Fruits of Justification: Strength in Trials

R.C. Sproul, Jr.: Character is forged in the crucible of pain. Character is built when we have no alternative but to persevere in tribulation, because those who come out the other side are those whom God has built character into their souls. When we think of justification by faith alone, we typically think of our right standing before God, being declared just because of the perfect work of Christ alone.

But the blessing of justification is more than just peace with God. Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and welcome to this special Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. It's October, and at Ligonier we like to celebrate Reformation Month, recognizing the work of God through Martin Luther back in October 1517, and others who brought reform to the church and boldly proclaimed the good news of the Gospel. So, each Sunday this month, we'll be featuring a sermon R.C. Sproul preached from the Book of Romans, a book pivotal to a right understanding of the Gospel. And until midnight, we're offering Dr. Sproul's hardcover commentary on Romans for your donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. Today's sermon from Romans 5 is on some of the fruits of our justification, and as I said earlier, it's more than just peace with God.

Here's Dr. Sproul. The first two consequences that Paul mentions of our having been justified is that we have peace with God and that we have access into His presence. So now, let's look at the next benefit that accrues to all of those who have been justified. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Now, there are three words in here in this little phrase that are vitally important that we properly understand. The first one is the word that is translated by rejoice. This word rejoice that's in the English text here doesn't quite get it.

It's more than rejoicing. The word that is used here is not the normal word for joy or rejoicing. It's the word actually that is more often translated by the word boasting, and so it is also translated.

In fact, in the Greek there's sort of a play on words. There's also in the Latin text the same play, only in a different language, that what Paul is saying is that one of the results of our justification is that we glory now in glory, that we have a sense of celebration and ecstasy beyond normal levels of joy. And the target of that joy is our hope that is directed towards the manifestation of the glory of God.

Again, in the Greek we have the noun for glory, dokē or dokē, and we also have the word doxology that comes from it. When we sing the doxology, we sing praises to the majesty of God. We are glorifying God. So we are in an activity of glorifying the one who possesses glory.

That's the play in words there, both in the Latin and in the Greek. And so again, Paul is saying is that once we're justified, one of the things that really turns us on, one of the things that delights us and causes joy to fill our soul is to contemplate who God is, that our greatest delight is in His character, in His glory. And again, let me just take another minute or so to talk about the meaning of that glory. In the Old Testament, the Old Testament frequently speaks about the nature of God when He manifests His glory. And the word for glory in the Old Testament is the word kabod, or kavod sometimes it's rendered.

And literally in the original Semitic language, it means weightiness or heaviness. So when we speak about the glory of God, we speak about a being whose very being is not light or insignificant, but it's substantive because the idea of God's glory is tied here with God's dignity, His gravity. And again, there is a link in the original languages between the gravity or weightiness or dignity of God and His august nature. Now the great Saint Augustine when he talked about worship and when he talked about music, for example, in worship, but no matter what style or type of music we use in the celebration of God's glory, there ought to be some connection between the glory of God and what Augustine called the gravitas, or the gravity or weightiness of the means by which we worship Him.

Now what Paul says is that the third benefit of justification is once you are a justified person, once faith has taken hold of your heart and you now perceive the things of God in a way totally different from how you did in your natural state, now it is your delight to glorify Him, to ascribe majesty and weightiness, gravity to who God is. Now the other word that is used in that phrase is the word hope, and we speak of the hope of glory, which refers to the hope of the final manifestation of God's glory when He will be all in all. And something is created within our souls the moment we come to faith, and that is this whole dimension of hope. Now so much of what I've read tonight deals with this whole subject of hope, and I'm just going to mention a little bit about now, and then as we go on for a few verses later, Paul will unpack a little bit more about what hope means for the Christian. And we're all familiar with 1 Corinthians 13 where the triad of Christian virtues is celebrated of faith, hope, and love, and the Apostle says the greatest of these three is love. Well, as important as love is, we know that faith is not unimportant, and Paul said these three abide, faith, hope, and love. And we understand, we've been working closely on the significance of faith, and we understand the importance of love, but so often that third element in this triad of virtues is often overlooked in Christian experience, and that's the element of hope. And if there's any word in this chapter that's capable of radical misunderstanding by us, it's this word hope, because again, the English language, it's not just translators here, but the English language doesn't quite have a word that corresponds to the word that Paul is using here in this letter, the Greek word alpus, because when we use the word hope typically, we use it to describe a wish or a desire we have that something would take place that we are not sure is going to take place.

You say, what are you going to do this next week? And I say, well, I hope I'm going to do X, Y, or Z, or I hope this is going to happen, and we sort of are like Alice in Wonderland where we take a deep breath and we close our eyes and clutch our hands together and say, I hope, I hope, I hope it'll happen. But the idea is the things that we hope for in this manner are by no means certain.

