The more we understand our salvation, the more we have hope – not only for Heaven, but for this life as well. Read Romans 5:1-11. This is a great passage to learn of our wonderful salvation! As you read, you will see many blessings of our salvation described. Beginning in verse 1 we see that we are justified by faith, we have peace with God, and we have access to His saving grace. All this causes us to rejoice in hope! But there is more! In verse 3-5 and following, we see that we not only have hope in the glory of our God saving us for Heaven, but we also have hope in sufferings! Our salvation is so great, and the God of our salvation is so loving that we have hope – even in sufferings. God is able to make our sufferings turn into blessings. Sufferings build patience. Patience in trials gives us the experience of God’s goodness and deliverance. This kind of experience in life gives us even more hope in our God. Hope that He is with us, comforts us, and delivers us even in our present trials. Yet, there is even more! In verses 6-8 we are reminded of the clear display of God’s love for us. Since God showed His love to us, even while we were wicked, ungodly sinners, we learn that we shall also be saved from His wrath, not only in the life to come, but right now in this life! How much more will He save us from our troubles, now that we have already been reconciled to Him by Christ. If God has that much love for sinners, how much more will He show His love to those who have been made saints through the life of Christ living in us! Unbelievably, there is even more to rejoice over! In verse 9-11, we learn that we can rejoice in our God, because we have already received the atonement! A word that means reconciliation or restoration to divine favor! Wow – we are in God’s favor! He loves us and is at work in our lives even now – even in the midst of trials! We really do have a lot to rejoice over! I hope you can see the growing sense of hope we have in Christ! Our hope grows as the understanding of our salvation grows.
Written by Dr. Dave Canedy, Deputation Director and Field Administrator with Baptist World Mission