We Exult in Our Tribulations (2024)

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Faith in God

What happens to make a person a Christian - a child of God?First, the gospel is made known to him - the historical fact thatGod sent his Son into the world to die for sinners and to rise fromthe dead triumphant over death and hell for all who believe in him.The Holy Spirit opens the heart to see in this gospel that Christis trustworthy and more to be desired than all human treasures. Andso the heart trusts in Christ for all that God promises to be forus in him. When that faith happens, we are justified before God. Inother words, by that faith the Spirit of God unites us to Christ sothat his death becomes our death, and his life becomes our life.God laid on him the iniquities that we performed, and God laid onus the righteousness that he performed. He takes our sin, though hedidn't perform it. And we take his righteousness, though we didn'tperform it. And so by the faith that unites us to Christ we standbefore God forgiven for all our sins and righteous with the imputedrighteousness of Christ.

On the basis of that great foundation that makes us Christians,Paul says in Romans 5:1 that we have peace with God - and calls usto enjoy that peace (best manuscript tradition says, "let us havepeace with God") - and says that we now stand in grace (verse 2),and says that we exult (and ought to exult) in the hope of theglory of God. The glory of God and our exulting enjoyment of it, isthe goal of justification by faith. This is where all of Christianlife is moving. Justification by faith is designed to help us exultin the hope of the glory of God. We are reckoned right before Godso that we can finally be with God and see him and enjoy him as theinfinitely satisfying Reality forever and ever.

Tests to Your Faith

But before that eternal day, something else comes in theChristian life, namely, tribulations. This is what verses 3-5 areabout. How shall we understand them and respond to them? Paul'sanswer is that they have a gracious and purposeful place in theChristian life and that we should therefore exult in them.

Now I don't take this lightly or say it easily. Today, as Godwould have it, is the International Day of Prayer for thePersecuted Church. One brief look at the brochure in our worshipfolder will take away all flippancy and levity and superficialityfrom our talk about afflictions. At the bottom of the first page itsays,

Christians who aren't killed are often subjected to brutal torture and brainwashing - attempts to force them to recant their faith. In some parts of the world, Christian women are brutally raped to break their allegiance to Christ, while children are sold into slavery for as little as $15. Thousands more languish year after year in prisons or hard labor camps.

When Paul says in Romans 5:3, "And not only this (that is, notonly do we exult in the hope of the glory of God), but we alsoexult in our tribulations" - when he says this, he is not speakingas a spectator but a fellow-sufferer. Paul's sufferings were longand hard. But in 2 Corinthians 12:9, he said, "[Christ] has said tome, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected inweakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about myweaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.'" Notice,just as it says, "We exult in tribulations" here in Romans 5:3, hesays in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that he "most gladly" boasts or "exults"(same word) over his weaknesses. Paul practiced what hepreached.

And what he means by "weaknesses" in 2 Corinthians 12:9 he showsus in the next verse: "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses,with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, withdifficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I amstrong." The whole array of distresses and weaknesses andsicknesses and difficulties are meant by these afflictions inRomans 5:3, not just persecutions. And Paul says he exults in them,instead of murmuring and complaining about them.

So as we look at the role of afflictions in the Christian life,keep in mind that they are any tests to your faith. They could betribulations from loss of health, or tribulations in broken orstrained relationships, or tribulations in vocational hardships anddisappointments, or tribulations in accidents or natural disasters,or tribulations in verbal or physical assaults, or simply everydayinconveniences from traffic jams to plumbing problems. Anythingthat makes life harder and threatens your faith in the goodness andpower and wisdom of God is tribulation.

"Exult in Tribulation"

Now he says in Romans 5:3 the astonishing thing: "Exult inthem." This is what he does. This is what he calls us to do. Howcan this be? The answer from verse 2 is that we are standing ingrace. This is God's omnipotent power to help us though we don'tdeserve it. You don't hold the key to this wonderful, supernaturalway of life that should set Christians off from the world, Goddoes. The power to rejoice and exult in tribulation comes fromomnipotent grace that we receive by trusting in God's promises.

Here's an illustration of it from 2 Corinthians 8:1-2. Paul istalking about the way the Macedonian Christians rejoiced in theirafflictions even in great poverty. Notice the key: "Now, brethren,we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been givenin the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of afflictiontheir abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in thewealth of their liberality." Do you see the key: "the grace of God"was given to them. And that produced an indomitable joy in a greatordeal (or test) of affliction. And that joy in afflictionoverflowed in love.

How are we doing today when things go bad for us? Do we rest inthe grace of God and experience joy in God and keep on lovingpeople? Or do we forget the grace of God, overflow with complainingand become self-absorbed and critical instead of loving? Soomnipotent power of grace is the key. We stand in this grace, Paulsays in verse 2.

But grace does not work like magic. It works through truth. Youwill know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32) -from complaining and from paralyzing frustration and from acritical spirit. Grace opens the eyes of the heart to truth andinclines the heart to embrace it and live by it.

Grace Works through Truth

What truth? That is what the rest of this text is about. Thereare four truths that Paul wants us to know and meditate on. That ishow grace will change us into peaceful, joyful people who exult inour afflictions.