They might not come to pass. There is always this element of doubt that clouds our English understanding of hope. But that's not at all the way that word functions in the New Testament and not at all the way Paul is using the term that is translated hope in this text. Beloved, when we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we are born anew to a hope that is the basis by which our whole confidence in living out the Christian life is established. The only difference between hope and faith is this faith looks to what has already taken place, and we put our trust in it, we have our confidence in it, and hope is merely faith looking forward. And the metaphor that is used in the New Testament to describe the nature of that hope that is created within us when we believe is the metaphor of the anchor. Hope, we are told, is the anchor of the soul. It's the hope that God is going to do in the future every single thing that He has said He will do. That's the fruit of justification, that that kind of hope, which is the anchor for your soul, is planted in your heart so that justification, in a sense, is a down payment for all of the things that God promises us in His work of redemption. Again, hope is the creation of the Holy Ghost within us. And elsewhere Paul will speak about the Holy Spirit giving to us the earnest or that down payment, the seal of the Holy Ghost that gives us total assurance for the future. Again, it's not taking a deep breath and hoping things are going to turn out alright. It's assurance that God is going to do what He says He will do.

It's the solid stability that anchors the soul. Well then let's see what else Paul says about it. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and not only that, but we also rejoice, glory, boast, whatever we find in that Word. We also glory in tribulations. What?

What? Is Paul saying we enjoy afflictions? We delight in sufferings? Now remember there's nothing more unnatural to us as human beings than to enjoy afflictions, to enjoy tribulation.

Tribulation is something we seek desperately to avoid. But Paul says when you're a justified person, when the love of God has been shed abroad in your hearts, as we'll look at in a moment, and you have been changed by the power of the Holy Ghost, you have a whole new perspective on tribulation. You have a whole new view of suffering. Now you don't see suffering as an exercise in futility, something that takes away your hope. But once you have that anchor on your soul, the anchor holds when tribulation comes, not simply that you have the capacity like a stoic to grin and bear it and endure all kinds of afflictions and tribulations, but goes beyond endurance to rejoicing, to rejoicing in tribulations.

Now we have to be careful here. Paul was not a masochist, and he's not saying that tribulation itself is fun and that tribulation is itself a joyful pleasant pleasurable experience. No, he's not saying that. But what happens as a result of our being justified that even the tribulations and afflictions that we experience can be an occasion for joy. Above all, the fruit of justification is the presence of joy in the Christian life.

You see, we have found the pearl of great price, great price. And no matter how much pain we have to go through, no matter how much tribulation we have to endure, as bad as things may be over here, these things are not worthy to be compared with the joy that God has set before us in Christ. If we lose everything that the world can give us, we still possess that priceless pearl of our justification. And so because God has declared us just, because God has redeemed us, no matter what life throws at us, we are able to rejoice. We glory in tribulation because we know what tribulation does.

You see, Paul understood because he believed in God, in the sovereignty of God, and in the providence of God that there are no accidents in this world. And no matter how many injustices are heaped upon us, this side of heaven, they don't mean anything compared to the crown of glory that God has prepared for His people. He said, don't you know that when you go through afflictions and go through tribulations, you can glory in them not because you enjoy pain but because you know what tribulation yields. You know what tribulation does. For most people, tribulation breaks their spirit, leads them to despair, causes them to abandon all hope, but not so the Christian. Tribulation, he says, produces perseverance. It's tribulation that puts muscle on our souls. It's tribulation that makes it possible for the people of God to persevere, not to give up, not to collapse. And not only that, perseverance produces character.

An easy life does nothing to produce character. Character is forged in the crucible of pain. Character is built when we have no alternative but to persevere in tribulation because those who come out the other side are those whom God has built character into their souls. And the result of character is what? Hope.

There it is again. People who are authentically joyful people are people who know where their hope is, and they have been through the crucible. They have been through the afflictions. They've been through the persecution.

They've been through rejection from their friends. They've been through the pain. They have identified with the humiliation of Christ. They have walked with Him on the Via Dolorosa.

They have been crucified together with Christ and now are raised in His resurrection and participate in His exaltation. That's the hope that Christian character produces. And what about the result of that hope?

Here is the best part. Now hope, that is this kind of hope that we're talking about, does not disappoint. Other translations read, do not make us ashamed. You know, it's an embarrassing thing in the world's idea of hope to invest all of your hope and all of your wishes in a particular enterprise only to see that enterprise fail.

And when it fails, you are dashed into pieces. But the hope that we have from God never, ever will disappoint. It will never embarrass us. We will never have to be ashamed for putting our confidence and our trust in Christ.

