Now that Paul has established the proof of the existence of this radical righteousness by faith, he now demonstrates some of the even more great news of what comes as a result of this faith-based righteousness - the amazing consequences. He does this with several cause and effect chains.
He begins with
Faith® Justification® Peace with God® Hope of God's Glory® Rejoice.
But not only do we rejoice in the great news, we rejoice in short-term bad news that produces great news:
Suffering® Rejoice® Endurance® Character® Hope.
My diagram is technically off a bit because he says that suffering produces endurance, but he also says that we rejoice in our sufferings. Usually when we don't face the suffering with the right attitude, we don't gain the good results (As I believe Charles Stanley has said, we either become bitter or better). This of course echo's James' statement in James 1:2 - Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds.
So the results of our faith in God is rejoicing and great hope because of the change that God works in us through a changed life due to being justified. Thank you God for your indescribable gift!!
We Don't Deserve It
Then as Paul continues, this great gift is not only something that we didn't earn but it is also something that we don't deserve! While we were still weak (v6)...while we were still sinners Christ died for us (v8)!!
Strong Vs Weak
People generally don't like to admit or have it be known that they are weak and/or sinners. We try to hide those facts behind masks, pretensions and/or swagger. We generally fall into one of two camps: overly strong/confident or overly weak/afraid. When we are too confident, we don't like to admit to any weakness and we hide it and cover it up and don't want to ask for help. When we are too afraid, we feel like we are useless, beyond hope or repair. Both of these are of course wrong.
The fact is that we are ALL sinners and we are weak. We need God's forgiveness and help and we don't deserve it. The GREAT NEWS is that Jesus died for all of us weak sinners, while we were sinners! We don't have to fix ourselves up to gain worthiness. What we do need to do is humble ourselves, recognize our need and ask for help.
Lord Jesus, I pray for humility to recognize my weakness, my sinfulness and my utter, desperate need for you! Thank you for your amazing love and kindness and loving me in the middle of and rescuing me out of my sinful state!
He begins with
Faith® Justification® Peace with God® Hope of God's Glory® Rejoice.
But not only do we rejoice in the great news, we rejoice in short-term bad news that produces great news:
Suffering® Rejoice® Endurance® Character® Hope.
My diagram is technically off a bit because he says that suffering produces endurance, but he also says that we rejoice in our sufferings. Usually when we don't face the suffering with the right attitude, we don't gain the good results (As I believe Charles Stanley has said, we either become bitter or better). This of course echo's James' statement in James 1:2 - Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds.
So the results of our faith in God is rejoicing and great hope because of the change that God works in us through a changed life due to being justified. Thank you God for your indescribable gift!!
We Don't Deserve It
Then as Paul continues, this great gift is not only something that we didn't earn but it is also something that we don't deserve! While we were still weak (v6)...while we were still sinners Christ died for us (v8)!!
Strong Vs Weak
People generally don't like to admit or have it be known that they are weak and/or sinners. We try to hide those facts behind masks, pretensions and/or swagger. We generally fall into one of two camps: overly strong/confident or overly weak/afraid. When we are too confident, we don't like to admit to any weakness and we hide it and cover it up and don't want to ask for help. When we are too afraid, we feel like we are useless, beyond hope or repair. Both of these are of course wrong.
The fact is that we are ALL sinners and we are weak. We need God's forgiveness and help and we don't deserve it. The GREAT NEWS is that Jesus died for all of us weak sinners, while we were sinners! We don't have to fix ourselves up to gain worthiness. What we do need to do is humble ourselves, recognize our need and ask for help.
Lord Jesus, I pray for humility to recognize my weakness, my sinfulness and my utter, desperate need for you! Thank you for your amazing love and kindness and loving me in the middle of and rescuing me out of my sinful state!
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