inward joy.
2. Holy boldness in the avowal of our hope. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The hope that maketh not ashamed
I. Its glorious object.
II. Its signal triumphs.
III. Its unfailing support. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Hopes that make and the hope that maketh not ashamed
I. Hopes that make ashamed.
1. By the insufficiency of the object–that of the worldling.
2. By the weakness of the foundation–that of the Pharisee.
3. By the falsity of the warrant–that of the antinomian.
II. The hope that maketh not ashamed.
1. Its nature.
(1) Holy.
(2) Solid.
(3) Certain.
2. Its value. It can never disappoint and thus put to shame. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Believers not ashamed,
for they have–
1. A good Master.
2. A good cause.
3. A good hope. (M. Henry.)
Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.
The love of God shed abroad in the heart
I. The love of God is His love to us. The fact that we are the objects of a love which embraces all the creatures of God would not be ground of hope. But this love is–
1. Special. It stands opposed to wrath, and includes reconciliation and Divine favour, and secures to us all the benefits of redemption.
2. Infinitely great. It led to the gift of Gods Son.
3. Gratuitous. It is not founded on our character, but was exercised towards us when sinners.
4. Immutable. If founded on anything in us it would continue no longer than our attractiveness continued: but flowing from the mysterious fulness of the Divine nature it cannot change.
II. This love is shed abroad in our hearts: i.e., We have a full conviction and assurance that we are its objects. There might be a conviction that God is love, and that His love toward some men is infinitely great, and that it is gratuitous and unchangeable, and yet we might remain in the blackness of despair. It is only when we are assured that we are its objects that we have a hope which sustains and renders blessed.
III. We know that we are the objects of this love.
1. Not simply because God loves all men.
2. Nor because we see in ourselves effects of regeneration and the evidences of holiness; for–
(1) This love was prior to regeneration.
(2) Holiness is the fruit of the assurance of it.
3. But by the Holy Ghost. How we cannot tell, and it is unreasonable to ask. We might as well ask how He produces faith, peace, joy, or any other grace. It is enough to say negatively that it is not–
(1) By exciting our love to God, whence we infer His love to us: the order is the reverse. Nor–
(2) By simply opening our eyes to see what a wonderful display of love is made in redemption: for that we might see and yet suppose ourselves excluded.
IV. The proof that we are not deluded is this matter is to be found in the effects of this conviction.
1. The effects of such a conviction when unfounded are seen in the Jews, Papists, and Antinomians, and are–
(1) Pride.
(2) Malignity.
(3) Immorality.
2. When produced by the Holy Ghost the effects are–
(1) Humility. Nothing so bows down the soul as a sense of undeserved love.
(2) The tenderest concern for those who are not thus favoured, and an earnest desire that they may share our blessedness.
(3) Love to God. Love begets love: and our love to God is mingled with admiration, wonder, gratitude, and zeal for His glory.
(4) Obedience. (C. Hodge, D. D.)
The love of God shed abroad in the heart
I. The love of God. If you would have this love shed abroad in your hearts you must consider carefully–
1. Who it is that loves you, namely, the most high God. To be loved is a sublime thought, but to be loved of Him is a right royal thing, A courtier will often think it quite enough if he hath the favour of his prince. It means riches, pleasure, honour. And what means the love of the King of kings to you? All that you ever can need.
2. What He is who so loves you. Very much of the value of affection depends upon whom it comes from. It would be a very small thing to have the complacency of some of our fellow creatures whose praise might almost be considered censure. To have the love of the good, the excellent, this is truest wealth; and so to enjoy the love of God is an utterly priceless thing!
3. The remarkable characteristics of that love,
(1) It is heaven born; it sprang from no source but itself, and is not caused by any excellence in the creature.
(2) It is self-sustaining. It borrows nothing from without. It lives, and shall live as long as God lives.
(3) Utterly unbounded and altogether unequalled. You cannot say of Gods love it has gone thereto, but it shall go no further. There is no love that can any more be compared with Gods than the faint gleam of a candle with the blaze of the sun at noonday. He loves His people so much that He gives them all that He hath.
(4) It is unvarying and unsleeping. He never loves us less, He cannot love us more. The multiplicity of the saints doth not diminish the infinite love which each one enjoys. Never for a single moment does He forget His Church.
(5) It is undying and unfailing.
II. The love of God is shed abroad. Here is an alabaster box of very precious ointment, it holds within the costly frankincense of the love of God; but we know nothing of it, it is closed up, a mystery, a secret. The Holy Spirit opens the box, and now the fragrance fills the chamber; every spiritual taste perceives it, heaven and earth are perfumed with it.
1. No one can shed abroad the love of God in the heart but the Holy Ghost. It is He that first puts it there.
2. Do you inquire in what way is the love of God shed abroad?
(1) The Holy Spirit enables the man to be assured that he is an object of the Divine love in the first place. The man comes to the Cross as a guilty sinner, looks up to the Cross, trusts in the living Saviour, and then cries, I am saved, for I have Gods promise to that effect. Now, since I am saved, I must have been the object of the Lords love.
(2) Next thing, the Spirit makes the man understand what kind of love this is, not all at once, but by degrees, until he apprehends Jehovahs love in its length and breadth and height.
(3) But then comes the essence of the matter–the Holy Spirit enables the soul to meditate upon this love, casts out the cares of the world, and then the man, while he meditates, finds a fire begins to burn within his soul. Meditating yet more, he is lifted up from the things of earth. Meditating still, he is astonished, and then, filled with strong emotion, he cries, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Then while gratitude is still within his soul a Divine resignation to all the Masters will keeps rule within him. Then follows a rapturous leaping over this devout calm, a joy unutterable, next akin to heaven, fills the heart.
III. This love becomes the confirmation of our hope. Hope rests itself mainly upon that which is not seen; the promise of God whom eye hath not beheld. Still it is exceedingly sweet to us if we receive some evidence and token of Divine love which we can positively enjoy even now. And there are some of us who do not want Butlers Analogy or Paleys Evidences to back our faith; we have our own analogy and our own evidences within, for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and we have tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The love of God shed abroad in the heart
It does not descend upon us as dew in drops, but as a stream which spreads itself abroad through the whole soul, filling it with consciousness of His presence and favour. (Philippi.)
The love of God shed abroad by the Holy Ghost
Frequently at the great Roman games the emperors, in order to gratify the citizens of Rome, would cause sweet perfumes to be rained down upon them through the awning which covered the amphitheatre. Behold the vases, the huge vessels of perfume! Yes; but there is nought here to delight you so long as the jars are sealed; but let the vases be opened and the vessels be poured out, and let the drops of perfumed rain begin to descend, and everyone is refreshed and gratified thereby. Such is the love of God. There is a richness and a fulness in it, but it is not perceived till the Spirit of God pours it out like the rain of fragrance over the heads and hearts of all the living children of God. See, then, the need of having the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The love of God in the heart
This love–
I. Is not naturally revealed to man. It beams on all, like the sun which shines whether the clouds hide his heat or not. So Gods love always exists, although the clouds of sin may dim and obscure its rays. It existed in Paradise, in the fall, when man is most depraved and dark. It exists amid all the sin of the earth, in the wretched corners where crime and vice exist. It exists amid all the negligence with which God is treated.
II. Is not appreciated or responded to. If it were, the lives of men would be far different to what they are. The reason is that clouds of sin and its effects intervene to prevent its influence. For the most part men keep in the shade when they might live in the warmth and brightness of the sunshine.
III. Must be felt and responded to. It is impossible to be a child of God without. For to realise the love of God is the only foundation on which we can build any substantial hope for the future. Nothing but love could consider guilty, fallen creatures, or have contrived a method of salvation. Nothing but love can guide us safely through life and through death.
IV. Can be realised and appreciated.
1. The method–shed abroad. God does nothing with a niggardly hand. The love of God is not sent in a puny dribble; it comes like the waters of an incoming tide, mighty, resistless. His love fills the soul and surrounds it and permeates our nature.
2. The place–in our hearts. The heart is the spring of life, and metaphorically is the centre of spiritual life. It is the heart that is said to feel love. And so it is represented that the heart receives the love of God. Our hearts receive all the blood from the body, and then, after purifying it, sends it back to all parts of the body. So we are to receive the love of God in the heart to be distributed over all our life and actions.
3. The means–by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. The great King always uses means. The Holy Spirit is the appointed channel through which all the graces are sent from heaven to earth.
(1) The value of the Holy Spirit is, it is always a present means. It is not should be given, but is given.
(2) The certainty of the blessing. Like the Holy Spirit, it is always present.
(3) The value of the gift–the love of God. What will not love accomplish? What will it not attain? The love of God is infinite. And if we appreciate it, if we share it, if we enjoy it, then is our lot the most blessed. (U. R. Thomas.)
Personal piety
I. Its source and seat.
1. Its source: the love of God. False religions spring from fear, but true religion springs from love. Gods love, as revealed in the gift of His Son, begets love in us, and just as the sun is the author of life in the natural world, so God is the Author of all life and light in the human soul.
2. Its seat: in our hearts. All life and growth must begin within, or they will prove to be nothing but fruitless fungus. Morality in the life may be the outcome of self-respect, or early culture, or fear of shame and sorrow. Personal piety has to do not only with the conduct, but the character; and the character is decided by the condition of the heart in the sight of God. Out of the heart are the issues of life, and if the love of God be there holiness will be stamped upon thought, word, and deed. The love of God diffuses itself in the heart like light, life, warmth, fragrance, and spreads through every avenue of the soul till the possessor of it becomes a temple of the Holy Ghost.
II. Its operation and outcome. Hope is the natural and inevitable outcome of love. We expect to derive joy and blessedness from the persons upon whom our affections become fixed, and who take possession of our hearts, and we are not ashamed of those we love, but are ready at any time to acknowledge them and identify ourselves with them. Courageous and confiding hope–
1. Sanctifies. If we love God, and hope one day to see Him and be with Him, we shall seek to please Him and become like Him.
2. Sustains. While we look at the things which are unseen and eternal, the sorrows and sufferings of the present seem very light and small.
3. Stimulates. Hope, springing from love in the heart, will quicken all the faculties of the mind and fire all the passions of the soul. Love will constrain to consecration, and hope stimulate to action.
