Ruminating on ROMANS! (Some Thoughts on Paul’s Great Epistle) #19 “Eight Blessings of Belief” (A Study of Romans 5:1-5) Blessing #6

Many of you know that my New Jersey friend Frank and I are reading through God’s Word together (described here). We’re now in the book of Romans and are reading chapter 5 each day this week. Here is something that I noticed in reading this chapter:

Here are the eight blessings that I see in this passage:

1. Justified through faith (v. 1)

2. Peace with God

3. Gained access into this grace (v. 2)

4. Boasting in the hope of the glory of God

5. Glory in our sufferings (vv. 3-4)

6. A hope that does not put us to shame (v. 5)

7. God’s love poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit

8. The Holy Spirit has been given to us

We will think about each of these blessings — one by one — in subsequent posts. Let’s consider the sixth blessing: WE HAVE A HOPE THAT DOES NOT PUT US TO SHAME (v. 5)!

Pastor Tim Keller has a great statement about HOPE in his book The Reason for God. Please take a few minutes and listen . . .

What would be a HOPE that does put one to shame? A hope to win the lottery only to find that one has wasted $3 on a Pick-Six? A hope to get a promotion even though one doesn’t have the experience to do that next-level job? A hope to win another’s heart even though there is no chance that other person would have any interest in one’s overtures?

Biblical hope is not wish-fulfillment or a gritting one’s teeth and believing really hard. Biblical hope is a certainty about the future promised by God Himself. And that kind of hope does not — and never will — put the child of God to shame!