Rom 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, (4) endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. (5) This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Believers can enjoy the peace with God that has been achieved and the glorious future in God’s presence that awaits them. But how should we react to the experiences of life that are often adverse and difficult?
They are to rejoice in their sufferings. This is more than mere Stoic endurance of troubles, even though endurance or steadfastness is the first result in a chain-reaction outgrowth from distress. Suffering brings about perseverance/steadfastness – the ability to remain under difficulties without giving in. Only a believer who has faced distress can develop steadfastness. That in turn develops proven character, which in turn results in hope, namely, the confidence that God will see them through.
A believer’s hope, since it is centered in God and His promises, does not disappoint him. The is that God has poured out His love into our hearts. This ministry of the Holy Spirit is related to His presence in believers as the seal of God and as the earnest or down payment of their inheritance in glory. Later Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit Himself has been poured out in believers. Each believer has the Spirit of Christ in the sense that He is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