III. Its generator and guardian. Whatever the means we use, or the channels through which Divine blessings come to us, they all proceed from the Holy Ghost which is given unto us; the rise, progress, and perfection of personal piety must be attributed to that source. Let us, then, be careful that we grieve not, quench not the Holy Spirit, nor dishonour God by trusting too much to outward forms and worldly noise and show. If we lose the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, if the love of God expire in our hearts, there will only remain within us the white ashes of a former fire, and Ichabod will be written upon our desolated and darkened brows. (F. W. Brown.)
By the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.–
The gift of the Holy Ghost is
I. The pledge of what is to come (Rom 8:23; 2Co 1:22; 2Co 5:5; Eph 1:14).
II. The witness of our sonship (Rom 8:16; Gal 4:6).
III. The Author of all gracious fruits and experiences (Gal 5:22-23).
IV. The Revealer of all Divine truth (Joh 16:13-14; 1Co 2:10-12; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27). The seal and bond of our union with Christ and God (Eph 4:20; Rom 8:9-11). (T. Robinson, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. And hope maketh not ashamed] A hope that is not rationally founded will have its expectation cut off; and then shame and confusion will be the portion of its possessor. But our hope is of a different kind; it is founded on the goodness and truth of God; and our religious experience shows us that we have not misapplied it; nor exercised it on wrong or improper objects.
Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts] We have the most solid and convincing testimony of God’s love to us, by that measure of it which he has communicated to our hearts. There, , it is poured out, and diffused abroad; filling, quickening, and invigorating all our powers and faculties. This love is the spring of all our actions; it is the motive of our obedience; the principle through which we love God, we love him because he first loved us; and we love him with a love worthy of himself, because it springs from him: it is his own; and every flame that rises from this pure and vigorous fire must be pleasing in his sight: it consumes what is unholy; refines every passion and appetite; sublimes the whole, and assimilates all to itself. And we know that this is the love of God; it differs widely from all that is earthly and sensual. The Holy Ghost comes with it; by his energy it is diffused and pervades every part; and by his light we discover what it is, and know the state of grace in which we stand. Thus we are furnished to every good word and work; have produced in us the mind that was in Christ; are enabled to obey the pure law of our God in its spiritual sense, by loving him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and our neighbour, any and every soul of man, as ourselves. This is, or ought to be, the common experience of every genuine believer; but, in addition to this, the primitive Christians had, sometimes, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. These were then needful; and were they needful now, they would be again communicated.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And hope maketh not ashamed; it doth not disappoint or deceive us. Frustrated hopes fill men with shame and confusion, Job 6:19,20. This passage seems to be taken out of Psa 22:5.
Because, &c.; this is either rendered as the reason of all that went before; Therefore the justified by faith have peace with God, access to him by faith, hope of glory, joy in tribulation, &c., because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts: or else it is a reason of what immediately preceded; Therefore hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad, &c.
The love of God; understand it either actively, of our love to God, or rather passively, of his love to us, (of which he speaks, Rom 5:8), and of the sense thereof.
Is shed abroad in our hearts; is greatly manifested, or abundantly poured forth: a frequent metaphor, both in the Old and New Testament: see Isa 44:3; Joe 2:28; Zec 12:10; Joh 7:38; Act 2:17.
By the Holy Ghost which is given unto us; not excluding the Father and Son; it is the more proper work of the Spirit, both to make us feel the love of God, and to fill our hearts with love to God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. And hope maketh notashamedputteth not to shame, as empty hopes do.
because the love of Godthatis, not “our love to God,” as the Romish and someProtestant expositors (following some of the Fathers) represent it;but clearly “God’s love to us”as most expositors agree.
is shed abroadliterally,”poured forth,” that is, copiously diffused (compareJoh 7:38; Tit 3:6).
by the Holy Ghost whichisrather, “was.”
given unto usthat is,at the great Pentecostal effusion, which is viewed as the formaldonation of the Spirit to the Church of God, for all time and foreach believer. (The Holy Ghost is here first introduced in thisEpistle.) It is as if the apostle had said, “And how canthis hope of glory, which as believers we cherish, put us to shame,when we feel God Himself, by His Spirit given to us, drenching ourhearts in sweet, all-subduing sensations of His wondrous love to usin Christ Jesus?” This leads the apostle to expatiate on theamazing character of that love.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And hope maketh not ashamed,…. As a vain hope does, things not answering to expectation, it deceives, and is lost; but the grace of hope is of such a nature, as that it never fails deceives, or disappoints: it neither makes ashamed, nor have persons that have any reason to be ashamed of it; neither of the grace itself, which is a good one; nor of the ground and foundation of it, the person and righteousness of Christ; nor of the object of it, eternal glory:
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. By “the love of God” is meant, not that love by which we love God, for hope does not depend upon, nor is it supported by our love and obedience to God; but the love of God to us, of which some instances are given in the following verses: us is said “to be shed abroad in our hearts”; which denotes the plenty and abundance of it, and the full and comfortable sensation which believers have of it: “by the Holy Spirit”: who leads into, and makes application of it: “and is given to us”: for that purpose, as the applier of all grace, the Comforter, and the earnest of heaven. Now the love which the Spirit sheds abroad in the heart, is the source and spring, both of justification itself, which is owing to the free grace of God, and of all the effects of it, as peace with God, access to the throne of grace, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, the usefulness of afflictions, and the stability of hope, and is here alleged as the reason of all.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hath been shed abroad (). Perfect passive indicative of , to pour out. “Has been poured out” in our hearts.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Maketh not ashamed [ ] . Mostly in Paul; elsewhere only in Luk 13:17; 1Pe 2:6; 1Pe 3:16. Rev., putteth not to shame, thus giving better the strong sense of the word, to disgrace or dishonor.
Is shed abroad [] . Rev. renders the perfect tense; hath been shed abroad. Lit., poured out. Compare Tit 3:6; Act 2:33; Act 10:45. See on Jude 1:11.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And hope maketh not ashamed,” (he de elpis ou katccischunei) “And the hope does not put (one) to shame;- It has not been weakened or extinguished or put to shame under trial, but confirmed, made stronger, Tit 1:12; Rom 8:17-18; 1Pe 1:13; Col 1:27; 1Pe 3:15.
2) “Because the love of God is shed abroad,” (hoti he agape tou theou ekkechutai) “Because the love of God has been emptied (poured out); “this is the gift of love, one of the three continuing special Spiritual gifts given to believers today. It is to be cultivated, used, 1Co 13:13; Rom 13:8; Rom 13:10; Gal 6:2; Joh 13:34-35.
3) “In our hearts,” (en tais kardiais hemon) “In our hearts,” our centers of affections. For man is said to love God with his heart, Deu 6:5; 2Co 1:22; He has shined in (lighted up) our hearts, our affections, 2Co 4:6.
4) “By the holy Ghost which is given to us,” (dia pneumatos hagiou tou daothentos hemin) “Through the Holy Spirit (which has been) given or doled out to us,” because of his grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not thru any merit of secular or religious work or ceremony, Eph 1:13-14; 1Jn 3:24; 1Jn 4:13; 1Th 5:19; 2Co 1:22.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
5. Hope maketh not ashamed, etc.; (156) that is, it regards salvation as most certain. It hence appears, that the Lord tries us by adversities for this end, — that our salvation may thereby be gradually advanced. Those evils then cannot render us miserable, which do in a manner promote our happiness. And thus is proved what he had said, that the godly have reasons for glorying in the midst of their afflictions.
For the love of God, etc. I do not refer this only to the last sentence, but to the whole of the preceding passage. I therefore would say, — that by tribulations we are stimulated to patience, and that patience finds an experiment of divine help, by which we are more encouraged to entertain hope; for however we may be pressed and seem to be nearly consumed, we do not yet cease to feel God’s favor towards us, which affords the richest consolation, and much more abundant than when all things happen prosperously. For as that happiness, which is so in appearance, is misery itself, when God is adverse to and displeased with us; so when he is propitious, even calamities themselves will surely be turned to a prosperous and a joyful issue. Seeing all things must serve the will of the Creator, who, according to his paternal favor towards us, (as Paul declares in the eighth chapter,) overrules all the trials of the cross for our salvation, this knowledge of divine love towards us is instilled into our hearts to the Spirit of God; for the good things which God has prepared for his servants are hid from the ears and the eyes and the minds of men, and the Spirit alone is he who can reveal them. And the word diffused, is very emphatical; for it means that the revelation of divine love towards us is so abounding that it fills our hearts; and being thus spread through every part of them, it not only mitigates sorrow in adversities, but also, like a sweet seasoning, it renders tribulations to be loved by us. (157)
He says further, that the Spirit is given, that is, bestowed through the gratuitous goodness of God, and not conferred for our merits; according to what [ Augustine ] has well observed, who, though he is mistaken in his view of the love of God, gives this explanation, — that we courageously bear adversities, and are thus confirmed in our hope, because we, having been regenerated by the Spirit, do love God. It is indeed a pious sentiment, but not what Paul means: for love is not to be taken here in an active but a passive sense. And certain it is, that no other thing is taught by Paul than that the true fountain of all love is, when the faithful are convinced that they are loved by God, and that they are not slightly touched with this conviction, but have their souls thoroughly imbued with it.
(156) [ Chalmers ] observes, that there are two hopes mentioned in this passage, — the hope of faith in the second verse, and the hope of experience in this. “The hope of the fourth verse,” he says, “is distinct from and posterior to the hope of the second; and it also appears to be derived from another source. The first hope is hope in believing, a hope which hangs direct on the testimony of God…The second hope is grounded on distinct considerations — not upon what the believer sees to be in the testimony of God, but upon what he finds to be in himself. — It is the fruit not of faith, but of experience; and is gathered not from the word that is without, but from the feeling of what passes within.” — Ed.
(157) “The love of God” in this passage may mean either the love of which God is the object — love to God, or the love which he possesses — God’s love to us: the usus loquendi would admit either of these meanings; and hence commentators have differed on the point. The expression, τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ, in Luk 12:42, Joh 5:42, and in other places, means “love to God;” ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ, in 1Jo 4:9, signifies clearly the love of God to us. The meaning then can alone be ascertained by the context and by the wording of the sentence. It stands connected with Christian graces, patience and hope; and this favors the first view, that it is love to God produced within by the Spirit. Then the verb, ἐκκέχυται — is poured out or poured forth, seems more suitable to the idea of love being communicated as a gift, or as a holy feeling within. It is further what prevents hope from being disappointed; it is some good or enjoyment that now strengthens and satisfies hope; and to love God who first loved us is to realize in a measure what hope expects; and when it is said that it is diffused by the Spirit, we are reminded of what Paul says in (Gal 5:22, that “love” is one of the fruits of the Spirit. But it may, on the other hand, be alleged, that the verse stands connected with what follows, as the next verse begins with “for,” and that the subsequent context most clearly refers to the love of God to us; and this evidently decides the question.
