Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 5:3
And not only [so,] but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
3. but we glory ] For the present, St Paul puts the eternal future out of view again, in order that present grace may be better explained. “ We glory: ” same word as “rejoice” in Rom 5:2. Wonderful is the force of this repetition, in connexion with tribulation! tribulations
patience ] The patience of perseverance. See on Rom 2:7. “Tribulation” teaches the believer the possibility, and blessedness, of “patient continuance in well-doing.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And not only so – We not only rejoice in times of prosperity, and of health. Paul proceeds to show that this plan is not less adapted to produce support in trials.
But we glory – The word used here is the same that is in Rom 5:2, translated, we rejoice kauchometha. It should have been so rendered here. The meaning is, that we rejoice not only in hope; not only in the direct results of justification, in the immediate effect which religion itself produces; but we carry our joy and triumph even into the midst of trials. In accordance with this, our Saviour directed his followers to rejoice in persecutions, Mat 5:11-12. Compare Jam 1:2, Jam 1:12.
In tribulations – In afflictions. The word used here refers to all kinds of trials which people are called to endure; though it is possible that Paul referred particularly to the various persecutions and trials which they were called to endure as Christians.
Knowing – Being assured of this. Pauls assurance might have arisen from reasoning on the nature of religion, and its tendency to produce comfort; or it is more probable that he was speaking here the language of his own experience. He had found it to be so. This was written near the close of his life, and it states the personal experience of a man who endured, perhaps, as much as anyone ever did, in attempting to spread the gospel; and far more than commonly falls to the lot of mankind. Yet he, like all other Christians, could leave his deliberate testimony to the fact that Christianity was sufficient to sustain the soul in its severest trials; see 2Co 1:3-6; 2Co 11:24-29; 2Co 12:9-10.
Worketh – Produces; the effect of afflictions on the minds of Christians is to make them patient. Sinners are irritated and troubled by them; they complain, and become more and more obstinate and rebellious. They have no sources of consolation; they deem God a hard master; and they become fretful and rebellions just in proportion to the depth and continuance of their trials. But in the mind of a Christian, who regards his Fathers hand in it; who sees that he deserves no mercy; who has confidence in the wisdom and goodness of God; who feels that it is necessary for his own good to be afflicted; and who experiences its happy, subduing, and mild effect in restraining his sinful passions, and in weaning him from the world the effect is to produce patience. Accordingly, it will usually be found that those Christians who are longest and most severely afflicted are the most patient. Year after year of suffering produces increased peace and calmness of soul; and at the end of his course the Christian is more willing to be afflicted, and bears his afflictions more calmly, than at the beginning. He who on earth was most afflicted was the most patient of all sufferers; and not less patient when he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, than when he experienced the first trial in his great work.
Patience – A calm temper, which suffers evils without murmuring or discontent (Webster).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 5:3
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.
The Christian process
I. Tribulation gives rise to patience, coming from a verb which signifies to keep good under (a burden, blows, etc.) , and might be rendered endurance.
II. Endurance, in its turn, worketh experience–the state of a force or virtue which has stood trials. This force, issuing victorious from the conflict, is undoubtedly the faith of the Christian, the worth of which he has now proved by experience. It is a weapon of which henceforth he knows the value. The word frequently denotes the proved Christian, the man who has shown what he is (cf. Rom 14:18)
, and the opposite (1Co 10:27).
III. When, finally, the believer has thus experienced the Divine force with which faith fills him in the midst of suffering, he feels his hope rise. Nothing which can happen to him in the future any longer affrights him. The prospect of glory opens up to him nearer and more brilliant. How many Christians have declared that they never knew the gladness of faith or lively hope till they gained it by tribulation! With this word the apostle has returned to the end of Rom 5:2; and as there are deceitful hopes, he adds that this, the hope of glory, runs no risk of being falsified by the event. (Prof. Godet.)
The Christian process
The text may be treated–
I. Analogically.
1. Sore was the tribulation which came upon the disciples as they thought upon Christs death and burial. But after a little patience and experience, their hope revived; for their Lord arose. After that hope had been begotten in them, the Holy Spirits Divine influence was shed abroad upon them. They were not ashamed of their hope, but fearlessly proclaimed Jesus, their hope of glory.
2. History repeats itself. The history of our Lord is the foreshadowing of the experience of all His people. First comes our tribulation, our cross-bearing. Out of our patience and experience there arises in due season a blessed hope: we are quickened by our Lords resurrection life, and come forth from our sorrow. Then we enjoy our Pentecost: The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Consequent upon that visitation our hope becomes clear and assured, and we are led to make a full outspoken testimony.
II. Experimentally. Here is a little map of the inner life. This passage can only be fully understood by those who have had it written in capital letters on their own hearts.
1. Tribulation worketh patience. Naturally it worketh impatience, and impatience misses the fruit of experience, and sours into hopelessness. When the heart is renewed by the Holy Spirit, but not till then, tribulation worketh patience. Angels cannot exhibit patience, since they are not capable of suffering. Job did not learn it in prosperity, but when he sat among the ashes and his heart was heavy. Patience is a pearl which is only found in the deep seas of affliction; and only grace can find it, bring it to the surface, and adorn the neck of faith therewith.
2. This patience worketh in us experience: i.e., the more we endure, the more we test the faithfulness of God, the more we prove His love, and the more we perceive His wisdom. He that hath never endured may believe in the sustaining power of grace, but he has never had experience of it. You must put to sea to know the skill of the Divine Pilot, and be buffeted with tempest before you can know His power over winds and waves. What better wealth can a man have than to be rich in experience?
3. Experience works hops, How wonderfully does Divine alchemy fetch fine gold out of baser metal. The Lord in His grace spreads a couch for His own on the threshing floor of tribulation, and there we take our rest. He sets to music the roar of the water floods of trouble. Out of the foam of the sea of sorrow He causeth to arise the bright spirit of hope that maketh not ashamed.
III. Doctrinally. The text is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven. The love of God (the Father)
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength Christ died for the ungodly. Behold the blessed Three in One! It needs the Trinity to make a Christian, to cheer a Christian, to complete a Christian, to create in a Christian the hope of glory. We have Divine love bestowed by the Father, made manifest in the death of the Son, and shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Christians grounds for glorying in tribulation
To see a man rejoicing, notwithstanding his sufferings, in the good of his portion, were nothing remarkable; but his glorying even in the very evil itself, one would be disposed, in the ignorance of any other cause, to ascribe to mental derangement. Now, what is the light in which the gospel teaches us to regard the evils of life? When the apostle says, We glory in tribulations, are we to understand that the evils of life, in place of being regarded as indications of Gods displeasure, are really to be looked upon by all men as tokens of His love and favour? Not so, we conceive, by any means. Affliction, even when viewed in the light of the gospel by the unrepentant, though it may be looked upon by them as the doing of a God who still waits to be gracious, cannot, while their relation to God is unchanged, be regarded as so divested of its penal character that they can at all glory in it. The best fruits it can as yet yield to them is that sorrow which worketh repentance, and it is only when it operates thus that it operates aright. There is, then, manifestly just one class of men who on reasonable grounds can glory in their tribulations, and that is those who have already turned to God and found reconciliation–to them alone it is given to extract anything like the oil of gladness out of the bitter herbs of temporal suffering; and so it is that we here find glorying in tribulations ranked by the apostle among the privileges of the justified. And it is worthy of being remarked, too, that it is not the first in the enumeration–that first peace of conscience, and joyful hope of sharing the promised glory, must have resulted from justification before a man can bring himself to regard his tribulations as a ground of rejoicing. We would now call attention to the grounds of his so glorying, as here stated by him.
1. Tribulation worketh patience. That patience, which is a Christian grace, is not mere mental composure in the midst of outward troubles, and fixedness of purpose when excited passion threatens to bear the spirit away from its firmest resolves, but it is all this from right religious views and principles. It is because the mind of a Christian is stayed upon God that it is kept calm and steady in the day of trouble. He has such confidence in the character of God, and has taken such a hold upon His promises, and understands, moreover, so well the design of His fatherly correction, that when affliction does come, instead of loosening his hold of God, it tends, on the contrary, to lead him to cleave to Him still more closely. It being granted, then, that tribulation worketh patience, what ground, it may be asked, has a man for rejoicing in tribulation because it so operates? The Christian is taught to regard the improvement of character–the having his mind and will brought into perfect conformity to the mind and will of God–as that above all things else to be desired by him. Any advance he can make in this way he looks upon as the greatest gain, not only on account of its present advantage, but especially because of its eternal recompense. Show him, then, that he has gained in character, that he has brought his will more nearly to coincide with the will of God, and he will be satisfied that he has cause to rejoice in the acquisition, whatever may bare been the sacrifice or suffering through which it was obtained. Now, how are such acquisitions made? First, we answer, by endeavouring, in the strength of Divine grace sought and relied on, to do the will of God, as made known in His holy commandments; and secondly, by endeavouring, through the same Divine aid, patiently to submit to Gods will as made known in His providential dispensations.
