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Romans 5 gives us one of the most radical statements in the New Testament about the Christian attitude toward suffering:
> “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
> And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
> And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us,
> because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
> — Romans 5:3–5 (NLT)
And then Paul adds a vital condition for all of this to be true:
> “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
> Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
> — Romans 8:9 (NKJV)
The central theme of the song “Rejoice in Suffering” is this:
God uses problems and trials as instruments to produce endurance, proven character, and unshakable hope in the life of a believer who is indwelt and governed by the Holy Spirit.
The world runs from suffering, or it breaks under it. Religion complains under suffering. But the New Testament believer, born of the Spirit, is called to something altogether different: to rejoice in suffering—not because suffering is pleasant, but because of what God does in us through it.
Let us look carefully at what the Word of God says.
---
The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul to believers in Rome, many of whom had never met him personally. Rome was the heart of the empire—political power, wealth, idolatry, and moral decay all gathered there. The Christians in Rome were a mix of Jewish and Gentile believers, often under social pressure and, at times, persecution.
### The argument of Romans up to chapter 5
Paul has just finished laying out, in the first four chapters:
1. The universal guilt of humanity (Romans 1–3)
2. Justification by faith alone (Romans 3–4)
By the time we reach Romans 5, Paul has established that the believer stands in a new relationship to God, not based on performance, but based on the finished work of Jesus Christ, received by faith.
### The immediate context of Romans 5:3–5
Romans 5 begins with a powerful statement:
> “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
> through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
> — Romans 5:1–2 (NKJV)
Notice:
But then Paul stretches that rejoicing further:
> “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations…” (Romans 5:3 NKJV)
Not only do we rejoice in the future glory, we rejoice even now in our tribulations. This is not the attitude of the natural man. This is the supernatural attitude of the justified, Spirit-indwelt believer.
The Roman believers would have understood tribulation. They were part of a minority, often misunderstood, sometimes hated, in a hostile environment. Paul is not giving them a theory. He is giving them a divine perspective they can stand on when the pressure comes.
And Romans 8:9 reminds us: everything Paul says here is addressed to those in whom the Spirit of God dwells. The flesh cannot respond this way. Only the Spirit can.
---
To understand this passage more deeply, we need to look at two key Greek words: “tribulations” and “hope.”
### 1. “Tribulations” – *thlipsis* (θλῖψις)
In Romans 5:3 (NKJV), Paul says:
> “we also glory in tribulations…”
The word *thlipsis* literally means pressure, squeezing, being pressed together. It can refer to affliction, trouble, distress—circumstances that press on us from the outside.
This is important. The New Testament does not minimize the reality of pressure. It does not deny the pain. It calls it what it is—*thlipsis*—real pressure, real trouble. But it reveals God’s purpose in it.
The lyrics echo this:
> “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.”
Problems and trials are not random. Under God’s sovereignty, they are instruments that apply pressure to our lives, squeezing out what is false, strengthening what is genuine, and shaping us into the likeness of Christ.
### 2. “Hope” – *elpis* (ἐλπίς)
In Romans 5:4–5:
> “…endurance produces character, and character, hope.
> And hope does not put us to shame…” (ESV)
The Greek word *elpis* means confident expectation, not wishful thinking. It is not the kind of “hope” that says, “I hope so, but I’m not sure.” It is a firm, positive expectation based on the faithfulness of God and the certainty of His promises.
When the lyrics say:
> “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us.”
They are pointing to this *elpis*—a hope that will not shame us, will not fail us, will not collapse under pressure. Why? Because it is anchored, not in our circumstances, but in the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Thus, *thlipsis* (pressure) leads—by God’s design—to *elpis* (confident expectation). The very thing that presses us becomes the means by which God strengthens our expectation of His salvation.
---
Let us walk through the themes of the lyrics and see how they are grounded in Scripture.
### [Verse 1]
> “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials,
> for we know that they help us develop endurance.”
#### 1. The command and privilege: “We can rejoice”
Paul uses similar language in multiple places:
This is not natural. By nature, we complain, we fear, we despair. But by grace, we can rejoice. The key is in the phrase “for we know…” It is what we know that changes how we respond.