The first view, our love to God, has been adopted by [ Augustine ], [ Mede ], [ Doddridge ], [ Scott ], and [ Stuart ] ; and the other, God’s love to us, by [ Chrysostom ], [ Beza ], [ Pareus ], [ Grotius ], [ Hodge ], and [ Chalmers ], and also by [ Schleusner ] who gives this paraphrase, “ Amor Dei abunde nobis declaratus est — the love of God is abundantly declared to us.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom. 5:5.The love of God has been poured forth as in a stream (Wordsworth).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rom. 5:5
A hope without shame.The Christian never finds this world to be his rest. But he has a hope full of immortality. This enlightens his darkness and alleviates his sorrow. Like a helmet, it guards in the day of battle; like an anchor, it secures in the storms of adversity; like a pleasing companion, it travels with him through all the tediousness of the world, and reminds him of the rest that remains for the people of God. Let us consider the excellency and the evidence of this hope. Let us I. Show how it preserves from shame; and II. Ascertain its connection with the love of God.
I. We may take three views of this hope, and oppose it to the hope of the worldling, of the Pharisee, and of the antinomian. Hope causes shame by the insufficiency of its objectand this is the hope of the worldling; by the weakness of its foundationand this is the hope of the Pharisee; by the falseness of its warrantand this is the hope of the antinomian. The hope of the Christian has the noblest object, the surest foundation, the clearest warrant; and thus it maketh not ashamed.
1. Hope may cause shame by the insufficiency of its object. Ofttimes men of the world never reach the mark; and when they do, they are disappointed. What they gain does not indemnify for the sacrifices they have made.
In vain we seek a heaven below the sky:
The world has false but flattering charms;
Its distant joys show big in our esteem,
But lessen still as they draw near the eye;
In our embrace the visions die;
And when we grasp the airy forms,
We lose the pleasing dream.
Look forward and ask, What does the worldling think as he lays down all his honours, all his riches, on this side of the grave? What does Alexander now think of his bloody trophies? What does Herod now think of killing James and condemning Peter because it pleased the people? What does Judas think of his thirty pieces of silver? The crowned votaries of the world seem to be happy, and are envied; but it is only by the foolish and ignorant who know them not. Sometimes they say, We are not happy, and it is not in the power of these things to satisfy our desires. On this dark ground we bring forward the Christian to advantage. The object of his hope is the greatest good a creature can possess. When we propose this hope we exclude every evil we feel or fear. Think of the house not made with hands, etc., and the innumerable company of angels as the objects of his hopethe blessed hope of being like Christ and dwelling with Him evermore. The Christian need not shrink from a comparison with philosophers, princes, heroes. He leads a sublime life, and takes a grander aim. If shame could enter heaven, he would be ashamed to think that the objects of this hope engrossed so little of his attention.
2. Hope may cause shame by the weakness of its foundation. The Pharisee places dependence on his own works or his own worthiness. He derives his encouragement from negative qualities, from comparison of himself with others, from the number of his performances. Parable of the Pharisee. If his works were spiritual and holy, they need not afford a ground of dependence, being only a part of the building, and not the foundation. They may furnish evidence, but cannot give a title. The indulgence of such a hope is offensive to God. The man who seeks salvation by the works of the law, and not by faith of Jesus Christ, reflects upon Gods wisdom as having been employed in a needless trifle. The Pharisee frustrates the grace of God and makes Jesus Christ to be dead in vain. Thus the Pharisees hope will be found like a spiders web, curiously wrought, but easily destroyed. The basis being too weak, the superstructure falls and crushes the offender. The humbled sinner asks, How shall a man be just before God? The Bible answers, The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. He is the end of the law of righteousness to every one that believeth. This attracts. He says, Christ is the door, by Him I will enter; Christ is the foundation, on this I will build: I desire no other. This hope is as firm as the truth of God and the all-sufficiency of the Saviour can make it. See the Christian advancing to the throne of God. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. The Christian is marked with the blood of sprinkling.
3. Hope may cause shame by the falseness of its warrant. Any hope which does not purify is false. Every expectation of heaven which those entertain who are leading immoral lives, whatever be their knowledge or their creed, is a mere fancy. A man, with all his ignorance, may as well persuade himself that he is the greatest philosopher; or, with all his indigence, may as rationally conclude that he is possessed of all the wealth of the Indies, as a man may imagine that he is on the way to heaven while he is a stranger to newness of life; for without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Indeed, such a man, if he were in heaven, would not be in a beatific state. What warrant have you that heaven is your home? What reason are you able to give of the hope that is in you? The only satisfactory one is that given by the apostle. Therefore consider:
II. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.
1. This love is the proof of the divine regard, for the affection is mutual. We love Him because He first loved us. And what can we desire more than to know that we are beloved of God?
2. This love marks the characters for whom this happiness is reserved. Who are authorised to claim the promise of eternal life? Those who seek to please and serve God. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.
3. This love qualifies for the glory which shall be revealed. The happiness of the future state is derived from the presence of God. What, then, can prepare for it but the love of God? Love must make us delight in each others company. By loving God we are prepared for a happiness which is found only in Him.
4. This love is the foretaste of future happiness. We take the likeness of the excellency we contemplate, and are exalted into the perfection we adore. If our love be fixed on God, we shall become divine and heavenly. Oh the comforts of this love! They are heaven come down to earth. Heaven is the sphere of love. The heaven of love must be in us before we are in heaven. We attain the full assurance of hope neither by dreams, nor visions, nor sudden suggestions, nor by an inexplicable consciousness, but by keeping ourselves in the love of God, and abounding therein more and more.W. Jay.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom. 5:5
And hope maketh not ashamed.The hope which true believers entertain, founded on the very nature of pious exercises, shall never disappoint them (Psa. 22:5). The ground of this assurance, however, is not the strength of our purpose or confidence in our goodness, but the love of God. The latter clause of the verse assigns the reason why the Christians hope shall not be found delusive: it is because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. The love of God is His love to us, and not ours to Him, as appears from the following verses, in which the apostle illustrates the greatness and freeness of this love by a reference to the unworthiness of its objects. To shed abroad is to communicate abundantly, and hence to evince clearly (Act. 2:17; Act. 10:45; Tit. 3:6). This manifestation of divine love is not any external revelation of it in the works of providence, or even in redemption, but it is in our hearts. And this inward persuasion that we are the objects of the love of God is not the mere result of the examination of evidence, nor is it a vain illusion, but it is produced by the Holy Ghost: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16; 2Co. 1:21-22; Eph. 1:13-14). As, however, the Spirit never contradicts Himself, He never bears witness that the children of the devil are the children of Godthat is, that the unholy, the disobedient, the proud, or the malicious are the objects of the divine favour. Any reference, therefore, by the immoral to the witness of the Spirit in their favour must be vain and delusive.Hodge.
Gods love in the heart.These words stand at the end of a list of blessings which come to the Christian simply by his faith. See context, Rom. 5:1-5. The love of God spoken of in the text is Gods love to us, not our love to God. In Rom. 8:39 it is called the love of God in Jesus Christ. Similarly is it described in the context (Rom. 5:6-8). This love the text declares is shed abroad in the believers heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto him. Inquire how or in what particulars this is so.
I. Because the Holy Ghost is given to believers on the exercise of their faith to work this work within them.For Christ, by His atoning work, procured the Holy Spirit for men.
II. It is the work of the Holy Ghost thus given to open to us the love of God.Nothing but the Holy Ghost can disclose to us the love of God at the first. Nothing else does. Hence so many read and hear of the love of God, and yet do not apprehend it. But the Holy Spirit coming to the believer as described, takes of the things of Christ, and therein shows to him the love of the Father (see Joh. 16:13-14). The Holy Spirit shows thus the wonderfulness, the extent, heights, depths, lengths, breadths, of the love of God in Christ, and its unchangeableness (see context, Rom. 5:6-8, and Rom. 8:35-39).
III. The Holy Ghost thus given carries the love of God beyond our mere intellect into our inmost nature.We are more than intellect. In our best nature we are heart. To this the Holy Spirit can penetrateno other power like itand can pervade and fill and possess the whole with the wonderful infinite love of God in Christ. Every faculty and power of holy emotion in the soul can thus be moved and stirred, and fresh faculty and power of holy emotion can thus be given. Thus the love of God is shed abroad or poureth forth in our hearts. So oil poured into a vessel, whatever the character of the vessel, finds its way into every part, and even permeates through the vessel itself. So incense shed forth in a room fills every part of it with its fragrance, which often extends beyond. So the breath we breathe from the fresh morning air penetrates in its effects to our very flesh and blood and bones, and is seen in the glow of our health, in the lightness of our step, and in the flash and brightness of the eye. Do we know the love of God? and is it shed abroad in our hearts? If so, then to what extent do we know it?John Bennett.
Hope as a consoler.Hope is the sweetest friend that ever kept a distressed soul company; it beguiles the tediousness of the way, all the miseries of our pilgrimage.
Jam mala finissem letho; sed credula vitam
Spes fovet, et melius cras fore semper ait.
Therefore, Dum spiro spero, said the heathen; but Dum exspiro spero, says the Christian. The one, Whilst I live I hope; the other also, When I die I hope. So Job, I will hope in Thee, though Thou killest me. It tells the soul such sweet stories of the succeeding joys; what comforts there be in heaven; what peace, what joy, what triumphs, marriage songs, and hallelujahs there are in that country whither she is travelling, that she goes merrily away with her present burden.Adams.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 5
Rom. 5:5. Dying of weariness.As life goes on most people begin to feel that the word happy has no light meaning. Sick of herself through very selfishness, the wife of the Grand Monarque, Louis XIV., thus spoke in her hour of death: Do you not see that I am dying of weariness amidst a fortune that can scarcely be imagined? I have been young and pretty; I have tasted pleasure; I have been everywhere loved. In an age more advanced I have passed some years in the commerce of the mind; and I protest to you that all conditions leave a frightful void. I can endure no more; I wish only to die. Here surely is an illustration of the words, Whosoever will save his life shall lose it.