2. But the patient enduring of tribulation not only tends to the improvement of a character, but it also serves to test the character and so to manifest its genuineness. And this is the meaning of the apostle when he says that patience worketh experience. When a man is put into the furnace of affliction and comes out unscathed, then he has the best evidence to conclude that they are genuine.
3. The value to the believer of this judgment of self-approval will fully appear when we consider that it worketh hope, even a hope that maketh not ashamed. The connection between a believers judgment of self-approval and his hope of glory is very evident. The fact of his being a believer implies that he has faith in the unseen realities of the future world. He may believe this, however, without having any assured hope of being himself a partaker of the inheritance. He knows that it is promised to men of a certain character only; so it is clearly only when he has been enabled to pronounce judgment on himself favourably and decidedly that his hope of future glory will be brightened up into full assurance. He need not mourn though this earth be made darkness around him, who has the hope of heavens glory to cheer him; and if it be in the dark night of sorrow that the light of heavenly hope is made to shine most brightly, he need not be impatient for the coming of the dawn. The apostle, to give confirmation to his argument and to show that the process by which this gladdening hope is extracted out of the believers tribulations, is not one that is carried on independently of the aid of Divine grace, adds, Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. The Divine Spirit, by infusing love towards God into the believers heart, gives him assured grounds to regard himself a child of God; and being assured of this, and knowing that on this point there is no delusion or self-deception, then he knows for certain that his hopes can never be disappointed–that be they ever so bright they shall be far more than realised. (A. Stewart.)
Glorying in tribulation
Let us–
I. Expound the text.
1. We glory in tribulations, i.e. (see Heb 10:33), refers specifically to persecutions. We know how Paul himself was exposed to these. It was no easy thing to be a Christian in those early times. Our English word means to thresh corn with flails. Methinks that if the same flails were used now upon the threshing floors of Christian profession, we should very speedily know how much chaff, and how little wheat, is now heaped up there. But we need not limit the term to tribulations of that class. Afflictions may overtake us in many other forms. We may lose our health, our wealth, our friends, our domestic comfort and peace. Yet in these tribulations, as Christians, we glory, for we believe them to be sent or permitted of God to promote our good (Heb 12:5-15).
2. Tribulation worketh patience. It does so, of course, only when received in submissiveness and faith. On the ungodly it generally produces the contrary effect.
(1) The simplest idea of patience is that of passive continuance, as when we read of patiently waiting for the object of hope.
(2) A higher degree of self-control, or a power to govern our tempers in provocation (Ecc 7:8-9).
(3) Another notion is that of fortitude, or strong resistance against a pressure of adversity (Jam 1:3).
(4) But its crowning excellence is that it can do more than resist; it can overbear opposition and go on its way rejoicing. It is the same thing as perseverance (Heb 12:1). blow as tribulation works patience, we may well glory in it, for it is a good thing to be patient. By patience we are kept from ignoble sloth, children are converted into noble heroes, we are roused to new life and energy, and grow up from puny infancy to the full stature of the perfect man in Christ. The forest trees grow stronger the more they are beat upon by the tempest; your stalwart rowers pull harder just as they feel the current bearing more steadily against them; and the exposed warrior gets most inured to the battle and the breeze.
3. And patience, experience. The radical idea is that of testing or trying metal, to ascertain its purity. Patience gives us proof of–
(1) Our own sincerity and genuineness. You may imagine yourself converted, and be the subject of joyful feeling; but is all this real? The answer is got by the experiment of tribulation (Mar 4:16-17).
(2) The limited power of our adversaries. The young Christian, like the young voyager, is soon frightened by the tempest, but the experienced saint, like the veteran sailor, has discovered that the waves are not so mighty as they seem, and that the winds only hurry the vessel faster on its course.
(3) Jehovahs faithfulness (Psa 18:16-18; Psa 18:29; Hab 3:17-19; 2Co 12:5-9).
4. And experience, hope. Hope was mentioned before as the result of faith; here it is the fruit of experience. Each is the same in its nature and object; but it is reached by two distinct processes. First, our hope is based simply and nakedly on the declaration and promise of God (verse 1; Psa 119:49-50). But the hope of the text, while it rests upon the same word, also rests upon out experience of what the Lord has done for our souls. This has the double effect of satisfying us that we are the subjects of grace, and therefore those to whom the promise belongs; and also of convincing us, from what we have actually received, that God is faithful who hath promised, who also will do it.
5. This assured hope suffers us not to be ashamed, even in the midst of suffering and reproach.
II. Apply the text. It supplies–
1. A test of faithfulness. How do you deal with troubles? Do you meet them with fretfulness and impatience, or in a spirit of stoical pride or stolid indifference? If not, do you, as Gods children, bear them patiently and triumph in them? From experience, does hope spring? and does that hope make you bold in confessing Christ? Is the love of God shed abroad in your breast?
2. A lesson of wisdom. If our hearts are set on worldly things, then plainly we can have no delight in tribulations. Let us, then, study the nature and the worth of moral excellence and religious attainments. It were surely better for us to get the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, than to compass every object of earthly ambition.
3. A lesson of patience and trust. You know, as a child of God, that affliction is given you from above, that it is all ordered in wisdom, and superintended by infinite love. Therefore, be patient and hope unto the end. God will remove the crucible as soon as the liquid metal reflects His glorious image from its unsullied surface. Affliction is to Gods children what the shepherds dog is to the flock, which barks at the outsiders and drives the wanderers home again. Or it is the lapidarys grindstone, whereby the most costly gems are rounded and polished.
4. Some solemn thoughts for the unconverted.
(1) Do you persecute the righteous? What you do against them will redound to their greater reward. It must, however, injure you.
(2) What effect has trouble upon you? You cannot avoid it, any more than can the godly.
(3) Whether in sickness or health, you have not the love of God in your heart. One wonders how you can live without it. And certainly you will find it hard to die without it. (T. G. Horton.)
Glorying in tribulation
It is joy, when between the millstones crushed like an olive, to yield nothing but the oil of thankfulness; when bruised beneath the flail of tribulation, still to lose nothing but the chaff, and to yield to God the precious grain of entire submissiveness. Why, this is a little heaven upon earth. To glory in tribulations also, this is a high degree of up-climbing towards the likeness of our Lord. Perhaps the usual communions which we have with our Beloved, though exceeding precious, will never equal those which we enjoy when we have to break through thorns and briars to be at Him; when we follow Him into the wilderness then we feel the love of our espousals to be doubly sweet. It is a joyous thing when in the midst of mournful circumstances, we yet feel that we cannot mourn, because the Bridegroom is with us. Blessed is the man who in the most terrible storm is driven in not from his God, but even rides upon the crest of the lofty billows nearer towards heaven. Such happiness is the Christians lot. I do not say that every Christian possesses it, but I am sure that every Christian ought to do so. There is a highway to heaven, and all in it are safe; but in the middle of that road there is a special way, an inner path, and all who walk therein are happy as well as safe. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Tribulation a ground of glorying
Not only so. The apostle has been speaking of the priceless advantages that flow from justification, peace, access into grace, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. Surely there is sufficient here to pay a man for becoming a Christian. But, not only so. This not only so is the Christians peculiar privilege. Make the most copious enumeration you will, and there will be a not only so. O the depth of the riches! Note–
I. The strange fact of our text.
1. Though a modest man, Paul was greatly given to glorying. And in his grounds we can generally justify him. We are not surprised that he should boast of himself. And there is leave for any man to do so who has good reason, provided it be done in the spirit of the apostle. We are not surprised that he should boast of the churches. Above all we are not surprised at his boast in the Cross, that grand symbol of the worlds redemption. But that he should glory in tribulations also must seem somewhat strange to the generality of men who regard them as distressing. You could understand him if he were speaking of the halls of mirth, of the pomp of palaces. He might reasonably glory in such things.
2. But the explanation is to be found in no defective mental or moral organisation. These are not the words of a madman speaking at random; nor of some hare-brained youth who goes through life saying I dont care; nor of a stoic whose false philosophy teaches him to despise alike the good and the ills of life. No, never was a nature more sensitive than Pauls. He does not mean that he gloried in the midst of his tribulations, notwithstanding his tribulations, treating them as matters of no account and even of contempt. They were the very ground of his glorying. Nor was his glorying mistaken. Our tribulations are but the instruments of the Lord of the harvest for purifying our souls. The uses of our griefs are Divine, and this must not only reconcile us to them, but enable us to glory in them. You see the strength of the apostles argument, He has got God, Therefore he has got all and can glory in all. Can connect a thing with God, whatever guise it wear, is at once to make it an angel.
II. The explanation of this strange fact. He justifies his assertion by setting forth the gradations by which tribulation works the highest good.
1. Tribulation worketh patience, or endurance. The more a Christian suffers in a Christian spirit, the greater capacity does he discover for endurance. So that his very afflictions become their own anodyne.
2. Patience worketh experience. The word signifies–
(1) Proof; patient endurance of suffering proves a mans spiritual mettle. The furnace must declare whether a mans religion is gilt or gold. A parrot might be taught to say Thy will be done. How will the man behave when every earthly comfort is withdrawn?
(2) Approbation. God sends tribulation first that it may test, and then, that He may say to us, Well done!