#### 2. “When we run into problems and trials”
Problems and trials are not optional in the Christian life. Jesus said:
> “In the world you will have tribulation (*thlipsis*); but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
> — John 16:33
Peter says:
> “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
> as though some strange thing happened to you.”
> — 1 Peter 4:12
For the believer, trials are not accidents. They are appointments. They are part of the discipline and refining of God.
#### 3. “They help us develop endurance”
In Romans 5:3, Paul says:
> “…knowing that tribulation produces perseverance.”
The word for perseverance is *hypomonē* (ὑπομονή)—steadfastness, staying power, the ability to remain under a heavy load without giving up.
James uses the same concept:
> “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (*hypomonē*).
> But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
> — James 1:3–4
The pressure of trials is the gymnasium of the Spirit. Endurance does not come by reading about it. It comes by facing pressure with faith and obedience.
The lust of the flesh says, “Escape pressure.” The Spirit says, “Endure under God, and be strengthened.” This is spiritual warfare. Satan wants the trial to make you bitter, fearful, or rebellious. God wants the trial to make you steadfast.
---
### [Chorus]
> “And endurance develops strength of character,
> and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
Here Paul sets out a divine sequence:
1. Tribulation (pressure)
2. Endurance (steadfastness)
3. Character (provenness)
4. Hope (confident expectation of salvation)
#### 1. Endurance → “strength of character”
The word translated “character” in Romans 5:4 is *dokimē* (δοκιμή). It means proven character, tested and approved. It is not theory. It is what has been proven under fire.
Think of metals being refined. The fire does not create the metal, but it reveals its purity. In the same way, trials do not create faith, but they reveal and refine it. And as faith endures, your inner man is transformed. You become trustworthy, stable, not easily shaken.
God is not merely interested in using you; He is interested in making you. He is after *dokimē*—a life that has been tested and stands approved.
Consider Job. God allowed him to be tested. At the end, Job says:
> “But He knows the way that I take;
> When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”
> — Job 23:10
That is *dokimē*—proven character.
#### 2. Character → “confident hope of salvation”
Proven character leads to hope. Why? Because every time you go through a trial with God and He sustains you, a record is written in your spirit. You begin to say, “He carried me then; He will carry me now. He will carry me in the end.”
This is not self-confidence. It is God-confidence. It is confidence in His saving power, His faithfulness, His covenant love.
“Salvation” here is not just the initial experience of being born again. Salvation in the New Testament has three tenses:
The “hope of salvation” includes the final completion of God’s work in us—resurrection, glorification, full conformity to Christ (Romans 8:29–30).
As your character is formed in testing, your expectation of this final salvation becomes strong, unshakable.
---
### [Verse 2]
> “And this hope will not lead to disappointment.
> For we know how dearly God loves us.”
#### 1. “This hope will not lead to disappointment”
Paul says:
> “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…”
> — Romans 5:5 (NKJV)
The word “disappoint” can also be translated “put to shame.” This hope will never leave us standing ashamed, exposed, having trusted in something false. Why? Because it is grounded in God’s love, not in our performance.
There are hopes that do disappoint:
But the hope that is built on God’s covenant love, revealed in the cross and sealed by the Spirit, will never fail.
#### 2. “For we know how dearly God loves us”
This is the foundation of the Christian life: knowing the love of God. Not merely at an intellectual level, but by inner revelation.
John says:
> “We have known and believed the love that God has for us.”
> — 1 John 4:16
Two things:
Your ability to rejoice in suffering is directly related to your confidence in the love of God. If you doubt His love, you will misinterpret your trials. You will think God is against you. But when you are rooted in His love, you will say, “I do not enjoy this pressure, but I know My Father. He is working good in me through this.”
---
### [Chorus repeated]
> “And endurance develops strength of character,
> and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
The repetition in the lyrics underlines a spiritual law: there is no shortcut from tribulation to hope. Many want hope without endurance, or character without testing. God does not work that way.
The pathway is fixed:
To resist that process is to resist your own spiritual growth.
---
### [Outro]
> “He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”
This line brings us directly to Romans 5:5 and Romans 8:9.