Rom. 5:5. Dont you find it dull?A little street waif was once taken to the house of a great lady, and the childish eyes that had to look so sharply after daily bread were dazzled by signs of splendour on every hand. Can you get everything you want? the child asked the mistress of the mansion. Yes, I think so, was the reply. Can you buy anything youd like to have? The lady answered, Yes; and the child, who was of a meditative turn of mind, looked at her half pityingly, and said wonderingly, Dont you find it dull? To the little keen mind, accustomed to live bird-like from day to day, and to rejoice over a better supply with the delight born of rarity, the aspect of continual plenty, and desires all gratified by possession, contained an idea of monotony that seemed almost wearisome. Many an owner of a well-filled purse has found life dull, and pronounced, in the midst of luxury, that all things are vanity.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(5) Hope maketh not ashamed.This Christian hope does not disappoint or deceive. It is quite certain of its object. The issue will prove it to be well founded.
Because the love of God.This hope derives its certainty from the consciousness of justifying love. The believer feeling the love of God (i.e., the love of God for him) shed abroad in his heart, has in this an assurance that Gods promises will not be in vain.
By the Holy Ghost.The communication of Himself on the part of God to man is generally regarded as taking place through the agency of the Spirit. (Comp. Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 4:6.)
Which is given.Rather, which was giveni.e., when we first believed. (Comp. Act. 8:15; Act. 19:2; 2Co. 1:22; 2Co. 5:5; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 1:13; Eph. 4:30.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Hope maketh not ashamed Our hope can never disappoint or shame us.
Love of God Holy Ghost For our hope is confirmed by God’s own testimony shed into our hearts. That testimony is in the form of God’s love in our hearts awakening a reciprocal love to God. And being from God is sure.
We have here (3-5) a beautiful climax of causes and effects, resulting in train from our justification. Tribulation, endurance, approvedness, hope hope ratified by God’s own testimony, and pointing us to a future glory.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given to us.’
And our hope of being transformed daily into His image, and of one day being made holy, unblameable and unreproveable before Him is one which will not ‘put us to shame’ and leave us ashamed. For God has made full provision for us. We can have confidence because of what God has done and is doing in us. He has shed His love abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Whom He has given us, the love that was made fully known to us in that Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13). Thus we are rooted and grounded in love, and we are coming more and more to know and appreciate the love of Christ which passes all knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:17-19).
‘And hope does not put to shame.’ The idea that God’s people will not be put to shame is constant in the Old Testament. See Isa 28:16 LXX, ‘whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed’ (compare its use in Rom 9:33; Rom 10:11); Psa 22:5, ‘they trusted in You and were not ashamed’; Psa 25:3; Psa 25:20, ‘none who wait on You will be ashamed’. God’s people will never end up ashamed unless they cling on to their sin.
‘Because the love of God has been shed abroad (poured out) in our hearts.’ For what delivers us from the possibility of being ashamed is the fact that God’s love has flooded our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit, giving us full recognition of His love. This is the first mention in Romans of the love of God (although it is of course implicit in His grace (Rom 3:24-25) and in the fact that we are ‘beloved of God’ – Rom 1:7), but it underlines all of which Paul writes. ‘God commends His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’ (Rom 5:8). Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35; Rom 8:37) and from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:39). In this lies our assurance of all His blessings. But note that it does not preserve us from tribulation. Rather it comes to us in the midst of our tribulation giving us power to overcome (Rom 8:35-37). We can compare how the Holy Spirit, the gift of His love, is also ‘poured upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour’ (Tit 3:6).
‘Through the Holy Spirit which was given to us.’ Compare Rom 2:29 where it was the work of the Spirit in their hearts that made believers ‘true Jews’. Here mention of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit comes almost as a surprise in the middle of the dissertation on justification from Rom 3:24 to Rom 5:21, but is of course a part of the introduction of the idea of sanctification in Rom 5:2-5, a sanctification which has to be a fruit of justification. It is the Holy Spirit Who floods our hearts with the recognition of God’s love as He oversees His sanctifying work. This work of the Spirit will come to prominence in Rom 8:1-17, and its fruit is revealed in Rom 14:17.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The basis of the Christian’s hope:
v. 5. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
v. 6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
v. 7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
v. 8. But God commendeth His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
v. 9. Much more, then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
v. 10. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
v. 11. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Why the hope of the Christian will not put him to shame, will not prove delusive: is now explained by the apostle: For the love of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Ghost that is given to us. The love of God, that love which He has toward us, of which He gave us a definite proof and demonstration in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, that love has been, and continues to be, shed abroad into our hearts, to be communicated to us abundantly. Not in small measure, but in a full and rich stream of divine affection, it spreads itself abroad through the whole soul, filling it with the consciousness and the extreme happiness of His presence and favor. And this has been done through the Holy Ghost that has been given to us, Act 10:4-5; Tit 3:6. It is the testimony of the Spirit that convinces us, richly and daily, that God loves us, that His love is our full property in Christ, our Savior; we are absolutely sure and certain of our blessedness. The love of God, resting upon Christ’s vicarious death, is the sufficient and certain foundation of our hope of the future salvation.
In what respect the love of God is the surety of the Christian’s hope is now explained, v. 6 ff. For Christ already when we were still weak, when we were in a condition of inability to do anything good, at the appointed time, at the time fixed by God in His eternal counsel of love: died for the ungodly. Christ died for us godless people, and that fact reveals the mysteriousness of the divine love. On the part of man there was only a total moral worthlessness; on the part of man there was not a single item to call forth the favorable contemplation of God. It was rather that godlessness had reached a crisis, with no hope held out for the transgressors. But then came the vicarious work of Christ, culminating in His death on the cross, a death in our stead, as our Substitute. 1Jn 4:10. Thus was the love of God manifested, thus, in the completeness of Christ’s sacrifice, do we have the assurance of the continuance and constancy of the love of God. The apostle brings out the greatness of this love by another comparison, v. 7: For hardly will one die for a righteous man; for a good cause, namely, one might perhaps venture to die. There is some possibility that a man might, under circumstances, die in the stead of a righteous person, as his substitute; there is more probability that a person will give his life in a good cause, as a mere proposition in civic righteousness. Such is the condition among men when all things are peculiarly favorable to an external morality. But God demonstrates and proves His love toward us that, while we mere yet sinners, Christ died in our stead, for our sakes. There was not a single feature to recommend us: we were not righteous, our cause was anything but good and commendable. Therefore the love of God in Christ stands out so prominently by contrast: He proves His love toward us in that which Christ did for us. The salutary effects of the death of Christ continue for all time: they are there today for all men, even if the latter are utterly worthless and do not merit the slightest show of love. That is the singular, incomparable love of God, a love which exceeds all that we can conceive of, which our human mind vainly tries to grasp and to measure, and therefore the apostle: from the fact of God’s fervent love for us worthless sinners, draws the conclusion, v. 9. Consequently, if such grace was shown us then, when we were in sin and godlessness, how much more, how much rather, how much more certainly will we now, justified as we have been by the blood of Christ, be saved from the wrath of God through Him! As enemies, we were justified by the blood of Jesus; as being His fellow-participants in peace, we shall be preserved from the wrath and punishment of the last great day. Our justification is our guarantee of our deliverance from the wrath to come; godless we were, but have now become righteous and just, we are exactly as God wants us to be, due to His act of pronouncing us just: therefore we are safe against condemnation. This thought the apostle repeats in order to impress its comforting truth upon the believers. If, when we were enemies, when we were the objects of God’s displeasure, we were reconciled to God, were put into possession of His grace, were placed into such a relation toward Him that He no longer had to be our adversary, how much rather will we be saved by His life, since we have been reconciled, since we have been restored to His grace! While objects of the divine hostility, such unbounded mercy was shown to us; therefore it follows that the love which wrought in such a wonderful measure for us in our extremity will undoubtedly carry out our salvation to the end. The same Savior that died for us has arisen to everlasting, perfect life, and His life is devoted to that one end, to sanctify, protect, and save us eternally, to bring us into that wonderful life of divine glory. And so the apostle breaks forth in the joyful exclamation: But not only that, we also glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Nothing could illustrate more thoroughly and exactly the complete restitution of the relation of love toward sinners than these words. The reconciliation of God toward the sinners is so thorough that He feels the warmest friendship for them, and that they, in turn, rejoice and glory in their God. Every believer that is reconciled to God through Christ is sure that all further enmity is excluded. “We glory in God that God is ours and we are His, and that we have all goods in common from Him and with Him in all confidence. ” (Luther.) This is no self-righteous boasting, for that would result in the immediate loss of all spiritual gifts and blessings, but a cheerfulness and confidence through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has expiated our guilt, canceled our debt. And thus all apprehension as to the final outcome is removed from our hearts; the hope of eternal salvation, which is a consequence of our justification, is a certain and definite hope, a hope which fills the heart of the believers with quiet joy, and causes them to be absorbed with all their mind in the glorious fact of their justification.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rom 5:5. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts Is poured out into our hearts. The original word , is commonly used, as Whitby remarks, when the effusion of the Holy Ghost is spoken of. Wherefore, as the Apostle, in this passage, had in his eye the gifts of the Spirit bestowed on the Gentiles, as proofs of God’s love to them, he adds for their comfort and encouragement, that the love of God was poured out into their hearts along with the spiritual gifts.
By the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. The spiritual gifts bestowed on the first Christians were clear proofs, especially in the case of the Gentiles, of the love which God bare to them, and of his will that they should be saved. And therefore, when the Jewish believers, whoreproved Peter for preaching the Gospel to Cornelius and his friends, heard that they had received the Holy Ghost, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life, Act 11:18. Farther; the ordinary influences of the Spirit, bestowed on believers, by renovating their nature, afford them the fullest assurance of pardon and acceptance through faith: hence they are said to be sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which it the earned of our inheritance, Eph 1:13-14 and is said, Rom 8:16, to bear witness with their spirit, that they are the children of God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 5:5 . ] not, “ the hope thus established ” (Oecumenius, Olshausen, Stlting), but, in accordance with the analogy of the preceding elements, and without any excluding limitation, the hope (of glory), as such, consequently the Christian hope. This deceives no one who has it. It is self-evident, and the proof that follows gives information as to the fact, that this is uttered in the consciousness and out of the inward assurance of real living justification by faith. [1163]
] maketh not ashamed, i.e. “habet certissimum salutis (of the thing hoped for) exitum,” Calvin, as will be shown at the judgment. “ Spes erit res ,” Bengel. Comp Rom 9:33 ; Sir 2:10 ; Bar 6:39 ; Psa 22:6 . Comp also Plat. Conv. p. 183 E, . Polit. p. 268 D; Dem. 314, 9. The expression of triumphant certainty in the present is not to be removed by changing it into the future (Hofmann, who would read ).