3. Experience, or approval, worketh hope. These tribulations drive us to the anticipation of another world. While sunny skies are over our head we think only of the present, but an overcast heaven sends our thoughts into the future. And hope maketh not ashamed. We sometimes see men with rueful countenances coming away from the door of a quondam friend. Ah! I did hope that man was my friend, is the exclamation. But he has put my hope to shame. Men never come away like that from Gods door. There is nothing like experience to fortify faith.
4. Because Gods love is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. Gods love, as the active principle in the heart, is the angel presence that banishes all impatience, all fear. The God I love sends my tribulations. Therefore will I glory even in tribulations. Only love can interpret the mysteries of God. I will close with a picture (Rev 7:9-14). Thus tribulation is the gateway of heaven. (J. Halsey.)
Tribulation and after
The apostle sets before us a ladder like to that which Jacob saw, the foot whereof resteth upon the earth, but the top ascendeth to heaven. Tribulation is the foot, but we mount as we see that it worketh patience; and we climb again, for patience worketh experience; and we ascend yet once again, for experience sustaineth hope; and hope that maketh not ashamed climbs up to the very heart of God, and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. I might compare these verses to those songs of degrees which were sung by the people as they went up to the temple: as they halted at each stage of the pilgrimage, they sang a fresh psalm, and so David said, They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. The pilgrim setteth out from the dull and desolate vale of tribulation, he journeys on to patience and lifts up his psalm under the shadow of the rock; he removes his tent and journeys on to experience beneath its wells and palm trees he refreshes himself; soon he marches on again from experience to hope, and never stayeth till the love of God is shed abroad in his heart, and he has reached the New Jerusalem, where he worships the ever blessed God and drinks full draughts of His eternal love. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Tribulations beautifying
It is rough work that polishes. Look at the pebbles on the shore. Far inland where some arm of the sea thrusts itself deep into the bosom of the land, and expanding into a salt loch, lies girdled by the mountains, sheltered from the storms that agitate the deep, the pebbles on the beach are rough, not beautiful; angular, not rounded. It is where long white lines of breakers roar, and the rattling shingle is rolled about the strand, that its pebbles are rounded and polished. As in nature, as in the arts, so in grace; it is the rough treatment that gives souls as well as stones their lustre. The more the diamond is cut the brighter it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing, their Lord has no end in view but to perfect His peoples graces. He afflicts not willingly; He sends tribulation to work patience, so that patience may work experience and experience hope. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Tribulations: how to meet them
We should brave trouble as the New England boy braves winter. The school is a mile away over the snowy hill, yet he lingers not by the fire; but with his books slung over his shoulder, and his cap tied closely under his chin, be sets out to face the storm. And when he reaches the topmost ridge, where the powdered snow lies in drifts, and the north wind comes keen and biting, does he shrink and cower down beneath the fences, or run into the nearest house to warm himself? No: he buttons up his coat, and rejoices to defy the blast, and tosses the snow wreaths with his foot; and so erect and fearless, with strong heart and ruddy cheek, he goes on to his place at school. (H. W. Beecher.)
Tribulations: sources of joy
Our afflictions are like weights, and have a tendency to bow us to the dust, but there is a way of arranging weights by means of wheels and pulleys, so that they will even lift us up. Grace, by its matchless art, has often turned the heaviest of our trials into occasions for heavenly joy. We glory in tribulations also. We gather honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The genealogy of Christian hope
1. It is no uncommon thing amongst us, for a man, sprung from the lowest grade of society, to rise, by the mere force of industry and intelligence, to a level with the high born and the noble; but he would show himself unworthy of his success and elevation, were he ashamed of his mean parentage. On the other hand, it has a very graceful look when he shows no wish to hide, but rather a desire to display, the meanness of his parentage; when, e.g., amidst the gorgeous decorations of his mansion he places conspicuously the picture of some cottage, or some weather-beaten rustic, and says to his admiring guests in a tone of honest satisfaction–In that cottage was I born, or, That was my father.
2. And we are assuming the fact that what is brilliant is only the more brilliant when traced to its lowly origin, when we think that our text is of more than common interest. For what so glorious as Christian hope? And our text traces it back through its immediate ancestry, and stops–where? At what is lofty, radiant, attractive? Nay, at tribulation. Nor is he ashamed of that ancestry; for he glories in tribulation. We shall find it profitable and interesting to trace the struggles of hope; for they are like the struggles of a family raising itself by successive steps, till it has exchanged a mean for a dignified position. Let us examine–
I. How the one is dependent on the other. Remember that St. Paul speaks only of those who bear tribulation as Christians, who receive it as appointed them by God. With them–
1. Tribulation worketh patience! There is nothing else which can work it. Whilst things are all going smoothly it is difficult for him to ascertain whether we have patience or not. We can only know ourselves as to any particular quality, as God shall put that quality to proof. Courage must be tested by danger, virtue by temptation, constancy by solicitation. And further, the trial is adapted to develop and strengthen it. Courage grows by exposure to danger, virtue is confirmed by every victory over temptation, and constancy acquires steadfastness as it resists a solicitation. And all this is particularly true in regard of patience. It is beautiful to observe how persons who, by nature, were fretful, have been disciplined into patience through affliction. It is not necessary that an individual should be patient as a man, in order to be patient as a Christian; on the contrary, grace works its choicest specimens out of the most unpromising material. But patience is wrought out, not by tribulation in itself, but by tribulation bringing the Christian to reflection and to prayer. Therefore does the Christian glory in tribulation, even if he had to stop here. He knows that patience is required as one of the chief fruits of the Spirit, a main evidence of meetness for the heavenly inheritance; shall he be ashamed of the adversity whence he hath acquired so choice a grace?
2. Patience worketh experience. The putting something to the proof; in this case the ascertaining the precise worth, verity and power of the consolations and promises of God. Tribulation worketh patience, in that suffering brings the Christian into an attitude of submission; but when he has been schooled into resignation, he is not left without heavenly visitations. God allures him into the wilderness, but only that He may speak comfortably to him, giving him the valley of Achor for a door of hope. Promises, whose beauty can be but faintly apprehended so long as there is no pressing need of their accomplishment, come home to the heart in an hour of trouble patiently endured, as if they were made on purpose for such emergencies. Here then, is already a noble elevation. From tribulation we have passed through patience and experience; the man has become his own evidence to the truth of Scripture, to the Divinity of Christianity, to the sufficiency of the gospel. No longer obliged to solicit external testimony, he has tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious. Experience is a vast advance upon patience; and we may look to find in the next generation all the honour and brightness of Christian nobility. Such, indeed, is the case, for experience worketh hope. How naturally does the one spring from the other! He in whom patience has wrought experience is one who, having put promises to the proof, has found them made good, and thereby proved to be of God. Surely now he who has tried the chart, and found it correct so far as he has had the power of trying it, has the best ground for relying on that chart with regard to ports which he has never yet entered. Accordingly you will find the righteous dwelling on their experience, and deriving from it their confidence. Thou hast been my help–there is the experience; in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice–there is the hope. It is the same with St. Paul. I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. Then what immediately follows? The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom. The one assertion is that of experience–the next is that of hope. Experience is a book in which there should be daily entries, and to which there should be daily reference. If we do not register our mercies, or if we never recount them, they are not likely to throw light upon coming events. He must be grateful for the past, who would be hopeful for the future. Answers to prayer, what encouragements to prayer! Promises fulfilled, what arguments for expecting their fulfilment! Mercies bestowed, what grounds for confidence that mercies will not be withheld! And thus it is that hope, the splendid, the beautiful grace–hope, with the stately step and the soaring wing–hope, whose special province it is to people the future with a brightness which compensates for all that may be gloomy in the present–hope, which makes the smile of health play around the couch of sickness–lights up the prison with the flash of liberty, pours abundance into the lap of poverty, and crowds the very grave with the burning processions of immortality–hope traces itself back to tribulation, like the coronet of the noble, whose ancestry may be found among the poor and the despised.
II. The apostles encomium on hope.
1. Is not hope commonly spoken of as most delusive? Does not poetry love to liken it to some bright meteor, which beguiles the traveller, leading him into danger, and then leaving him in darkness? Gather the character of hope from men of the world, and she is but an enchantress, whose spells are so soothing, and whispers so soft, that having cheated us a hundred times, we are nevertheless willing to be cheated again.
2. But Christian hope maketh not ashamed. It paints no vision which shall not be more than realised; it points to no inheritance which shall not be reached. How should it make ashamed, when it altogether rests itself upon Christ, who is not ashamed to call us brethren? This is the secret of its difference from every other hope; Christ is the source and the centre of our hope–Christ, in whom all the promises of God are yea, and in Him amen; and if Christ can deceive us, then, but not otherwise, may hope make ashamed. Therefore is it that the apostle elsewhere speaks of hope, in one place as an anchor, in another a helmet. He gives it attributes which fit it for the storms or the battle. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
A common evil and an uncommon result
I. A common evil. Tribulation. Mens tribulations are various.
1. Bodily.
2. Mental.
3. Social.
II. An uncommon result. In the case of most tribulation worketh irritation, hostility, conflicting passions. But in the case of the Christly man it worketh patience, which does not mean–
1. Insensibility. Some are praised for their patience who should be denounced for their stoicism.
2. Weakness. Some are praised for their patience who lack the capacity of strong feeling. Patience implies exquisite sensibility, and the highest power: the power of reflection and of self-control. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. And not only so] We are not only happy from being in this state of communion with our God, and the prospect of being eternally with him;
But we glory in tribulations also] All the sufferings we endure for the testimony of our Lord are so sanctified to us by his grace, that they become powerful instruments of increasing our happiness.