#### 1. “He has given us the Holy Spirit…”
The Holy Spirit is not an optional extra for certain Christians. Romans 8:9 is very clear:
> “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
The mark of belonging to Christ is the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who:
Without the Holy Spirit, the commands of Romans 5 are impossible. You cannot rejoice in suffering in the flesh. Only the Spirit can produce that in you.
#### 2. “…to fill our hearts with His love”
Romans 5:5 says:
> “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
The phrase “poured out” indicates abundance, overflow. God does not give you a drop of His love; He pours it out.
Notice the direction: from God to us. This is not first our love for God. It is His love for us, imparted within us.
This inner revelation of God’s love does three things in suffering:
1. It assures you that you are not abandoned.
2. It interprets your trials as discipline, not destruction (Hebrews 12:5–11).
3. It enables you to love others, even while you are under pressure.
There is a direct connection between Romans 5 and Romans 8. In Romans 8:35–39, Paul comes to a climax:
> “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
> or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …
> Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Notice: it is precisely in tribulation that the love of Christ makes us “more than conquerors.”
So the whole process can be summarized:
This is how Romans 5 and Romans 8 hold together, and this is the reality reflected in the lyrics.
---
This truth must not remain theoretical. It must be applied. Let us consider some practical steps, framed as responses.
### 1. First, we must change our mindset about trials
We must align our thinking with Scripture:
You can make this your confession: “In Christ, my trials are not meaningless. They are producing endurance, character, and hope.”
Reject self-pity. Self-pity is a trap of Satan. It keeps you focused on yourself instead of on God’s purpose.
### 2. Second, we must cooperate with the Spirit in developing endurance
Endurance is not passive. It is active trust and obedience under pressure.
How?
Hebrews 10:36 says:
> “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”
Endurance is not simply waiting; it is continuing to do the will of God under pressure.
### 3. Third, we must allow God to form proven character in us
Many want God to change their circumstances; God is often more interested in changing their character.
Ask the Holy Spirit:
Character is formed in how you respond:
Yield your inner reactions to the Holy Spirit. That is where character is shaped.
### 4. Fourth, we must anchor our hope in God’s love, not in changing conditions
Make a deliberate decision: “My hope is in the love of God revealed in Christ, not in outward success, comfort, or immediate relief.”
Feed your heart on the Scriptures that reveal God’s love:
Ask the Holy Spirit daily: “Pour the love of God afresh into my heart.” This is a prayer God delights to answer, because it is exactly what He promised in Romans 5:5.
As hope grows, you will find that even in suffering, you can say with Habakkuk:
> “Though the fig tree may not blossom,
> Nor fruit be on the vines…
> Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
> I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
> — Habakkuk 3:17–18
This is rejoicing in suffering—not denial, but confidence in God.
---
Let us now make a proclamation based on Romans 5:3–5 and Romans 8:9. Speak it aloud. Align your mouth with God’s Word.
### Proclamation
“I proclaim that I have been justified by faith,
and I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ.
Through Him I have access by faith
into the grace in which I stand,
and I rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
And not only that,
but I rejoice in problems and trials,
because I know that tribulation produces endurance,
endurance produces proven character,
and proven character produces a confident hope of salvation.
This hope will not disappoint me,
because the love of God is poured out in my heart
by the Holy Spirit who has been given to me.
I am not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
because the Spirit of God dwells in me.
I belong to Christ,
and nothing—no pressure, no trial, no suffering—
can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.
Amen.”
### Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
I thank You that by Your blood I am justified, forgiven, and reconciled to God.
I acknowledge that in this world I will face pressure, problems, and trials.
Today I choose, by Your grace, not to run from them,
but to submit to Your purpose in them.
Holy Spirit,
You dwell in me.
Strengthen me with endurance.
Form in me proven character.
Establish in me a confident, unshakable hope.
Pour the love of God afresh into my heart.
Drive out fear, self-pity, and unbelief.
Teach me to rejoice, not in pain itself,
but in what You are working in me through every trial.
Father, I entrust every current pressure in my life into Your hands.
Use it to conform me to the image of Your Son.
Let my life become a testimony
that hope in You never leads to disappointment.
I receive this by faith,
in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
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