1. Tribulation brings about perseverance.

Romans 5:3 says, "And not only this, but we also exult in ourtribulations, knowing [that is, because we know] that tribulationbrings about perseverance." Another word for "perseverance" is"endurance." In other words, if something happens in your life thatis hard and painful and frustrating and disappointing, and, bygrace, your faith looks to Christ and to his power and hissufficiency and his fellowship and his wisdom and his love, and youdon't give in to bitterness and resentment and complaining, thenyour faith endures and perseveres. It becomes stronger. How is itstronger? It's stronger the way tempered steel is stronger: ittakes more to break it. Tribulation is like the fire that tempersthe steel of faith. So when Paul says, "Tribulation brings aboutperseverance," he means that the fiery tests of trouble are meantby God to make your faith unbreakable.

That's the first truth that grace uses to make us into joyfulpeople who exult in tribulations and love others. The second truthis this:

2. Perseverance brings about proven character.

Romans 5:3-4a, "We also exult in our tribulations, knowing thattribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance [bringsabout] proven character." The focus here is on this word "proven"(dokimen). The idea is that when you put metal through a fierytesting and it comes out on the other side persevering andenduring, what you call that metal is "proven" or "authentic" or"genuine." That's the sense here. When you go through tribulation,and your faith is tested, and it perseveres, what you get is awonderful sense of authenticity. You feel that your faith is real.It has been tested. It has stood the test with perseverance. And itis therefore real, authentic, proven, genuine.

That's the second truth that God's grace uses to make us intothe kind of people who exult in tribulation. The third follows fromit:

3. Proven character brings about hope.

Romans 5:3-4, "We also exult in our tribulations, knowing thattribulationbrings about perseverance; (4) and perseverance [bringsabout] proven character; and proven character [brings about] hope."Now how is that? How does "proven character" bring about hope?

Isn't the answer that when your faith has been tried inaffliction, and persevered, and thus proven genuine and authenticyou know you are real and not a fake Christian and that gives youhope that you really are a child of God and will inherit his glory.In other words, one of the great obstacles to a full and stronghope in the glory of God is the fear that we are hypocrites - thatour faith is not real and that we just inherited it from ourparents and have been motivated by things that are not honoring toGod. One of the purposes of afflictions in our lives is to give usvictory over those fears and make us full of hope and confidence asthe children of God.

So God takes us through hard times to temper the steel of ourfaith and show us that we are real, authentic, genuine, proven, andin that way give us hope that we really will inherit the glory ofGod and not come into judgment.

Now there remains one more truth that the grace of God uses tomake us into the kind of people who exult in tribulations. Actuallyit's not just a truth but an experience:

4. The hope that is inspired by proven character will notdisappoint us, because God gives us the experience of his love inour hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:5, "Hope does not disappoint, because the love of Godhas been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit whowas given to us."

Now what shall we say about this? Well, we should say a lot morethan we have time to say this morning. So what I am going to do issay something and then continue with this verse and fold verses 6-8into the answer the week after Thanksgiving.

God Means for Christians to Have Assurance

But this morning I will say only this: If you are a Christian,God really means for you to have assurance that you are going toinherit the glory of God. You are going to go to heaven when youdie, not hell; and you are going be a part of Christ's futurekingdom, and live forever in the new heavens and the new earth withunbroken joy and no affliction. The truth of verse 5 is that Godgives assurance to us through the Holy Spirit.

Paul knows that there is more than one enemy to our assurance.One is the fear that we might be hypocrites. We might be fakeChristians, no Christians at all, even though we are religious andbelong to the Church. He teaches us here that affliction is God'sgreat proving ground for the genuineness of faith. And hegraciously takes us through trials so that our faith will be seenas genuine and we will have hope because we are not hypocrites.

But there is another enemy to our assurance. What if the objectof our faith is false? Not just our faith, but what we put ourfaith in. What if we make it through tribulation with proven faithand growing hope, and in the end that hope proves to have beenbuilt on sand? We thought God loved us, but it turns out he didn't.He may not even exist. That too is a great obstacle to ourassurance.

And Paul's answer here to it is not an argument, but anexperience. There are arguments, and Paul is willing to use them.But here he simply says, your hope, rooted in the genuineness ofyour proven faith, will not disappoint you. And you can know thisbecause the Holy Spirit has come into your life and has begun topour the love of God experientially into your heart. This is notmainly an argument. This is mainly a personal experience of God'slove flooding the heart with an immediate sense of God's realityand love.

You can see how big and wonderful this is, and why I feel theneed to linger on it longer. So in two weeks I am going to pick itup here. Then in the meantime, would you join me in praying thatGod increase this experience in our lives. That he make itunmistakable. That there be a great movement of the Spirit in usand among us to give not only the assurance that our faith isgenuine, but that it is well founded in the love of God for us.

And as you pray, don't count it strange when the afflictionscome. They will come. But rejoice and exult in the love of God touse them to temper the steel of your faith and confirm in yourheart that you are indeed the child of God through faith.