Tribulation worketh patience] , Endurance under trials, without sustaining loss or deterioration. It is a metaphor taken from refining metals. We do not speak thus from any sudden raptures, or extraordinary sensations we may have of spiritual joy: for we find that the tribulations through which we pass are the means of exercising and increasing our patience, our meek forbearance of injuries received, or persecutions experienced, on account of the Gospel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We glory in tribulations also; as old soldiers do in their scars of honour: see Gal 6:17; 2Co 12:9-11. Believers do not only glory in their future happiness, but in their present sufferings and afflictions: yet not so much in affliction itself, as in the issue and fruitful effects thereof, of which he speaks in what follows.
Knowing, finding by experience, that tribulation worketh patience; not as if affliction of itself and in its own nature did this, for in many it hath a contrary operation; but God, who is the author and giver of patience, Rom 5:15, doth make use of it for this purpose; it is a means sanctified of God for the exercising, obtaining, and increasing thereof.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3, 4. we glory in tribulation also;knowing that tribulation worketh patiencePatience is the quietendurance of what we cannot but wish removed, whether it be thewithholding of promised good (Ro8:25), or the continued experience of positive ill (as here).There is indeed a patience of unrenewed nature, which has somethingnoble in it, though in many cases the offspring of pride, if not ofsomething lower. Men have been known to endure every form ofprivation, torture, and death, without a murmur and without evenvisible emotion, merely because they deemed it unworthy of them tosink under unavoidable ill. But this proud, stoical hardihood hasnothing in common with the grace of patiencewhich is eitherthe meek endurance of ill because it is of God (Job 1:21;Job 1:22; Job 2:10),or the calm waiting for promised good till His time to dispense itcome (Heb 10:36); in the fullpersuasion that such trials are divinely appointed, are the neededdiscipline of God’s children, are but for a definite period, and arenot sent without abundant promises of “songs in the night.”If such be the “patience” which “tribulation worketh,”no wonder that
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also,…. The tribulations of the saints are many and various, through the hatred of the world, the temptations of Satan, their own corruptions; and are the will of their heavenly Father; what Christ has foretold, and they expect; and here particularly design such as are for Christ’s sake, which being supported under, and carried through, they glory in: not that these are desirable in themselves, and to the flesh; but they glory in them as they are for Christ’s sake, and in a good cause; as they are trials of grace, and of use for the exercise of it: and as they are in the exercise of grace, amidst these tribulations, and are comforted under them, and are helped to have regard to the heavenly glory. The ground of which glorying is, that these afflictions are the means of promoting patience, experience, and hope:
knowing this, that tribulation worketh patience; patience is a grace, of which God is the author; it is one of the fruits of the Spirit; the word of God is the means of its being first implanted; and afflictions are the means of promoting it, when they are sanctified; otherwise they produce impatience, murmurings, and repinings; there is great need of patience under them; and, by divine grace, they are the matter and occasion of exercising, and so of increasing it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But let us also rejoice in our tribulations ( ). Present middle subjunctive of same verb as in verse 2. is more than “rejoice,” rather “glory,” “exult.” These three volitive subjunctives (, , twice) hold up the high ideal for the Christian after, and because of, his being set right with God. It is one thing to submit to or endure tribulations without complaint, but it is another to find ground of glorying in the midst of them as Paul exhorts here.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Tribulations. Sharp contrast of glory and tribulation. Tribulations has the article; the tribulations attaching to the condition of believers. Rev., our tribulations.
Patience [] . See on 2Pe 1:6; Jas 5:7.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And not only so,” (ou monon de) “Not only that; we do not stop to glory, boast, or rejoice in future glory in his resurrected and holy likeness alone, 2Co 12:9; Gal 6:14.
2) “But we glory in tribulations also,” (all Kai Kauchometha en thais thlipsesin) “But we also boast of our own accord in afflictions, of tribulation kind;” In the midst of these we can now rejoice, in spite of the burdens, Rom 12:12; 2Co 1:4; 2Co 7:4.
3) “Knowing that tribulation worketh patience,” (eidotes hoti he thlipsis hupomonen katergazetai) “Perceiving or (comprehending divine revelation) that affliction works to or toward patience,” to the end of bringing patience to the afflicted or suffering one. Thru it Paul learned in whatever state he was to be content, and even rejoice in the Lord, 1Th 3:4; 2Th 1:4; Php_4:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3. Not only so, etc. That no one might scoffingly object and say, that Christians, with all their glorying, are yet strangely harassed and distressed in this life, which condition is far from being a happy one, — he meets this objection, and declares, not only that the godly are prevented by these calamities from being blessed, but also that their glorying is thereby promoted. To prove this he takes his argument from the effects, and adopts a remarkable gradation, and at last concludes, that all the sorrows we endure contribute to our salvation and final good.
By saying that the saints glory in tribulations, he is not to be understood, as though they dreaded not, nor avoided adversities, or were not distressed with their bitterness when they happened, (for there is no patience when there is no feeling of bitterness;) but as in their grief and sorrow they are not without great consolation, because they regard that whatever they bear is dispensed to them for good by the hand of a most indulgent Father, they are justly said to glory: for whenever salvation is promoted, there is not wanting a reason for glorying.
We are then taught here what is the design of our tribulations, if indeed we would prove ourselves to be the children of God. They ought to habituate us to patience; and if they do not answer this end, the work of the Lord is rendered void and of none effect through our corruption: for how does he prove that adversities do not hinder the glorying of the faithful, except that by their patience in enduring them, they feel the help of God, which nourishes and confirms their hope? They then who do not learn patience, do not, it is certain, make good progress. Nor is it any objection, that there are recorded in Scripture some complaints full of despondency, which the saints had made: for the Lord sometimes so depresses and straitens for a time his people, that they can hardly breathe, and can hardly remember any source of consolation; but in a moment he brings to life those whom he had nearly sunk in the darkness of death. So that what Paul says is always accomplished in them —
“
We are in every way oppressed, but not made anxious; we are in danger, but we are not in despair; we suffer persecution, but we are not forsaken; we are cast down but we are not destroyed.” (2Co 4:8.)
Tribulation produces ( efficiat) patience, etc. This is not the natural effect of tribulation; for we see that a great portion of mankind are thereby instigated to murmur against God, and even to curse his name. But when that inward meekness, which is infused by the Spirit of God, and the consolation, which is conveyed by the same Spirit, succeed in the place of our stubbornness, then tribulations become the means of generating patience; yea, those tribulations, which in the obstinate can produce nothing but indignation and clamorous discontent.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) But much more than this. The Christians glorying is not confined to the future; it embraces the present as well. It extends even to what would naturally be supposed to be the very opposite of a ground for gloryingto the persecutions that we have to undergo as Christians. (Comp. especially Mat. 5:10; Mat. 5:12, Blessed are the persecuted; 2Co. 11:30; 2Co. 12:9-10, glorying in infirmities; Act. 5:41, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame; 1Pe. 4:12-13; think not the fiery trial strange, but rejoice.) Attention has here been called to Bacons aphorism, Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, adversity of the New. This is a very profound side of the Christian revelation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(3, 4) A climax in which are put forward higher and higher grades of fortitude and constancy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Glory in tribulations This is the greatest of triumphs, by which the Gospel may make us shout from amid the fires. Under the inspiration of this peace the martyrs did not merely endure, but exulted in suffering.
Tribulation worketh patience Rather translate, tribulation worketh endurance. Trial produces the hardness by which we endure trials to come.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations,’
But what is the road that leads to the glory of God? It is the road of tribulations. It is because of the joy that is set before us that we endure what comes before it. Just as, for Christ, prior to the resurrection there came the cross, so also for us, prior to glory, will come tribulation. And it because these are closely connected that we also rejoice in tribulation, for that tribulation is the prerequisite to enjoying His glory. We know that if we suffer with Him we will also reign with Him (2Ti 2:12). It is ‘if so be that we suffer with Him so that we might be glorified together’ that we are ‘joint heirs with Christ’ (Rom 8:17). This was very much the experience of the early church. Paul stressed to them that it was ‘through much tribulation that they would enter under the Kingly Rule of God’ (Act 14:22). And we are not exempted. For tribulation is a necessary first step towards our final glorification. Whilst we may not experience the same kind of tribulation as they did ( Rom 8:35 ff; 1Co 4:11-13; 1Co 7:26-32; 1Co 15:30-32; 2Co 1:3-10; 2Co 11:23-27), all who seek to serve Christ faithfully will at some stage experience the hardships that result from being a Christian, whether it be through the taunts of those to whom we witness, or through the consequences of our being fully obedient to Him, something which the world has no time for.