. . . [1166] ] Ground of . The divine love, [1167] effectually present in the heart through the Holy Spirit, is to the Christian consciousness of faith the sure pledge that we do not hope in vain and so as to be put to shame at last, but that God will on the contrary fulfil our hope. is the genitive of the subject; the love of God to us (so most expositors following Origen, Chrysostom and Luther), not of the object: love to God (Theodoret, Augustine, Anselm and others; including Klee, Glckler, Umbreit, Hofmann, Stlting), which appears from Rom 5:8 as incorrect. [1168] Comp Rom 8:39 ; 2Co 13:13 . As respects the justified, the wrath of God has given place to His love , which has its presence in them through the Spirit, its dwelling and sphere of action in believing hearts; and thus it is to them, like the Spirit Himself, of the hoped-for , 2Co 1:22 ; 2Co 5:5 .
] Figure for abundant, living effective communication (Act 2:17 ; Act 10:45 ). The idea of abundance is already implied in the sensuous image of outpouring, but may also, as in Tit 3:6 , be specially expressed. Comp generally Suicer, Thes. I. p. 1075.
] denotes, in accordance with the expression of the completed fact, the being spread abroad in the heart (motus in loco ). Comp LXX. Psa 45:2 .
. . [1172] ] Through the agency of the Spirit bestowed on us, who is the principle of the real self-communication of God, the divine love is also poured out in our hearts; see Rom 8:15-16 ; Gal 4:6 .
[1163] Comp. Dsterdieck in the Jahrb. f. D. Th. 1870, p. 668 ff.
[1166] . . . .
[1167] As is well said by Calovius: “quae charitas effusa in nobis non qua inhaesionem subjectivam , sed qua manifestationem et qua effectum vel sensum ejusdem in cordibus nostris effusum.” Comp. Melancthon (against Osiander).
[1168] Among Catholics this explanation of active love was favoured by the doctrine of the justitia infusa .
[1172] . . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Ver. 5. Hope maketh not ashamed ] As among men, many lie languishing at hope’s hospital, as he did at the pool of Bethesda,Joh 5:1-9Joh 5:1-9 , and return as they did from the brooks of Tema, Job 6:17 . Or, as men go to a lottery with heads full of hopes, but return with hearts full of blanks. The Dutch have a proverb to this purpose, Sperare et expectare, multos reddit stultos. And we say, He that hopes for dead men’s shoes, may hap go barefoot. Bad men’s hopes may hop headless, they may perish in the height of their expectancies. Not so those that hope in God; they shall yet praise him who is the help of their countenance, and their God, Psa 43:5 . Nunquam confusi, Deo confisi. Never preplexed, having trusted in God.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rom 5:5 . : and hope, i.e. , the hope which has not been extinguished, but confirmed under trial, does not put to shame. Psa 22:6 . Spes erit res (Bengel). Here the aurea catena comes to an end, and the Apostle points to that on which it is ultimately dependent. All these Christian experiences and hopes rest upon an assurance of the love of God. . . . That the love of God to us is meant, not our love to Him, is obvious from Rom 5:6 and the whole connection: it is the evidence of God’s love to us which the Apostle proceeds to set forth. ( cf. Joe 3:1 ; Joe 2:12 , LXX, Act 10:45 ): has been poured out in, and still floods, our hearts. : the aorist can hardly refer to Pentecost, in which case would express the consciousness of the Christian community: the spirit was given to Christians in virtue of their faith (Gal 3:2 ), and normally on occasion of their baptism (1Co 12:13 , Act 19:1 ff.): and it is this experience, possibly this event, to which the participle definitely refers. What the spirit, given (in baptism) to faith, does, is to flood the heart with God’s love, and with the assurance of it.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Job – Romans
TWO KINDS OF HOPE
A THREEFOLD CORD
Rom 5:5
We have seen in former sermons that, in the previous context, the Apostle traces Christian hope to two sources: one, the series of experiences which follow ‘being justified by faith’ and the other, those which follow on trouble rightly borne. Those two golden chains together hold up the precious jewel of hope. But a chain that is to bear a weight must have a staple, or it will fall to the ground. And so Paul here turns to yet another thought, and, going behind both our inward experiences and our outward discipline, falls back on that which precedes all. After all is said and done, the love of God, eternal, self-originated, the source of all Christian experiences because of the work of Christ which originates them all, is the root fact of the universe, and the guarantee that our highest anticipations and desires are not unsubstantial visions, but morning dreams, which are proverbially sure to be fulfilled. God is love; therefore the man who trusts Him shall not be put to shame.
But you will notice that here the Apostle not only adduces the love of God as the staple, so to speak, from which these golden chains hang, but that he traces the heart’s being suffused with that love to its source, and as, of course, is always the case in the order of analysis, that which was last in time comes first in statement. We begin at the surface, and go down and down and down from effect to cause, and yet again to the cause of that cause which is itself effect. We strip off, as it were, layer after layer, until we get to the living centre-hope comes from the love, the love comes from the Spirit in the heart. And so to get at the order of time and of manifestation, we must reverse the order of analysis in my text, and begin where it ends. So we have here three things-the Spirit given, the love shed abroad by that Spirit, and the hope established by that love. Now just look at them for a moment.
I. The Spirit given.
So the first question is, when was that Spirit given to these Roman Christians? The Christian Church has been split in two by its answers to that question. One influential part, which has taken a new lease of life amongst us to-day, says ‘in baptism,’ and the other says ‘at the moment of faith.’ I am not going to be tempted into controversial paths now, for my purpose is a very different one, but I cannot help just a word about the former of these two answers. ‘Given in baptism,’ say our friends, and I venture to think that they thereby degrade Christianity into a system of magic, bringing together two entirely disparate things, an external physical act and a spiritual change. I do not say anything about the disastrous effects that have followed from such a conception of the medium by which this greatest of all Christian gifts is effected upon men. Since the Spirit who is given is life, the result of the gift of that Spirit is a new life, and we all know what disastrous and debasing consequences have followed from that dogma of regeneration by baptism. No doubt it is perfectly true that normally, in the early Church, the Divine Spirit was given at baptism; but for one thing, that general rule had exceptions, as in the case of Cornelius, and, for another thing, though it was given at baptism, it was not given in baptism, but it was given through faith, of which in those days baptism was the sequel and the sign.
But I pass altogether from this, and fall back on the great words which, to me at least, if there were no other, would determine the whole answer to this question as to when the Spirit was given: ‘This spake He of the Holy Ghost, which they that believe on Him should receive’; and I would ask the modern upholders of the other theory the indignant question which the Apostle Paul fired off out of his heavy artillery at their ancient analogues, the circumcisers in the Galatian Church: ‘This only would I know of you: Received ye the Holy Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?’
The answer which the evangelical Christian gives to this ancient question suggested by my text, ‘When was that Divine Spirit bestowed?’ is congruous with the spirituality of the Christian faith, and is eminently reasonable. For the condition required is the opening of the whole nature in willing welcome to the entrance of the Divine Spirit, and as surely as, wherever there is an indentation of the land, and a concavity of a receptive bay, the ocean will pour into it and fill it, so surely where a heart is open for God, God in His Divine Spirit will enter into that heart, and there will shed His blessed influences.
So, dear brethren, and this is the main point to which I wish to direct your attention, the Apostle here takes it for granted that all these Roman Christians knew in themselves the truth of what he was saying, and had an experience which confirmed his assertion that the Divine Spirit of God was given to them when they believed. Ah! I wonder if that is true about us professing Christians; if we are aware in any measure of a higher life than our own having been breathed into us; if we are aware in any measure of a Divine Spirit dwelling in our spirits, moulding, lifting, enlightening, guiding, constraining, and yet not coercing? We ought to be, ‘Know ye not that the Spirit dwelleth in you, except ye be rejected?’ Brethren, it seems to me to be of the very last importance, in this period of the Church’s history, that the proportion between the Church’s teaching as to the work of Christ on the Cross, and as to the consequent work of the Spirit of Christ in our hearts and spirits, should be changed. We must become more mystical if we are not to become less Christian. And the fact that so many of us seem to imagine that the whole Gospel lies in this, that ‘He died for our sins according to the Scriptures,’ and have relegated the teaching that He, by His Spirit, lives in us, if we are His disciples, to a less prominent place, has done enormous harm, not only to the type of Christian life, but to the conception of what Christianity is, both amongst those who receive it, and amongst those who do not accept it, making it out to be nothing more than a means of escape from the consequences of our transgression, instead of recognising it for what it is, the impartation of a new life which will flower into all beauty, and bear fruit in all goodness.
There was a question put once to a group of disciples, in astonishment and incredulity, by this Apostle, when he said to the twelve disciples in Ephesus, ‘Did you receive the Holy Ghost when you believed?’ The question might well be put to a multitude of professing Christians amongst us, and I am afraid a great many of them, if they answered truly, would answer as those disciples did, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.’
And now for the second point in my text-
II. The love which is shed abroad by that Spirit.
‘Such rebounds the inmost ear
Catches often from afar.
Listen, prize them, hold them dear;
For of God, of God, they are.’
Now, as I said about a former point of my sermon, that the Apostle was taking for granted that this gift of the Spirit belonged to all Christian people; so here again he takes for granted that in every Christian heart there is, by a divine operation, the presence of the love, and of the consciousness of the love, of God. And, again, the question comes to some of us stunningly, to all of us warningly, Is that a transcript of our experience? It is the ideal of a Christian life; it is meant that it should be so, and should be so continuously. The stream that is poured out is intended to run summer and winter, not to be dried up in drought, nor made turbid and noisy in flood, but with equable flow throughout. I fear me that the experience of most good people is rather like one of those tropical wadies, or nullahs in Eastern lands, where there alternate times of spate and times of drought; and instead of a flashing stream, pouring life everywhere, and full to the top of its banks, there is for long periods a dismal stretch of white sun-baked stones, and a chaos of tumbled rocks with not a drop of water in the channel. The Spirit pours God’s love into men’s spirits, but there may be dams and barriers, so that no drop of the water comes into the empty heart.