Now I'll tell you something, folks. If you put your trust in anything else but Christ, you are destined certainly for disappointment. Wherever else you invest your heart and your hope, you will be embarrassed if it's not in Christ. That's the only hope that never shames us. Notice what the New Testament tells us, that if you're not in the faith, if you don't believe, if you're outside of Christ, if you are without Christ, you are without what? Hope. And you are destined ultimately to disappointment.

I'm going to talk about that for just a minute by way of application. In all of our lives, we struggle with our weaknesses, the weaknesses of the flesh, our sin, and so on. One of the things I am ashamed of, one of the many things I'm ashamed of in my own life and my own lack of character at certain points is I still have a hard time dealing with disappointments, dealing with unrealized expectations. If I go on a trip and I travel across this country, and I finally get to my destination, and I'm tired, and I just want to get to the hotel room and take a nap or something, and I go to the desk, and they have mislaid my reservation, I have a hard time with that.

You know, I want to have not road rage but hotel rage or something like that. One of the hardest things to deal with in life is disappointment because our hopes have been dashed into pieces. But the hope that we have for the glory of God and for the ultimate victory of His kingdom will never let us down.

Nobody's going to cancel that reservation or let it fall between the cracks. We can rely absolutely on God, and that's what we learn when we understand the gospel and we understand our justification. This is just one more fruit. And again, the hope is not going to disappoint us. It's not going to shame us, and Paul gives another reason for it, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. Now, let's understand what he's saying here. He's not saying that our hope is never going to disappoint us or make us ashamed because the Holy Spirit has quickened within our souls such a deep and profound affection for God that no matter whatever else happens in this world, that affection that we have for God is going to carry us through. Now, beloved, one of the most important fruits of salvation is that the Holy Spirit kindles within our hearts a genuine religious affection.

No question about that. That's not what Paul is talking about here. He's not talking about our love for God that has been shed abroad in our hearts. He's talking about God's love for us. If there's any concept that has cheapened as you hear me beating this drum over and over again, it's this idea of the love of God. It just drives me nuts when I hear ministers say, people indiscriminately, God loves you unconditionally. He loves everybody unconditionally, baloney. There is a love of complacency, a love of affection that God only has for the redeemed. There is a special kind of love that God has for the justified, and that love that He gives to His justified adopted children is not an indiscriminate love in general that everybody gets unconditionally.

No. It's a love that the Holy Ghost sheds abroad. It's God's love that He doesn't just feel for us, and it's not just referring to the gifts that He gives us or the benefits that He pours upon us, but it is actual God's affection that God puts inside of you, His love for you.

You see, that's what fuels this hope. That's what gives us our confidence that we're not going to be ashamed, that we're going to be able to persevere, that we're going to be able to continue on and endure during tribulations and afflictions, because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts now. Folks, again what Paul is saying here is not simply that there's a little bit of divine love that God has touched you with in your soul.

No, it's an outpouring of divine love that is lavished upon us by God, that He pours into your soul His love for you to such a degree as the whole rest of the world hates us. We know that He loves us, has forgiven us, and has given us a hope that we'll never be ashamed. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

God's love is given to you by the same Holy Ghost who is also given to you. So you see, with our justification, it's not like on Christmas we come to the tree and there's only one gift under the tree. The first package that we pick up is our justification. We open up that package, and there's another package, peace with God.

Open up that package, and there's another package, access into His presence. Open up that package is another one where we rejoice in glorifying the glory of God. Open up that package, and then we find out that we can have joy in the midst of tribulation no matter how no matter how things go. And then we open up that package, and it tells us that that very tribulation gives us another gift, perseverance.

Open up that package, tear off the ribbon, and there's another one. The perseverance gives us character, and the character, hope that will never embarrass us, that will never disappoint. Finally, there's another package under the tree, and we open it up, and it's the love of God that is poured profusely into our hearts by the grace of God. All of these things are part of the gift of our justification. Wonder ye then at the doxological writing of the Apostle Paul who rejoices in these things over and over and over again, because for Paul, Christmas never ends. What a helpful exercise it is to pause and consider all that is ours in Christ, grace upon grace.

That was R.C. Sproul preaching from Romans 5 on this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. This sermon is part of a series he preached at St. Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and these messages form the basis of his expositional commentary on Romans. The hardcover edition can be yours for a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. You'll receive the e-book edition for reading on your smartphone or your tablet, but you'll also receive the hardcover edition for your bookshelf or to give to someone else as a gift. So respond today.

Only hours remain to request your copy at renewingyourmind.org. We've been in Romans 5 today. Paul will go on in this chapter to say that Christ died for the ungodly. Does that include everyone, all of the ungodly? R.C. Sproul will consider the extent of Christ's Atonement next Sunday here on Renewing Your Mind.