This was an important point to make at this stage, for otherwise some would have wondered why those who were in God’s favour were being so fiercely persecuted. It is a recognition for us that although we are accounted as righteous in God’s eyes, we still have to face our everyday problems, sometimes even accentuated. For we must necessarily remember that we are not walking in a private park (as Adam originally did) but in a battlefield. We are called on to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, not becoming entangled with the affairs of this life (2Ti 2:3-4). We are called on to stand firm in the face of the Enemy and to wrestle with the powers of darkness (Eph 6:10-18). And we should not therefore be surprised if the shells of tribulation fall upon us and explode around us.
And this does not necessarily stop with the tribulations peculiar to the Christian life, for Paul here speaks generally of ‘tribulations’. It can therefore also refer to all the sorrows of life to which mortal man is subject, and indeed the travail of the whole creation (Rom 8:22), in whose sufferings we have a part (Rom 8:23). This includes not only various trials that we may face off and on through life, but also painful and debilitating disease and natural catastrophe in as far as they affect ourselves (we must not be complacent about them as they affect others). And we rejoice in them, not for what they are in themselves, but because they help to shape and fashion our lives and because they remind us among other things that we are not to look at the things which are seen, which are but temporary, but at the things which are unseen, which are eternal (2Co 4:17). We rejoice in them because they shake us out of our complacency and turn our thoughts towards Christ. We rejoice in them because of what they accomplish in us. We are not, therefore, to see the world as a vale of pointless hardship, but rather as a training ground (1Co 9:24-25), as a potter’s wheel (Rom 9:23; Jer 18:3-6), as a blacksmith’s fire (Zec 13:9), as a place where God shapes and moulds us to His will (Heb 12:3-12).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul now continues to describe the process by which God shapes our lives. For ‘tribulation works steadfastness, and steadfastness brings us to a place of refined purity (approval after testing), and that refined purity (approval after testing) strengthens our hope’, both hope for the future which will enable us to further please God (as with Abraham – Rom 4:18-22), and hope in eternity when we will enjoy and experience the gory of God.
‘Knowing that tribulation works steadfastness.’ For to those whose hearts are set towards God tribulation bears its fruit. It produces patient endurance and steadfastness as, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we grit our teeth and move on to face that tribulation, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and with our hand in the hand of God. We have to remember in this regard that we are in a marathon and not in a sprint (Heb 12:1-3), sometimes having to struggle even in order to move on. Indeed at times every step may be painful. But we must remember at all times that at some stage we will pull through it, aided by His Spirit, and that beyond it we will experience a new feeling of strength and exhilaration in Christ, and a new awareness of the graciousness of God (whether in this world or the next). The same lesson is taught by James in Jas 1:2-4; Jas 1:12, and by Peter in 1Pe 1:3-7. It was the common experience of the early church. At some stage it will be ours too.
‘And steadfastness produces refined purity (‘approval after testing’). The idea behind the latter words is that of something which has been refined in the fire and has come out purer and stronger, of something that has been put to the test and has not only endured, but has been ‘perfected’, resulting in consequent approval. Steadfast endurance has its consequence in that it brings us to a state of refined purity. We gain a sense of approval after testing.
And this sense of refined purity or approval after testing produces continuing hope. For just as strenuous and painful exercise can improve our muscle tone, so steadfast endurance and its consequence in ‘coming out refined’ (approved after testing), can strengthen our ‘hope’, the hope of what is to come both in this world (compare Rom 4:18-19) and the next (Tit 2:13). Hope is the confident certainty that because all is in the hands of God, whatever happens the future is assured. Compare Abraham’s hope in Rom 4:18-21, and see also Rom 8:29-39.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 5:3-4 . [1154] ] scil. . . Examples of the usage (Rom 5:11 ; Rom 8:23 ; Rom 9:10 ; 2Co 8:19 ) may be seen in Kypke, II. p. 165; Vigerus, ed. Herm. p. 543; Heind. and Stallb. a [1155] Phaed. p. 107 B. Comp Legg. vi. p. 752 A; Men. p. 71 B.
.] of the tribulations (affecting us), as commonly in the N. T. is connected with (Rom 5:11 ; 2Co 10:15 ; Gal 6:13 ). Comp Senec. de prov. iv. 4 : “gaudent magni viri rebus adversis non aliter quam fortes milites bellis triumphant.” As to the ground of this Christian , see the sequel. On the thing itself, in which the believer’s victory over the world makes itself apparent (Rom 8:35 ff.), comp 2Co 11:30 ; 2Co 12:9 ; Mat 5:10 ; Mat 5:12 ; Act 5:41 ; 1Pe 4:12 f. Observe further, how with the joyful assurance of ample experience the triumphant discourse proceeds from the , as subject-matter of the , to the direct opposite ( ), which may be likewise matter of glorying. Others (Glckler, Baumgarten-Crusius, Stlting) erroneously render as in , which the contrast, requiring the object , does not permit, since . . is not opposed to the in Rom 5:2 .
] endurance (“in ratione bene considerata stabilis et perpetua permansio,” Cic. de inv. ii. 54), namely, in the Christian faith and life. Comp Rom 2:7 ; Mat 10:22 ; Mat 24:13 . Paul lays down the . . unconditionally , because he is speaking of those who have been justified , in whose case the reverse cannot take place without sacrifice of their faith.
] triedness , 2Co 2:9 ; 2Co 8:2 ; 2Co 9:13 ; Phi 2:22 , “quae ostendit fidem non esse simulatam, sed veram, vivam et ardentem,” Melancthon. Triedness is produced through endurance (not made known , as Reiche thinks); for whosoever does not endure thereby becomes . There is here no inconsistency with Jas 1:3 . See Huther.
] namely, . , as is self-evident after Rom 5:2 . The hope, it is true, already exists before the ; nevertheless, the more the Christian has become tried , the more also will hope (which the loses) consciously possess him. Comp Jas 1:12 . Hope is therefore present, and yet withal is produced by the emergence of the , just as faith may be present, and yet be still further produced through something emerging (Joh 2:11 ). Comp Lipsius, Rechtfertigungsl . p. 207 f.
Observe further, how widely removed from all fanatical pride in suffering is the reason assigned with conscious clearness for the Christian in our passage. In it the is uniformly meant and designated as the highest subjective blessing of the justified person, who is assured of the glorious consummation (not in Rom 5:3 f. as conduct and only in Rom 5:2 as blessing , as Hofmann thinks). Comp the , which , in contrast to the in Plato, Rep. p. 331 A.
[1154] See a climax of description, similar in point of form in the Tractat. 9, 15 (see Surenh. III. 309): “Providentia parit alacritatem, alacritas innocentiam, innocentia puritatem, puritas abstinentiam, abstinentia sanctitatem, sanctitas modestiam, modestia timorem, timor sceleris pietatem, pietas spiritum sanctum, et spiritus sanctus resurrectionem mortuorum.” In contrast with this, how fervent, succinct, and full of life is the climax in our passage! For other chains of climactic succession, see Rom 8:29 ff., Rom 10:14 ff.; 2Pe 1:5 ff.
[1155] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 And not only so , but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
Ver. 3. We glory in tribulations ] As an old soldier doth in his scars of honour. SeeGal 6:17Gal 6:17 ; 2Co 7:4 . Feri, Domine, feri; nam a peccatis absolutus sum, saith Luther: Strike, Lord, and spare not, since I am acquitted by thee from my sins. Seca ambas, Cut of both, cried out that good bishop, when his hand was threatened to be cut off. A man that hath got his pardon is not troubled though he lose his glove or handkerchief, nor though it should prove a rainy day.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
3. ] And not only so (not only must we triumph in hope, which has regard to the future), but glorying in (not amidst ; the . is the ground of triumph) [ our ] tribulations, knowing (because we know) that tribulation works endurance (supposing, i.e. we remain firm under it), and endurance, approval (of our faith and trust, 2Co 2:9 ; 2Co 9:13 ; not, ‘ proof ’ ( ), as Grot.; nor ‘ experience ,’ as E. V., ‘ est qualitas ejus, qui est .’ Bengel, the result of proof), and approval (fresh) hope; and hope (but for . as Olsh.) shames (us) not (by disappointing us; ‘mocks us not’); because God’s love (not ‘ the love of God ,’ i.e. man’s love for God , as Theodoret, and even Aug [26] , misled by the Latin; see reff., and compare the explicit , which answers to this in Rom 5:8 ) is (has been) poured out (‘ effusa ,’ not ‘ diffusa ’ (Vulg.), which latter word perhaps misled Aug [27] , owing to whose mistake the true interpretation was lost for some centuries, although held by Orig [28] , Chrys., and Ambrose. See Trench on St. Augustine, ch. v. p. 89: i.e. ‘richly imparted’) in our hearts ( may be taken pregnantly, . , or better, denotes the locality where the outpouring takes place, the heart being the seat of our love, and of appreciation and sympathy with God’s love ) by means of the Holy Spirit (who is the Outpourer, Joh 16:14 ; 1Co 2:9-10 ) which was given to us (Olsh. rightly refers the aorist part. to the Pentecostal effusion of the Holy Spirit).