Our Quaker friends have a great deal to say about ‘waiting for the springing of the life within us.’ Never mind about the phraseology: what is meant is profoundly true, that no Christian man will realise this blessing unless he knows how to sit still and meditate, and let the gracious influence soak into him. Thus being quiet, he may, he will, find rising in his heart the consciousness of the love of God. You will not, if you give only broken momentary sidelong glances; you will not, if you do not lie still. If you hold up a cup in a shaking hand beneath a fountain, and often twitch it aside, you will get little water in it; and unless we ‘wait on the Lord,’ we shall not ‘renew our strength.’ You can build a dam as they do in Holland that will keep out, not only the waters of a river, but the waters of an ocean, and not a drop will come through the dike. Brethren, we must keep ourselves in the love of God.
Lastly, we have here-
III. The hope that is established by the love poured out.
That love, we may be very sure, will not foster in us hopes that are to be disappointed. Now, it is a fact that the more a man feels that God loves him, the less is it possible for him to believe that that love will ever terminate, or that he shall ‘all die.’ In the lock of a canal, as the water pours in, the vessel rises. In our hearts, as the flood of the full love of God pours in, our hopes are borne up and up, nearer and nearer to the heavens. Since it is so, we must find in the fact that the constant and necessary result of communion with Him here on earth is a conviction of the immortality of that communion, a very, very strong guarantee for ourselves that the hope is not in vain. And if you say that that is all merely subjective, yet I think that the universality of the experience is a fact to be taken into account even by those who doubt the reality of the hope, and for ourselves, at all events, is a sufficient ground on which to rest. We have the historical fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have the fact that wherever there has been earthly experience of true communion with God, there, and in the measure in which it has been realised, the thermometer of our hopes of immortality, so to speak, has risen. ‘God is love,’ and God will not bring the man that trusts Him to confusion.
And may we not venture to say that, contemplating the analogous earthly love, we are permitted to believe that that divine Lover of our souls desires to have His beloved with Him, and desires that there be no separation between Him and them, either, if I might so say, in place or in disposition? As certainly as husband and wife, lover and friend, long to be together, and need it for perfection and for rest, so surely will that divine love not be satisfied until it has gathered all its children to its breast and made them partakers of itself.
There are many, many hopes that put the men who cherish them to shame, partly because they are never fulfilled, partly because, though fulfilled, they are disappointed, since the reality is so much less than the anticipation. Who does not know that the spray of blossom on the tree looks far more lovely hanging above our heads than when it is grasped by us? Who does not know that the fish struggling on the hook seems heavier than it turns out to be when lying on the bank? We go to the rainbow’s end, and we find, not a pot of gold, but a huddle of cold, wet mist. There is one man that is entitled to say: ‘To-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.’ Who is he? Only the man whose hope is in the Lord his God. If we open our hearts by faith, then these three lines of sequence of which we have been speaking will converge, and we shall have the hope that is the shining apex of ‘being justified by faith,’ and the hope that is the calm result of trouble and agitation, and the hope that, travelling further and higher than anything in our inward experience or our outward discipline, grasps the key-word of the universe, ‘God is love,’ and triumphantly makes sure that ‘neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
maketh . . . ashamed = causeth shame. Greek. kataischuno. Here, Rom 9:33; Rom 10:11. Luk 13:17. 1Co 1:27; 1Co 11:4, 1Co 11:5, 1Co 11:22; 2Co 7:14; 2Co 9:4. 1Pe 2:6; 1Pe 3:16.
love. App-135.
is shed abroad. Greek. ekchuno. See Act 1:18; Act 10:45.
Holy Ghost. App-101.
is = was.
unto = to.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rom 5:5. , does not make ashamed) We have here an instance of the figure , [by which less is said than the writer wishes to be understood]; that is, hope affords us grounds for the highest glorying, and will not prove fallacious; hope will be a reality.-, because) The [believers] present state is described, Rom 5:5-8. From this, hope as to the future is inferred, Rom 5:9-11.- ) [not our love to God, but] the love [of God] , toward us; [as proved by] Rom 5:8; from which we derive our hope; for it [Gods love] is an eternal love-, is shed abroad) most abundantly; whence we have this very feeling [Sense, perception of His love]- , in our hearts) not into our hearts. This form of expression indicates, that the Holy Spirit Himself is in the heart of the believer-, through [by]) We have the reason assigned for the whole of our present condition, in which the Holy Spirit is the earnest of the future. [The Holy Spirit is here mentioned for the first time in this discussion. When a man is really brought to this point, he at length perceives distinctly (in a marked manner) the operation of the Holy Spirit.-V. g.]-) given, through faith. Act 15:8; Gal 3:2; Gal 3:14.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 5:5
Rom 5:5
and hope putteth not to shame;-Buoyed by bright hopes of future good enables us to bear with fortitude present sufferings. Hope reaches forward, pierces the vale of the future, takes hold of the blessings reserved in heaven, and serves as an anchor to hold the soul firm and steadfast in union with God. This hope enables us to bear shame, to despise sufferings, and to be bold for God and his truth.
because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.-God gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles in the beginning to impart to them his mind. Paul says: But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. (1Co 2:12). The same principle pertains to the Holy Spirit as received by all Gods children. In imparting to us the knowledge of God, he also imparts the same mind, the same feelings and disposition that God possesses and cherishes. It does not say that the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts a love for God; but the Spirit, coming from God into our hearts, imparts the same kind of love to our hearts that dwells in the heart of God. He causes us to love just as God loves- to love the same objects that God loves, and to love them in the same way that God loves them. The Holy Spirit in our heart sheds abroad the same mind, temper, and disposition that dwells in the heart of God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
hope: Job 27:8, Psa 22:4, Psa 22:5, Isa 28:15-18, Isa 45:16, Isa 45:17, Isa 49:23, Jer 17:5-8, Phi 1:20, 2Th 2:16, 2Ti 1:12, Heb 6:18, Heb 6:19
because: Rom 8:14-17, Rom 8:28, Mat 22:36, Mat 22:37, 1Co 8:3, Heb 8:10-12, 1Jo 4:19
shed: Isa 44:3-5, Eze 36:25, 2Co 1:22, 2Co 3:18, 2Co 4:6, Gal 4:6, Gal 5:22, Eph 1:13, Eph 3:16-19, Eph 4:30, Tit 3:5
Reciprocal: Lev 3:3 – the fat Job 6:20 – confounded Psa 25:2 – O Psa 31:1 – thee Psa 119:31 – put me Psa 119:116 – and let me Psa 143:10 – thy spirit Ecc 5:20 – because Isa 30:3 – your confusion Joe 1:11 – ashamed Joe 2:26 – and my Zec 9:5 – for Joh 14:16 – another Joh 14:26 – Holy Ghost Act 2:33 – he Act 9:31 – and in Rom 4:18 – against Rom 5:2 – and rejoice Rom 8:23 – which have Rom 9:33 – and whosoever Rom 15:13 – abound Rom 15:16 – being 1Co 13:13 – hope 2Co 13:14 – the love Eph 1:18 – is Eph 3:17 – being Phi 2:1 – if any fellowship Col 1:8 – General Col 1:23 – the hope 2Th 3:5 – into 2Ti 1:7 – of love Tit 2:13 – blessed Tit 3:6 – he shed 1Pe 1:3 – unto 1Jo 3:3 – every
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE GIVER AND THE GIFT
Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 5:5
All the various writers of the New Testament are agreed upon this one point. From whatever standpoint the writer approaches the mystery of the Incarnation and its message to the world of men, his mind converges to a centre common to all, that Love is the greatest of all Christian virtues.
I. Love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.It does not belong naturally to fallen human nature. Whatever power our first parents possessed of knowing and loving God was sacrificed through their disobedience. Of course, they still retained that natural instinctive love for each other, which we all possess in common with the lower animals. God has implanted even in the wildest animals an instinctive love for their own offspring. For their young, up to a certain age, they will endure hardships, and suffer privations. Still this instinctive love of men and animals is peculiarly selfish. It does not restrain them from behaving brutally to one another. There is no love lost between animals when they are being fed. Each one gets as much as it can without troubling itself about others. And there is not much to choose between them and human beings, possessed only of this instinctive love, when any situation arises which calls for restraint and self-sacrifice. Then the instinct of self-preservation asserts itselfevery man for himself. Whenever we find men and women rise superior to this selfish instinct, as happily we have many instances in times of shipwreck, and fire, and disaster, it is because this love has been shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost.
II. Whatever there is of true religion in the Church, and in the hearts of her children to-day, is due to the power and presence of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter and Instructor of the faithful. The Holy Ghost is the gift bestowed in Holy Baptism. The renewal of the Holy Ghost is the blessing conferred in Confirmation to all who humbly ask for it. Whatever virtue there is in the Holy Communion arises from the same Divine source. It is the Spirit of God which broods over the Blessed Sacrament, and makes it the channel of communication between God and ourselves. Through the Spirits power we feed upon the Body and Blood of Christ, and are thereby made once more partakers of the Divine nature. When the Bishop and Presbytery lay their hands upon a candidate for the priesthood they do it with the words, Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a priest in the Church of God, thereby acknowledging that only through the power of the Holy Ghost can he become a faithful dispenser of the Word of God and of His holy sacraments.
III. Wherever and whenever this life-giving power of the Spirit is consciously felt, and it is consciously felt when we respond to and co-operate with the grace of God bestowed through the means of grace we have mentioned, two results inevitably follow.
(a) There is a feeling of rest and satisfaction within.
(b) There is a desire to be up and doing for the sake of others.
So long as the heart is estranged from God, it runs hither and thither, seeking rest and finding none. It may run to and fro until it is weary with a surfeit of pleasure and heavily laden with the burden of sin, but only in Christ can it find true rest. And no sooner does this restful peace take possession of the soul within than it is moved by an anxious activity for the sake of the beloved object. Love longs to give itself, and to count the sacrifice as nothing. Once realise, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the inestimable love of God in giving His Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification, and the love of Christ in giving Himself for the life of the world, and we shall long to show forth His praise not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to His service.
