Bi – The Perfecting of Justification 5: 3-5

The Perfecting of Justification
5: 3-5

The perfecting of justification DIG: In what way are we to “boast in our troubles?” What can our troubles in this life produce if we look at them in the right way? How do our trials compare to a piece of metal in a refiner’s fire? How are our troubles, hope, and God’s love interrelated? What is the proof, the down payment, of our final redemption?

REFLECT: Are you troubled today? Do you feel discouraged? Do you feel like all is lost? It is important to know that even our trials have a purpose in Messiah. When have you come out of a trial to see a blessing from the Lord? What do unbelievers turn to when trials come their way? When have you experienced God’s love being “poured out?” Who can you help?

Troubles produce endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and this hope does not let us down.

Believers can enjoy peace with ADONAI (to see link click Bh – The Blessing of Justification) that has already been achieved, and the glorious future in God’s presence that awaits us. But how should we react to the troubles and tribulations of this life? James said it this way: Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of trials; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance (James 1:2-3). This is more than a mere Stoic endurance of our troubles. Paul adds another benefit here that may seem strange when we first hear of it. We are to boast in our troubles (5:3a). Notice that he does not say we are to boast at our troubles. We don’t like troubles, and we shouldn’t. What Paul is saying, however, is that now our troubles have meaning and purpose. Our troubles are leading us somewhere.¹¹³

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, You are the perfect Father! You graciously planned not only to rescue and save all who will come to You in love, but You also plan for the eternal joy of rewards for Your children (First Corinthians 3:12-14). As the sports coach gives his players hard exercises to strengthen them so that they win the game – so you plan circumstances that will strengthen Your children’s faith and bring them eternal rewards. Strength building exercises are hard and may bring tears and pains, but eternal joy from everlasting rewards for a godly attitude make it worth it. The short lived earthly trials will soon be over, but eternal joys go on forever and ever. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).

Encouragement to face tomorrow is from the absolutely sure hope of heaven thru our faith in Messiah’s gracious gift of the righteousness of God to those who love Him (Second Corinthians 5:21). As we fix our eyes on God, we are blessed by both a future hope in heaven and we are filled with comfort of God’s love that He has poured out in our hearts. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (Second Corinthians 4:17-18). God’s love is always there (Hebrews 13:5). Praise You for being so wonderful! In your holy Son Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

There are five promises, in the previous, this, and the next file. The fourth, is that troubles produce endurance. Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber. Paul declared: We know that trouble produces endurance and endurance produces character (5:3b-4a). Endurance is the ability to continue onward in the face of trouble. We don’t give up. We push forward. The English word for trouble, or tribulation, comes from the Latin word tribulum. In Paul’s day, a tribulum was drawn over the grain to separate the wheat from the chaff. As we go through trouble and tribulations in our lives, we need to depend on God’s grace. The tribulations merely purify us, and help us to get rid of the chaff.¹¹⁴ Only a believer who has faced troubles can develop godly character. What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your godly character will last forever.

The Bible often compares trials to a piece of metal in a refiner’s fire that burns away impurities. Peter said: These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold (First Peter 1:7a NCV). A silversmith was asked, “How do you know when the silver is pure?” He replied, “When I see my reflection in it.” When you’ve been refined by trials, people can see Yeshua’s reflection in you. James said it this way: Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors (James 1:3 The Message). What do people see when they look at you?

When we are in the middle of a trial, we are so preoccupied with our pain that sometimes it can be difficult to see any purpose in our troubles. Often it is not until afterwards that we can look back and see that ADONAI had a reason for our suffering. He was pushing us to a higher level. He was conforming us, molding us, into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29b). We will not reach perfection before we die, but YHVH means to bring us along as far as He can. We can reduce the pain we experience if, while suffering, we can somehow remember that our suffering has a purpose.¹¹⁵

Since ADONAI intends to make you just like Yeshua, He will take you through the same experiences Yeshua went through. That includes loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, and many other problems. The Bible says that Yeshua learned obedience through His sufferings . . . and was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 5:8 and 2:10 NIV). Why would YHVH exempt us from what He allowed His own Son to experience? Paul said later: We go through exactly what Christ went through. If we go through the hard times with Him, then we’re certainly going to go through to good times with Him (Romans 8:17b The Message).¹¹⁶

Coming full circle, as it were, Paul says that godly character produces godly hope (5:4). Are your disappointments too heavy? Read the story of the Emmaus-bound disciples. The Savior they thought was dead was walking beside them. He entered their house and sat at their table. And something happened in their hearts. It felt like a fire burning in us when Yeshua talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us (Luke 24:32). Next time you’re troubled, don’t panic. Don’t give up. Just be patient and let God remind you He’s still in control. In ain’t over till it’s over. Let us continue holding fast to the hope we acknowledge, without wavering; for the One who made the promise is trustworthy (Hebrews 10:23).

And this hope does not let us down (Greek: kataischunei, literally make us ashamed, disappointed, or disgraced, compare with Psalms 22:5 and 25:20) as if we would be if we had a false hope. And hope delayed makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12a). But as we wait for this hope to be fulfilled, God’s love for us has already been poured out in our hearts through the Ruach Ha’Kodesh who has already been given to us (5:5). For the first time in Romans, Paul speaks of God’s love, and stresses His love for us is active. The reality of God’s love in your heart can give you the promise of glory that is not misplaced and will not fail. This ministry of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh is related to His presence in your life. He has stamped you as His property until the day of final redemption (Ephesians 4:30b), and as the down payment of your inheritance, put His seal on you, and given you His Spirit in your heart as a guarantee of the future (Second Corinthians 1:22). Therefore, ADONAI guarantees that He will also keep His present promise to resurrect us (see Cm – The Certainty of Redemption).