[26] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
[27] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
[28] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
‘Prima hc est in hac tractatione Spiritus Sancti mentio. Nimirum ad hunc usque terminum quum perductus est homo, operationem Sp. Sancti notanter denique sentit.’ Bengel.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 5:3 . : and not only (do we glory on that footing), but we also glory in tribulations. Cf. Jas 1:2 ff. does not simply mean “when we are in tribulations,” but also “because we are”: the tribulations being the ground of the glorying: see Rom 2:17 ; Rom 2:23 , Rom 5:11 , 1Co 3:21 , 2Co 12:9 , Gal 6:14 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Romans
THE SOURCES OF HOPE
Rom 5:2 – Rom 5:4
We have seen in a previous sermon that the Apostle in the foregoing context is sketching a grand outline of the ideal Christian life, as all rooted in ‘being justified by faith,’ and flowering into ‘peace with God,’ ‘access into grace,’ and a firm stand against all antagonists and would-be masters. In our text he advances to complete the outline by sketching the true Christian attitude towards the future. I have ventured to take so pregnant and large a text, because there is a very striking and close connection throughout the verses, which is lost unless we take them together. Note, then, ‘we rejoice in hope,’ ‘we glory in tribulation.’ Now, it is one word in the original which is diversely rendered in these two clauses by ‘rejoice’ and ‘glory.’ The latter is a better rendering than the former, because the original expression designates not only the emotion of joy, but the expression of it, especially in words. So it is frequently rendered in the New Testament by the word ‘boast,’ which, of course, has unpleasant associations, which scarcely fit it for use here. So then you see Paul regards it as possible for, and more than possibly characteristic of, a Christian, that the very same emotion should he excited by that great bright future hope, and by the blackness of present sorrow. That is strong meat; and so he goes on to explain how he thinks it can and must be so, and points out that trouble, through a series of results, arrives at last at this, that if it is rightly borne, it flashes up into greater brightness the hope which has grasped the glory of God. So then we have here, not only a wonderful designation of the object around which Christian hope twines its tendrils, but of the double source from which that hope may come, and of the one emotion with which Christian people should front the darkness of the present and the brightness of the future. Ah! how different our lives would be if that ideal of a steadfast hope and an untroubled joy were realised by each of us. It may be. It should be. So I ask you to look at these three points which I have suggested.
I. That wonderful designation of the one object of Christian hope which should fill, with an uncoruscating and unflickering light, all that dark future.
The very heart of Christianity is that the Divine Light of which that Shekinah was but a poor and transitory symbol has ‘tabernacled’ amongst men in the Christ, and has from Him been communicated, and is being communicated in such measure as earthly limitations and conditions permit, and that these do point on assuredly to perfect impartation hereafter, when ‘we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’ The Three could walk in the furnace of fire, because there was One with them, ‘like unto the Son of God.’ ‘Who among us shall dwell with the everlasting fire,’ the fire of that divine perfection? They who have had introduction by Christ into the grace, and who will be led by Him into the glory.
Now, brethren, it seems to me to be of great importance that this, the loftiest of conceptions of that future life, should be the main aspect under which we think of it. It is well to speak of rest from toil; it is well to speak of all the negations of present unfavourable, afflictive conditions which that future presents to us. And perhaps there is none of the aspects of it which appeals to deeper feelings in ourselves, than those which say ‘there shall be no night there,’ ‘there shall be no tears there, neither sorrow nor sighing’; ‘there shall be no toil there.’ But we must rise above all that, for our heaven is to live in God, and to be possessors of His glory. Do not let us dwell upon the symbols instead of the realities. Do not let us dwell only on the oppositions and contradictions to earth. Let us rather rise high above symbols, high above negations, to the positive truth, and not contented with saying ‘We shall be full of blessedness; we shall be full of purity; we shall be full of knowledge,’ let us rather think of that which embraces them all-we shall be full of God.
So much, then, for the one object of Christian hope. We have here-
II. The double source of that hope.
And, further than that, it is absolutely unthinkable to a man in the possession of these spiritual gifts, that they should ever come to a close; and the fact that in the precise degree in which we realise as our very own possession, here and now, these Christian emotions and blessings, we instinctively rise to the belief that they are ‘not for an age, but for all time,’ and not for all time, but for eternity, is itself, if not a proof, yet a very strong presumption, if you believe in God, that a man who thus ‘feels he was not made to die’ because he has grasped the Eternal, is right in so feeling. If, too, we look at the experiences themselves, they all have the stamp of incompleteness, and suggest completeness by their own incompleteness. The new moon with its ragged edge not more surely prophesies its completed silver round, than do the experiences of the Christian life here, in their greatness and in their smallness, declare that there come a time and an order of things in which what was thwarted tendency shall be accomplished result. The tender green spikelet, pushing up through the brown clods, does not more surely prophesy the waving yellow ear, nor the broad highway on which a man comes in the wilderness more surely declare that there is a village at the end of it, than do the facts of the Christian life, here and now, attest the validity of the hope of the glory of God.
And so, brethren, if you wish to brighten that great light that fills the future, see to it that your present Christianity is fuller of ‘peace with God,’ ‘access into grace,’ and the firm, erect standing which flows from these. When the springs in the mountains dry up, the river in the valley shrinks; and when they are full, it glides along level with the top of its banks. So when our Christian life in the present is richest, our Christian hope of the future will be the brighter. Look into yourselves. Is there anything there that witnesses to that great future; anything there that is obviously incipient, and destined to greater power; anything there which is like a tropical plant up here in 45 degrees of north latitude, managing to grow, but with dwarfed leaves and scanty flowers and half shrivelled and sourish fruit, and that in the cold dreams of the warm native land? Reflecting telescopes show the stars in a mirror, and the observer looks down to see the heavens. Look into yourselves, and see whether, on the polished plate within, there are any images of the stars that move around the Throne of God.
But let us turn for a moment to the second source to which the Apostle traces the Christian hope here. I must not be tempted to more than just a word of explanation, but perhaps you will tolerate that. Paul says that trouble works patience, that is to say, not only passive endurance, but brave persistence in a course, in spite of antagonisms. That is what trouble does to a man when it is rightly borne. Of course the Apostle is speaking here of its ideal operation, and not of the reality which alas! often is seen when our tribulations lash us into impatience, or paralyse our efforts. Tribulation worketh patience, ‘and patience experience .’ That is a difficult word to put into English. There underlies it the frequent thought which is familiar in Scripture, of trouble of all kinds as testing a man, whether as the refiner’s fire or the winnower’s fan. It tests a man, and if he bears the trouble with patient persistence, then he has passed the test and is approved. Patient perseverance thus works approval, or proof of the man’s Christianity, and, still more, proof of the reality and power of the Christ whom his Christianity grasps. And so from out of that approval or proof which comes, through perseverance, from tribulation, there rises, of course, in that heart that has been tested and has stood, a calm hope that the future will be as the past, and that, having fought through six troubles, by God’s help the seventh will be vanquished also, till at last troubles will end, and heaven be won.
Brethren, there is the true point of view from which to look, not only at tribulations, but at all the trials, for they too bring trials, that lie in duty and in enjoyment, and in earthly things. They are meant to work in us a conviction, by our experience of having been able to meet them aright, of the reality of our grasp of God, and of the reality and power of the God whom we grasp. If we took that point of view in regard to all the changes of this changeful life, we should not so often be bewildered and upset by the darkest of our sorrows. The shining lancets and cruel cutting instruments that the surgeon lays out on his table before he begins the operation are very dreadful. But the way to think of them is that they are there in order to remove from a man what it does him harm to keep, and what, if it is not taken away, will kill him. So life, with its troubles, great and small, is all meant for this, to make us surer of, and bring us closer to, our God, and to brace and strengthen us in our own personal character. And if it does that, then blessed be everything that produces these results, and leads us thereby to glorying in the troubles by which shines out on us a brighter hope.
So there are the two sources, you see: the one is the blessedness of the Christian life, the other the sorrows of the outward life, and both may converge upon the brightening of our Christian hope. Our rainbow is the child of the marriage of the sun and the rain. The Christian hope comes from being ‘justified by faith, having peace with God . . . and access into grace,’ and it comes from tribulation, which ‘worketh patience,’ and patience which ‘worketh approval.’ The one spark is struck from the hard flint by the cold steel, and the other is kindled by the sun itself, but they are both fire.