Rev. C. Rhodes Hall.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE LOVE OF GOD
Somewhat more literally we may read: The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by means of the Holy Ghost which was given to us.
There is a Divine simplicity about these words. They speak of immense mysteries; of God and of His inmost love; of the Eternal Spirit and His inscrutable workings; and of what is a mystery only less in order than the things Divineour human heart. But the words which touch and indicate these unfathomable things are the simplest possible. Every one of them belongs to the plainest of plain English; the longest of them is but a dissyllable.
Let us approach our text and interrogate it. In this its Divine simplicity, what is it saying to us to-day? We will seek our answer under two or three special titles.
I. The love of God.That is to say, the love felt by God towards man; the personal affection of the Almighty. Some have seen in the words another and opposite reference, as if they meant our love for God, our love of God, as an emotion generated, or liberated, in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And some, more mystically, have read in our text the thought that the Spirits work is to infuse and diffuse within us the eternal love itself in such a sense that it becomes as it were our own, and returns to its source in the incense of our surrender to God, our delight and rest in Him. But the context (Rom 5:8) surely gives a decisive answer in favour of the simplest while most wonderful of the references: God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us. That verse stands in close logical connection with this, and the reference must be the same. The love of God; His marvellous lovingkindness, as the Psalmist has it; the tenderness and endearment of Him Who is Love towards us sinners, towards us who have fled from ourselves to Him, and laid hold on His strength, and made peace with Him in His way. This is the particular reference here of the love of God; the kindness of the eternal heart towards those who believe, towards the Lords own, the children of men who put their trust in the deep shadow of His wings.
II. The love of God is shed abroad, hath been poured out, in our hearts.The phrase is beautifully vivid. You cannot take it to pieces, and analyse it, and explain the process, but you can know what it means. To these human hearts of ours, deep in these living, heaving, conscious worlds within, in the very springs of thought and will and affection, there can be somehow granted the view of this love as a fact, the sense and grasp of this love as a possession. It is there, poured out. It is no alien and separable insertion. It is poured out. Like the shower from the soft cloud, like the odour from the flower, it is there, shed abroad, suffused, pervading, changing, beautifying, glorifying all. Manifestly it was not so once. Those hearts were once as little possessed of this wonderful outpouring as the brown field in the year of drought is possessed of the genial rain. The outpouring was within, it was in the depths. But it came from above. Not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Does this view of the matter seem to any of us an unreality, a thing of vision and enthusiasm? Perhaps nothing in your experience corresponds to it as yet. But a human soul which yesterday was full of misgivings about God, or paralysed in indifference towards Him, to-day is able to say, with strong and sober certainty, with the clear persuasion of a true sight of Him in Christ Jesus, I know Whom I have believed; He hath loved me and given Himself for me; Behold, what manner of love to me; I am persuaded that neither life nor death shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. To-day as ever the eternal Friend stands at the door and knocks, that He may come in with that light in His hand and make the dreary darkness to be day. To-day, as of old, when that door is opened His entrance brings a wonderful reality of joy. I will manifest myself to Him.
III. This work is done, this love poured out, this Lord revealed and introduced by the Holy Ghost.Manifold are His gifts, His works. Vast indeed is the importance to our life and peace of clear views of what He is. It is blessed to know that indeed it is He, not only It; that He is no mere gale of power, no mysterious Somewhat of effluence and influence, but the personal Friend and Lord, coming to His temples to bless them with His own loving gifts of life, of purity, of power. Think of Him as the eternal Personal Worker and Teacher, understanding, handling, penetrating, knowing His own way in that heart of yours, and taking His own way to bless it. Recollect Him as somehow able, in His personal action, to make the cold, indifferent, sinful soul see and apprehend, and know, and embrace, and answer to, the love of God, the inner love of God. Remember Him as able indeed to manipulate that once rebellious will; sometimes by insensible degrees; sometimes by decisive convictions and a crisis of change memorable to us for ever and ever. Behold Him; He is the Convincer, bringing home to us, home indeed, sin and righteousness and judgment. He is the Revealer; He unveils Christ, He explains Him, and glorifies Him, and applies Him as vital balm to the aching spirit, which in the reality of its exceeding need applies itself to Christ.
IV. The Holy Ghost which was given unto us.Given; let us note that word as we close. He is indeed a Gift, the Gift unspeakable, the Gift of God. Not an evolution from within, not an assimilation from around; He is a Gift from above. From the height above all measure must the Gracious Shower descend; not otherwise can this knowledge of the eternal love be won by these happy ones, these temples of the Spirit.
Bishop H. C. G. Moule.
Illustration
Not seldom has been seen the beautiful phenomenon of the philanthropist who is also the ideal father or ideal mother; a Fowell Buxton, an Elizabeth Fry; a life which to the world is known for its devotion to mankind in large and far-seeing enterprises and sacrifices, but which to the nearer circle is known as the glowing centre of home affections and intimate friendships. And can we not think so of the Eternal and Almighty? His universal lovingkindness; this is one thing, and a thing more wide and deep than created thought can measure. But His special, inmost love to His own regenerate children in His own Son is another thing, and nearer still to the heart of all life and bliss.
(THIRD OUTLINE)
THE FOUNTAIN OF GODS LOVE
What St. Paul says is, that the mark of a Christian man is the great flood-tide setting from his heart to God; and that the mark of a Christian man is that, however dimly, his eye may yet see the great flood-tide of love setting from Gods heart to him. It is not a great critical exposition that is needed here, but rather it comes to the very bottom of Christian life when the Apostle says, Never mind about yourself; get away from all these miserable thoughts about how you love and trust, and how you feel towards Him; that is to be flung behind you. Open your eyes and hearts to this; that pouring down from heaven, a fountain of the great deep being broken up, upon every human soul there is that rejoicing, perennial, inexhaustible, immeasurable tide and ocean of life that will drench and saturate every heart of man.
I. The love of God is shed abroad.Gods love to me, to everybody, is poured upon the heart, and the consciousness of it, and not the response that I make to itthat is a secondary thingbut the consciousness of it is what makes the Christian. The love of God is shed abroad, is a grand thing; but the grand thought of the text goes far deeper; it says the love of God has been shed abroad. So it carries us who are Christian men and women back to some time in our history, when in some degree the consciousness of that love was in our hearts. The difference between one man who is a Christian and one who is not is the difference between a man standing with his back to the sun and the other with his face to the sunshine; the one gets light and warmth and cheer, and the other has his face in the shadow. It is all a question of which way your faces are turned. And here is a definition, if you will have a definition of a Christian, not that he loves, but that he trusts. The love will be a sure result of the trust. The love that is shed abroad in the heart is not my poor shrunken drop of love, but it is the great stream which comes from Him, and is ready to pour into my empty vessel, if I will only be steady and let the flow fill it.
II. Ask yourself, do I know and believe the love that God has?That is the meaning of the love of God being shed abroad. You remember the old story of Christ at the marriage feast of Cana, the six water-pots full of water, like our hearts, with all the cold, dismal, unsatisfactory joys and affections of earth, and He puts His hand upon the vessels and turns the water of the human affections into the wine of the heavenly Canaan. And instead of our hearts being filled with the insufficiencies and hollownesses of earthly things, He pours into them the great things, and the quickening of his own love.
III. The way by which this consciousness of the love of God, the foundation of Gods love, may belong to me is by His Holy Spirit which He has given to me. You have all got faith if you are Christian men and women, and the measure of your faith is the measure of your possession of the Spirit of God. For the teaching of the New Testament is this, that the spirit is given to them that believe, and if your hearts are charged with the happy sense of Gods love, which the Spirit of God kindles and fosters there, there are two things, one is your faith, and the other is your believing contemplation of Gods truth. Here are two surface facts in reference to the working on us by the Holy Spirit; that He works this on men we believe, and that the means by which the Spirit of God works upon us is the truth that is here. So then, plainly, the inference is, do you want to have a deeper, more constant, firmer, brighter, gladder consciousness of Gods love going with you all through life? Do not work yourself into it, but look and look, ever look with simple confidence to the great fact in which all that love is expressedthe love of God shed abroad in our hearts is the true foundation, and the only foundation upon which we can build any substantial hope for the future.
Illustration
The sunshine of life is its love. Always be trying how much love you can put into the day. Do not keep a narrow circle. Shed it abroad. Shed it abroad as God sheds it abroad in your hearts. Let the thought of every one when he gets up in the morning beWhat love shall I show to-day? Whom can I make happier? What kind act can I do to any poor person, or to any rich person, or to any child, or to anybody? That is the nearest thing to heaven upon earthfor that ismore than anything else on this earthclosest to the image of God.
(FOURTH OUTLINE)
LOVE SHED ABROAD
Observe the emphatic expression: The love of God is shed abroadself-acting, diffusive, filling the whole space: is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is givenperfectly free, unpurchased, undeservedwhich is given unto us.
I. Here, then, is the first condition. You must be united to Christ before you love God.The Holy Ghost must then enter into you and do His own work. And you must believe and realise it as His own solitary prerogative. Therefore, if you wish to love, look well to it that you begin, where every good thing does begin, with Christ. That you are Histhat He is yours.
II. Then take care that nothing grieves and stops the Spirit; that there is no bar acrossby sin, or by the world, or by selfto stop the channel of that river of life.
III. And then the result is sure: The love of God will be shed abroadfar and wide, into every crevice of your heart, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto you.
IV. And now, subject to this great law, let me suggest to you one or two ways by which this love is to take effect in your heart.
(a) At this moment, there is some one with whom your conscience tells you you are not now on the terms on which you ought to be. That feeling you have, that you are not on right terms with that person, is part of the shedding. Honour it. Honour it at once. Adjust your relationships with that person.
(b) Or the present state of things in your heart may be worse than that. There may be some one with whom you are really at enmity. It is almost, if not quite, a quarrel. There is a distance; an unbrotherly feeling, and a proud spiritif not positive anger and dislike. Or, if you have forgiven, and if the first heat of the anger is gone, you have not said it. The reconciliation is not confessedtherefore it is not complete. Yet, at this moment, you have a conviction about it, and a compunction of heart, a desire, which is the Holy Ghost. Then go and do it. Take the lower ground. Humble yourself. Say that you wish to be friends.
