Romans 5:3-6—”Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Faith – do we have enough? All we need is faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains. (Mathew 17:20) Do not fret over this. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
Therefore by being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus we have our access (by faith) into this special grace in which we stand in patience especially during trials and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Patient sufferers have most of the Divine consolations, which multiply as afflictions abound. Therefore, we also rejoice in our tribulations(suffering) because we know that suffering produces steadfastness(endurance); and endurance brings approvedness(character) and character gives hope. This hope will not disappoint because God gave us the Holy Spirit whose work is to pour God’s love into our hearts (it is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of love). When we make the right sense of God’s love to us, that understanding will make us unashamed – of our hope or of our sufferings for Him.
Christ died for all sinners – not only ones who were useless but those who were guilty and hateful – such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God’s justice. God designed to deliver from sin and to work a great change. While the sinful state continues, God loathes the sinner, and the sinner loathes God. And it is for these that Christ died. It is a mystery: No other such instance of love is known.
Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins. We were sinners when He died for us.
Now that we have been justified by the blood of Jesus, how much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God? For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; how much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life? More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