And so, lastly, we have here-
III. The one emotion with which the Christian should front all the facts, inward and outward, of his earthly life.
Now, brethren, the plain lesson of all this is just that we have here, in these texts, a linked chain, one end of which is wrapped around our sinful hearts, and the other is fastened to the Throne of God. You cannot drop any of the links, and you must begin at the beginning, if you are to be carried on to the end. If we are to have a joy immovable, we must have a ‘steadfast hope.’ If we are to have a ‘steadfast hope,’ we must have a present ‘grace.’ If we are to have a present ‘grace,’ and ‘access’ to the fullness of God, we must have ‘peace with God.’ If we are to have ‘peace with God,’ we must have the condemnation and the guilt taken away. If we are to have the condemnation and the guilt taken away, Jesus Christ must take them. If Jesus Christ is to take them away, we must have faith in Him. Then you can work it backward, and begin at your own end, and say, ‘If I have faith in Jesus Christ, then every link of the chain in due succession will pass through my hand, and I shall have justifying, peace, access, the grace, erectness, hope, and exultation, and at last He will lead me by the hand into the glory for which I dare to hope, the glory which the Father gave to Him before the foundation of the world, and which He will give to me when the world has passed away in fervent heat.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
glory . . . also = rejoice (as Rom 5:2) also in &c.
tribulations = the afflictions. Greek. thlipsis. See Act 7:10.
knowing. App-132.
worketh. See Rom 1:27.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
3.] And not only so (not only must we triumph in hope, which has regard to the future), but glorying in (not amidst; the . is the ground of triumph) [our] tribulations, knowing (because we know) that tribulation works endurance (supposing, i.e. we remain firm under it), and endurance, approval (of our faith and trust, 2Co 2:9; 2Co 9:13; not, proof (), as Grot.; nor experience, as E. V.,- est qualitas ejus, qui est . Bengel,-the result of proof), and approval (fresh) hope; and hope (but for . as Olsh.) shames (us) not (by disappointing us; mocks us not); because Gods love (not the love of God, i.e. mans love for God,-as Theodoret, and even Aug[26], misled by the Latin; see reff., and compare the explicit , which answers to this in Rom 5:8) is (has been) poured out (effusa, not diffusa (Vulg.), which latter word perhaps misled Aug[27], owing to whose mistake the true interpretation was lost for some centuries, although held by Orig[28], Chrys., and Ambrose. See Trench on St. Augustine, ch. v. p. 89:-i.e. richly imparted) in our hearts ( may be taken pregnantly, . ,-or better, denotes the locality where the outpouring takes place,-the heart being the seat of our love, and of appreciation and sympathy with Gods love) by means of the Holy Spirit (who is the Outpourer, Joh 16:14; 1Co 2:9-10) which was given to us (Olsh. rightly refers the aorist part. to the Pentecostal effusion of the Holy Spirit).
[26] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
[27] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
[28] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
Prima hc est in hac tractatione Spiritus Sancti mentio. Nimirum ad hunc usque terminum quum perductus est homo, operationem Sp. Sancti notanter denique sentit. Bengel.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 5:3. , we [rejoice] glory) Construe with Rom 5:11, see notes there.- , in tribulations) Tribulations during the whole of this life seem to deliver us up to death, [Rom 5:12], not to glory, and yet not only are they not unfavourable to hope, but even afford it assistance.- , worketh patience [patient perseverance]) namely in the case of believers; for in the case of unbelievers the result is rather impatience and apostacy. Patience is not learned without adversity; it [patience] is the characteristic of a mind not only ready [prompt in resolution], but also of one courageous [hardy] in endurance.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 5:3
Rom 5:3
And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations:-Christ rejoiced that he could suffer to redeem man. He looked beyond the suffering to the redemption for man, and in that rejoiced. True faith in Christ imparts the same spirit to man. As we partake of this spirit, we rejoice that we can endure affliction, suffering, persecution, and self-denial to honor God and help man. When the apostles had been imprisoned and then beaten, they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name. (Act 5:18; Act 5:40-41). In Philippi, Paul and Silas were beaten unmercifully, thrust into prison, their feet fastened in stocks; but at midnight, notwithstanding their bodily tortures, they prayed and sang praises to God. (Act 16:25). This was the triumph of the spirit over the flesh. The promise is made to the Christians: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him: if we endure, we shall also reign with him. (2Ti 2:11-12). Christ bestows a partnership in his sufferings as the guarantee of partnership in his joys and honors. Therefore, we can rejoice in suffering with and for him. The tribulations we endure exercise and develop steadfastness within us.
knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness;-[Steadfastness is that iron trait of character which enables us to bear with patience all the ills of life. Afflictions, if rightly used, and this is here assumed, have the effect to form this trait. They fortify the temper and will against the day of need, and so secure us against a diminution of peace and joy. When we remember how constantly these afflictions recur, the necessity for steadfastness becomes apparent. No character can truly be formed without the opportunity of endurance; we must learn to withstand. It is by suffering that we learn how to suffer.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
but we: Rom 8:35-37, Mat 5:10-12, Luk 6:22, Luk 6:23, Act 5:41, 2Co 11:23-30, 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:10, Eph 3:13, Phi 1:29, Phi 2:17, Phi 2:18, Jam 1:2, Jam 1:3, Jam 1:12, 1Pe 3:14, 1Pe 4:16, 1Pe 4:17
knowing: 2Co 4:17, Heb 12:10, Heb 12:11
Reciprocal: Jdg 14:14 – Out of the eater Job 11:18 – because Psa 57:7 – I will Psa 84:6 – Who Psa 119:50 – This Pro 15:15 – but Pro 18:14 – spirit Pro 29:6 – but Ecc 7:3 – by Isa 25:9 – we will Hab 3:18 – I will rejoice Mat 5:12 – Rejoice Mar 10:30 – with persecutions Luk 21:19 – General Joh 15:2 – and Joh 16:20 – your Act 13:52 – were Act 16:25 – sang Rom 8:28 – we know Rom 9:10 – not only Rom 12:12 – Rejoicing Rom 15:4 – that 2Co 1:6 – effectual 2Co 4:8 – yet 2Co 6:4 – in much 2Co 6:10 – sorrowful 2Co 7:4 – I am filled Phi 3:1 – rejoice Phi 4:4 – alway Col 1:11 – unto Col 1:24 – rejoice 1Th 1:3 – and patience 1Th 1:6 – with joy 1Th 3:3 – moved 2Th 1:4 – your patience 1Ti 6:6 – godliness Heb 10:36 – ye have Heb 11:25 – Choosing Jam 1:9 – rejoice 1Pe 1:7 – the trial 1Pe 4:13 – rejoice 2Pe 1:6 – patience Rev 1:9 – in the Rev 2:3 – hast patience Rev 2:9 – tribulation Rev 7:14 – came
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:3
Rom 5:3. Since the glory is to be received in the future, we welcome the experience of tribulations. It is not the pleasure of tribulations in which we glory, but it is the good fruit of patience produced thereby.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 5:3. And not only so; not only let us rejoice (or, do we rejoice) in the hope of glory; but let us also rejoice in our tribulations. The construction is the same as in Rom 5:2. In is not the same word used in Rom 5:2; there the hope was the direct ground of the glorying, here the tribulations are the indirect ground, since they become the means of sanctification. Our tribulations, lit, the tribulations, which Christians then knew so well. Lord Bacon says: Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, adversity of the New. See marginal references. Christians do not glory in suffering, as such, or for its own sake; but as the Bible teaches: 1. Because they consider it an honor to suffer for Christ. 2. Because they rejoice in being the occasion of manifesting His power in their support and deliverance; and, 3. Because suffering is made the means of their own sanctification and preparation for usefulness here, and for heaven hereafter. The last of these reasons is that to which the Apostle refers in the context (Hodge).
Knowing that, since we know that; the believer finds this out in his own experience. This knowledge extends to the whole series of successive results; the climax is set forth in Rom 5:5.
Worketh patience. Not patience as we generally understand it, but constancy, patient endurance, steadfastness, holding out bravely against trials and persecutions.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here the apostle mentioneth a fourth benefit flowing from justification by faith; and that is, glorying in their present sufferings. He told us before, that justified persons, being at peace with God, rejoiced in hopes of future glory; but, says he, that is not all, they glory in their present tribulations also.
Here note, 1. What sort of sufferings they are which the saints glory in; they are tribulations, that is, such trials and persecutions as did befal them for the profession of the gospel: In these a child of God may rejoice, yea, boast and glory, as a soldier doth of his marks, wounds and scars received in the wars, but not in those sufferings, afflictions and trials which we bring upon ourselves, as punishments for our sins; these we have no more reason to glory in, than a corrected child has to glory in his whipping; What glory is it when we are buffeted for our faults?
Note, 2. To what a height and heroic pitch the spirit of a justified believer may be raised under sufferings for Christ; He may glory in tribulation: It is an high strain of spiritualness in bearing affliction, when a Christian can say, I love to bear: Though I love not that which I suffer, and that which I bear, yet I love to bear what I suffer. But it is a higher pitch than this, to say with the apostle, I rejoice in my sufferings, Col 1:24. For joy is a degree beyond love; yet is it a degree higher still, to take pleasure in reproaches and distresses for Christ’s sake, 2Co 12:10 for pleasure is a degree beyond joy; but to glory in tribulations, is beyond them all; ’tis more than to love, more than to rejoice, more than to take pleasure in them.
Oh the power of faith in Christ, and love unto him, to support and uphold the soul! yea, cause it to glory under the sharpest sufferings and tribulations for him!
Note, 3. That it is not in the tribulations themselves that believers glory, but in the sweet issue, happy fruits, and gracious effects of them; finding that by the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, tribulation worketh patience; that is, exerciseth and increaseth patience, and patience begetteth and giveth experience of God’s gracious presence with us, of his assistance of us, and of his faithfulness towards us, in and under all our afflictions: And experience of these things worketh in us hope of reward.
Here observe, How one grace generates and begets another: graces have a generation one from another, though they have all but one generation from the Spirit of Christ.