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
There are a great many who are still very worldly, but the real desire of their hearts is that they could love God. Whether such a desire is not of itself a proof that it is already love, I do not now stop to considerI think it is; but the persons to whom I refer have not yet (their own hearts would say they have not yet) much real, practical love to God. They do not treat Him as if they loved Him. And there is not a Christian on earth who does not feel his love poor and cold in comparison with what it ought to beso poor, and so cold, that he must very often confessI have none. His first wish and prayer every day isO God! more love! more love!
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
5:5
Rom 5:5. The hope we have of a life with Christ when this present period of tribulation is over, keeps us from being ashamed of that which we have endured for His. sake (Act 5:41). The Holy Ghost (or Spirit) was given to the early Christians in miraculous measure (Act 2:38 Act 8:14-18). After the complete New Testament was produced, the Spirit dwelled in the church which is the “temple of God” (1Co 3:16-17). However, this indwelling is not in miraculous measure, because that form of it was to cease after the complete rule of faith in Christ was given (Eph 4:8-16).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 5:5. Putteth not to shame. It will not disappoint or mock us; it even now gives triumphant certainty.
Because Gods love. The love of God, while more literal, is ambiguous; the Apostle means the love God has toward us. We are assured that hope shall not put us to shame, not by anything in ourselves, but because of the love of Gold. This love has been outwardly manifested and inwardly given to us: hath been poured out in our hearts. The love of God did not descend upon us as dew in drops, but as a stream which spreads itself through the whole soul, filling it with a consciousness of His love and favor (Philippi).
Through the Holy Ghost which was given unto us. The outward manifestation of Gods love is through Christ (Rom 5:8), but the inward (and abundant) experience of it as ours comes only through the Holy Ghost. Was given points to a single bestowal; not, however, to the outpouring on the day of Pentecost, since this could not apply to Paul himself, but to the gift of the Spirit at the time of the regeneration of each Christian.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Rom 5:5. And hope Such hope as is the fruit of faith, patience, and experience, namely, the full assurance of hope; maketh not ashamed Does not shame and confound us with disappointment, but we shall certainly obtain the good things hoped for; yea, we know it cannot shame or disappoint us, because we have already within ourselves the very beginning of that heaven at which it aspires. For the love of God That is, love to God, arising from a manifestation of his love to us, even that love which constitutes us at once both holy and happy, and is therefore an earnest of our future inheritance in our hearts; that love, in the perfection of which the blessedness of that celestial world consists; is shed abroad Greek, , is poured out; into our hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us The efficient cause of all these present blessings, and the earnest of those to come. As a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, the Holy Ghost enables us to discern Gods love to us; and as a Spirit of holiness and consolation, he enables us to delight ourselves daily in him, though for the present he appoint us trials which may seem rigorous and severe.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 5. Now hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which was given unto us.
This verse is the central saying of the entire passage. On the one hand, it is directly connected with the two first verses: We no longer feel any fear; nay, rather, we triumph in the hope of glory, a hope which is rendered brighter even by sufferings. On the other hand, this verse contains all that follows. This hope will not be falsified in the end by the event; this is what the second part of the passage proceeds to prove (Rom 5:6-11).
The word make ashamed refers to the non-realization of the hope when the hour of glory has struck. The present maketh not ashamed is the present of the idea. This falsification, inflicted on the hopes of faith by facts, and the possibility of which is denied by the apostle, is not that with which the truth of materialism would confound them. This idea is foreign to the mind of Paul. The matter in question in the context is the terrible position of the justified man who in the day of judgment should find himself suddenly face to face with unappeased wrath. Paul declares such a supposition impossible. Why? Because the source of his hope is the revelation of God Himself which he has received, of the love of which he is the object. The reawakening of wrath against him is therefore an inadmissible fact.
The love of God cannot denote here our love for God, as Hofmann would have it. It is true this critic thoroughly recognizes the imperfections always attaching to our love. But he thinks that Paul is here looking at the believer’s love to his God only as a mark of our renewal by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, this meaning must be rejected; first, on account of the choice of the verb , is shed abroad (see below); next, because the following verses (Rom 5:6-8), joined by for to Rom 5:5 develop the idea of God’s love to us, not that of our love to God; finally, because the syllogism finished in Rom 5:9-10 would want its basis (its minor) if the fact of God’s love to us had not been established in the preceding context. The love of God is therefore the love with which God loves us. The verb translated by is shed abroad, literally signifies: to be poured out of. Paul means: out of the heart of God, where this love has its source, into ours. The perfect used here signifies that there was a time when this effusion took place, and that since then it has not been withdrawn. It is this meaning of the perfect which explains the use of the preposition of rest, (in, without the idea of motion), instead of (into, with motion). This preposition refers to the whole state which has resulted from the effusion. There was an act of revelation in the heart of believers, the fruit of which is the permanent impression of the love which God has for them. The medium of this transfusion of the divine love into their heart was the Holy Spirit. We see, 1Co 2:10-12, that this Divine Being, after having sounded the depths of God, reveals them to the man to whom he imparts himself. Thereby we become privy to what is passing in God, in particular, to the feeling which he cherishes toward us, just as we should be to a feeling which we might ourselves cherish toward another. In general, the work of the Spirit consists in breaking down the barrier between beings, and placing them in a common luminous atmosphere, in which each hears the heart of his neighbor beat as if it were his own. And this is the relation which the Spirit establishes not only between man and man, but between man and God Himself; comp. Joh 14:19-20. The aorist participle , which was given to us, reminds us of two things: the time when this heaven was opened to the believer, and the objective and perfectly real character of this inward revelation. It was not a case of exalted feeling or excited imagination; it was God who imparted himself; comp. Joh 14:21; Joh 14:23.
The transition from Rom 5:5-6 seems to me to be one of the points on which exegesis has left most to be desired. Commentators confine themselves in general to saying that Rom 5:6 gives the external proof, the proof from fact, of that divine love shed abroad in our hearts, and that the proof is the sacrifice of Christ, Rom 5:6-8. But this inorganic juxtaposition of the internal proof, Rom 5:5, and the external proof, Rom 5:6, is not satisfactory; and this explanation does not correspond to the use of the particle for, which implies a much more intimate relation of ideas. The object is to prove that this hope of glory, whose source is the inward revelation of the love of God, will not be falsified by the event in the hour of judgment. For this end, what does the apostle do? He does not merely allege an external fact already past; he penetrates to the essence of that internal revelation of which he has just been speaking in Rom 5:5. He analyzes, so to speak, its contents, and transforming this ineffable feeling into a rigorous syllogism, he deduces from it the following argument, which is that of the Spirit Himself in the heart of the believer: God loved thee when thou wast yet a sinner, giving thee a proof of love such as men do not give to one another, even when they respect and admire one another the most, and when the devotion of love is carried among them to its sublimest height (Rom 5:6-8). Such is the minor, the divine love already manifested in the fact of redemption. The understood major is to this effect: Now the love which one has testified to his enemies does not belie itself when these have become better than enemies, friends. The conclusion is expressly stated, Rom 5:9-10 : If, then, God testified to thee, to thee when yet an enemy, a love beyond all comparison, how shouldst thou, once justified and reconciled, have to fear falling back again under wrath? It is obvious that to the end of the passage, from Rom 5:6, the whole forms one consecutive reasoning, and this reasoning is joined by for to Rom 5:5, because it serves only to expound in a logical form the language which the Holy Spirit holds to the heart of the believer, and by which He sustains his hope, even through earthly tribulations.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
and hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us. [But the joy of the believer is not confined to this expectation of future good; he rejoices also in present evils, even in tribulation, because tribulation develops in him those elements of character which make him useful here, and prepare him for heaven hereafter; for tribulation teaches him that patience or steadfastness which endures without flinching, and this steadfastness wakens in him a sense of divine approval, and the thought that God approves adds to his hope that he shall obtain the blessings of the future world, and this hope is not so fickle as to disappoint or mock him, but gives him triumphant certainty, because the love which God has towards him fills his heart, being inwardly manifested to him by the Holy Spirit, who is given to all believers–at the time of their regeneration.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
5. But hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who has been given unto us. Here is a beautiful reference to the gift of the Holy Ghost to the disciples on the day of Pentecost, when the Son of God poured Him out on them from heaven, gloriously sanctifying and filling them with the blessed Holy Spirit, inundating them with perfect love casting out all fear and shame. Shed abroad in E. V. is wrong, the translators following the Latin, which in this passage has diffusa, whereas it should be effusa. Shed abroad is only an incorrect translation of the Greek ekkechutai from ek, out, and cheoo, pour, simply meaning to pour out; but it is illusory, involving the idea that the love is already in the heart, and is merely diffused abroad, which might consist with philia, human love, which is indigenous in fallen humanity, and utterly graceless, being simply carnal affection peculiar to the unregenerate, not only in this world but, as we see in the case of Dives, in the world to come, who even in the flames of hell loved his brethren so that he wanted to send them a missionary to save their souls. The word here is agape, divine love, which is the nature of God (1 John 4), and imparted to us by the Holy Ghost in regeneration, making us partakers of the divine nature. The reference in this passage is really to the sanctified experience, because it speaks of the Holy Ghost having been given unto us, which is none other than the Pentecostal experience here beautifully described in Rom 5:2-5.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 5
Maketh not ashamed; will not deceive and disappoint us.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:5 {6} And hope maketh not ashamed; because the {e} love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
(6) The foundation of hope is an assured testimony of the conscience, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we are loved by God, and this is nothing else but that which we call faith, from which it follows that through faith our consciences are quieted.
(e) With which he loves us.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
This hope, the focal point of this pericope, will not suffer disappointment, because God loves us and enables us to withstand tribulations. He does this by His Holy Spirit whom He has given to indwell every justified sinner in the church age (cf. Act 2:33; Rom 8:9). Paul developed the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the believer later (ch. 8). The fifth benefit of justification therefore is the indwelling Holy Spirit. Note the progression in these verses from faith (Rom 5:1) to hope (Rom 5:2-5) to love (Rom 5:5; cf. 1Co 13:13).
"The confidence we have for the day of judgment is not based only on our intellectual recognition of the fact of God’s love, or even only on the demonstration of God’s love on the cross (although that is important; cf. Rom 5:6-8), but also on the inner, subjective certainty that God does love us." [Note: Moo, p. 304.]