Observe also, That it is not tribulation in its own nature, but when sanctified by the blessed Spirit, that by a happy gradation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope: For when affliction is not sanctified, but meets with a stubborn spirit, Lord, what dreadful effects doth it produce! Then tribulation excites impatience, impatience causes perplexity, perplexity despair, and despair confusion.
Note, 4. The effect and property of the believer’s hope. It maketh not ashamed; his hope will not make him ashamed, neither will he be ever ashamed of his hope: Frustrated hopes fill men with confusion and shame: The justified person shall not find his hopes of glory frustrated, but exceeded; and the reason is added, why the Christian hope will not deceive or shame him, namely, Because the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost; that is, the Holy Spirit doth, in time of tribulation, testify his love to the hearts of the people, which causes them to glory in tribulation.
Learn hence, That in time of affliction, especially of persecution for the sake of Christ, good men have a more sensible feeling of God’s love shed abroad in their hearts by the blessed Spirit, both to prepare them for trials, and to support them under them. St. Peter calls this a joy unspeakable; it has the very scent and taste of heaven in it, and there is but a gradual difference betwixt it and the joys of heaven: No sooner doth the Holy Spirit, shed forth the love of God into the believer’s heart, by clearing up his interest in the promise, and his title to eternal glory, but the soul is prepared to rejoice in affliction, yea, to glory in tribulation; and it will be as impossible to hinder it, as it is to hinder a man from satisfaction when he is most delighted and pleased: We glory in tribulation, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Rom 5:3-4. And not only so Not only do we possess the four fore- mentioned inestimable blessings; but we glory in tribulations also Which we are so far from esteeming a mark of Gods displeasure, that we receive them as tokens of his fatherly love, whereby we may be enabled to do him more singular honour, and be prepared for a more exalted happiness. The Jews often objected the persecuted state of the Christians as inconsistent with what they concluded would be the condition of the people of the Messiah. It is therefore with great propriety that the apostle so often discourses on the benefit arising from this very thing. The apostles and first Christians gloried in tribulations: 1st, Because hereby their state was made to resemble that of Christ, with whom they died, that they might live; suffered, that they might reign, Rom 8:17; 2Ti 2:11-12. 2d, Because their graces were hereby exercised, and therefore increased. And, 3d, They were hereby purified and refined, as gold and silver in the furnace. See Isa 1:4-5; Zec 13:9. Knowing that tribulation Under the influence of divine grace, without which it could produce no such effect; worketh patience Calls into exercise, and so gradually increases our patience; even an humble, resigned, quiet, contented state of mind: suggesting those considerations which at once show the reasonableness of that duty, and lay a solid foundation for it. And patience, experience The patient enduring of tribulation gives us more experience of the truth and degree of our grace, of Gods care of us, and of his power, and love, and faithfulness, engaged in supporting us under our sufferings, and causing them to work for our good. The original expression, , rendered experience, signifies being approved on trial. Before we are brought into tribulation, knowing Gods power, we may believe he can deliver; and knowing his love and faithfulness to his word, we may believe he will deliver: but after we have been actually brought into tribulation, and have been supported under it, and delivered out of it, we can say, from experience, he hath delivered; and are thus encouraged to trust in him in time to come. Thus Shadrach and his companions, before they were cast into the furnace, could say (Dan 3:17) to Nebuchadnezzar, Our God: whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and they could also add, He will deliver us. But after they had been cast into the furnace, and their faith in, and obedience to, their God had been put to that fiery trial, their patience wrought experience; and they could say, from experience, He hath delivered us, as was acknowledged by the haughty monarch himself, saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, &c., who hath delivered his servants that trusted in him. And experience, hope That is, an increased and more confirmed hope than is possessed before experience is attained; namely, 1st, Of continued help, support, and deliverance. 2d, Of a comfortable issue of our trials in due time. 3d, Of eternal salvation at last, Mat 5:12, Joh 16:20-22. Observe, reader, as soon as we are justified, and made the children and heirs of God, chap. Rom 8:17, we hope, on good grounds, for the glory of God; but our faith and other graces not having then been tried, our hope of eternal life must be mixed with doubts and fears respecting our steadfastness when exposed to trials, (which we are taught in the word of God to expect,) and our enduring to the end. But when we have been brought into and have passed through various and long-continued trials, and in the midst of them have been so supported by divine grace as to be enabled to continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and not to be moved away from the hope of the gospel, our expectation of persevering in the good way, and being finally saved, attains a confirmation and establishment: and our gratitude and joy, 1Pe 1:3, our patience, purity, and diligence in all the works of piety and virtue, 1Th 1:3, 1Jn 3:3; 1Co 15:58, are increased and confirmed in proportion thereto.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 3, 4. And not only so, but we triumph on account of tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh constancy; and approval; and hope. This passage being, strictly speaking, the answer to an unexpressed objection, it is natural that it should recur (end of Rom 5:4-5) to the idea of hope. The participle , and even triumphing, which is found in B C, would correspond very well with the digressive character evidently belonging to these verses. But it is probable that this form has been borrowed from that of Rom 5:11.
The phrase we triumph, literally translated, would be: in afflictions. But this translation would not render the idea of the text in our language [French]. It would express the circumstances in the midst of which the believer triumphs, while the Greek phrase denotes the object itself of which he boasts; comp. 1Co 1:31 : to triumph in the Lord, for: on account of the possession of the Lord; 2Co 12:9 : to triumph in his weaknesses, for: to extract triumph from his very weaknesses. Thus Paul means here: to make his afflictions themselves a reason of triumph. This strange thought is explained by what follows; for the climax which is about to be traced proves that it is tribulations that make hope break forth in all its vigor. Now it is this feeling which is the ground for (to glory). The words knowing that introduce the logical exposition of the process whereby affliction becomes transformed in the believer into hope. First, affliction gives rise to constancy, . This Greek word, coming from and , literally: to bear up under (a burden, blows, etc.), might be translated by endurance. From want of this word [in French] we say constancy.
Ver. 4. Endurance in its turn worketh approval, . This is the state of a force or virtue which has withstood trials. This force, issuing victorious from the conflict, is undoubtedly the faith of the Christian, the worth of which he has now proved by experience. It is a weapon of which henceforth he knows the value. The word frequently denotes in the same sense the proved Christian, the man who has shown what he is, comp. Rom 14:18, and the opposite, 1Co 10:27. We find in the New Testament two sayings that are analogous, though slightly different: Jam 1:3, where the neuter substantive denotes, not like here, the state of the thing proved, but the means of proof, tribulation itself; and 1Pe 1:7, where the same substantive seems to us to denote that which in the faith of the believer has held good in suffering, has shown itself real and effective, the gold which has come forth purified from the furnace.
When, finally, the believer has thus experienced the divine force with which faith fills him in the midst of suffering, he feels his hope rise. Nothing which can happen him in the future any longer affrights him. The prospect of glory opens up to him nearer and more brilliant. How many Christians have declared that they never knew the gladness of faith, or lively hope, till they gained it by means of tribulation! With this word hope the apostle has returned to the end of Rom 5:2; and as there are deceitful hopes, he adds that the one of which he speaks (the hope of glory, Rom 5:2) runs no risk of being falsified by the event.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness;
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
3. And not only so, but let us indeed glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh out endurance. Tribulation is from the Latin tribulum which means the flail with which the farmer in olden time thrashed. Hence the pertinency of this reference to Satan beating us over the head, back, and limbs like the farmer beating out his wheat. We are exhorted to rejoice in all this because God will overrule it to our good, making it an exceedingly valuable means of grace in perfecting our susceptibility of enduring all the hardships, rebuffs, disappointments, troubles and trials which the enemy can bring against us, thus developing a most invaluable qualification for the immeasurable responsibility awaiting us in boundless eternity.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 3
Glory in tribulations; rejoice in tribulations.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:3 {4} And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: {5} knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
(4) Tribulation itself gives us different and various occasions to rejoice, and more than this it does not make us miserable.
(5) Afflictions make us use to being patient, and patience assures us of the goodness of God, and this experience confirms and fosters our hope, which never deceives us.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The fourth benefit of justification is joy in sufferings. Peace with God does not always result in peace with other people. Nevertheless the fact that we have peace with God and a relationship with Him, with assurance of standing before Him acceptable, enables us to view present difficulties with joy. We can rejoice in tribulations because God has revealed that He uses them to produce steadfast endurance and proven character in those who relate to their sufferings properly (cf. Job 23:10; Jas 1:2-4; Hebrews 12).
"Our English word ’tribulation’ comes from a Latin word tribulum. In Paul’s day, a tribulum was a heavy piece of timber with spikes in it, used for threshing the grain. The tribulum was drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:527.]
"The newborn child of God is precious in His sight, but the tested and proven saint means even more to Him because such a one is a living demonstration of the character-developing power of the gospel. When we stand in the presence of God, all material possessions will have been left behind, but all that we have gained by way of spiritual advance will be retained." [Note: Harrison, p. 57.]
This quotation helps us see how character produces hope. Hope of glorifying God with our characters when we see Him is in view. Our progress in character development will then testify to God’s grace in our lives.