Sermon26-21 Rom5 "Life in Hope" Guide

Romans 5:1-11 theme verse Romans 5:2

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this sixteenth Sunday of the year 2026, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life.  Last week, on the second Sunday of Easter season, through Rom 1, we mediated on the life by faith. Yet on this third Sunday of Easter season, we would like to meditate on the life in hope through Romans chapter 5 together.

1)    First, in Chapters 1 through 4, after Paul announced that human beings can be justified before God solely through faith which is expressed itself through obedience, then, in Chapter 5, he tried to explain that we believers can enjoy the spiritual riches through faith. I mean, in today’s text of 5:1–11, it is said that once we are justified by faith and become children of God, we come to enjoy the following blessings:

First, we can enjoy reconciliation with God, and as a result, we experience true peace within our souls. I mean, due to sin and various spiritual struggles, we are naturally unable to maintain a right relationship with God, and consequently, we cannot experience true peace in our soul. However, once a right relationship with God is established, not only we can live a God-centered life and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but also God’s peace takes hold of us and reigns within us, regardless of the circumstances.

Furthermore, once we were justified by faith and became children of God, we gained the privilege of always being able to approach God’s throne of grace. I mean, in the Old Testament era, Jewish people were permitted to enter the outer courts of the Temple, but they could not enter the inner sanctuary; that privilege was reserved exclusively for the priests only. In particular, the Holy of Holies—the place symbolizing God’s very presence—could be entered only by the High Priest, and even he could do so only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. However, at the very moment Jesus was crucified on the cross, just after He declared, "It is finished," and breathed His last, the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn apart. Consequently, whether Jew or Gentile, anyone can now enter God’s throne of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, once we are justified by faith and become children of God, we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. I mean, we can rejoice because we possess the hope of one day beholding God’s glory in His eternal kingdom.

And finally, we can also rejoice in God.

2)    Therefore, we can rejoice even amidst trials and tribulations, because, we know that in the midst of tribulation, we can cultivate patience through our endurance, and in the midst of trials, we learn how to rely upon God.

Furthermore, because we know that through this endurance, we get "proven character." Here the Greek word “δοκιμή (dokimē)”, which signifies "proof,”or "verification” can be translated as the "proven character”, denoting a refined and tempered inner self.

And also because we know that this "proven character" ultimately leads us to possess "hope."

3)    Yet, the hope in today's text refers to the hope for the fulfillment of God's promises and glory, and for eternal blessings.

However, this hope is actually like the two sides of a coin, inseparable from faith,

as Calvin says that “Faith is a sure persuasion of the truth of God, then those who have grasped this certainty assuredly expect the time to come when God will fulfill His promises.

So wherever this faith is alive, it must have along with it the hope of eternal salvation as its inseparable companion. Or rather, it engenders and brings forth hope from itself.

Accordingly, in brief, hope is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God. Thus, faith believes God to be true, hope awaits the time when his truth shall be manifested.

And also faith believes that He is our Father, while hope anticipates that He will ever show Himself to be a Father toward us. And faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, while hope anticipates that it will some time be revealed. And faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, while hope nourishes and sustains faith. For as no one except Him who already believes His promises can look for anything from God, so again the weakness of our faith must be sustained and nourished by patient hope and expectation, lest it fail and grow faint.

For this reason, Paul rightly sets our salvation in hope [Rom. 8:24]. For hope, while it awaits the Lord in silence, restrains faith that it may not fall headlong from too much haste. Hope strengthens faith, that it may not waver in God’s promises, or begin to doubt concerning their truth.

Hope refreshes faith, that it may not become weary. It sustains faith to the final goal, that it may not fail in midcourse, or even at the starting gate. In short, by unremitting renewing and restoring, it invigorates faith again and again with perseverance.”

4)    However, we can know that even for us believers, while suffering is inevitable, yet we are able to rejoice and persevere amidst it.

Because we know that trials refine our faith and character, bringing them to maturity.

Therefore, we should look toward the blessings prepared for us beyond these trials, enduring with joy, so that we must rejoice as we fix our gaze upon the glory of God that we are destined to enjoy in the future.

In this way, hope plays a pivotal role in the process of sanctification by nurturing our faith even in the midst of trials.

5)    And also in today’s text, it is said that this true hope which is centered on the Lord and directed toward eternity, does not disappoint us.

Because God not only demonstrated His love for us and reconciled us to Himself by giving His only Son to be crucified for the sake of ungodly people like us, even while we were still weak, sinful, and acting as His enemies,

but also because, through the Holy Spirit whom He has given to us, God has poured His love into our hearts to guarantee His hope.

6)    Therefore, one who has been made godly through the Lord’s grace now harbors a hope directed toward heaven which is a "hope in the Lord" (Ps. 39:7) and is none other than the "hope of eternal life" (Titus 1:2), and a hope that ultimately casts its anchor in heaven.

Furthermore, such a person desires to break the shackles of sin and yearns for that which remains unseen by the eye.

And also even in the face of death, they desire the Kingdom, I mean, the very Kingdom the Father promised, the Son purchased at a price, and the Holy Spirit has guaranteed.

Just as the heir to a vast fortune life in anticipation of the day, it will finally be bestowed upon him, so too do the children of God—co-heirs with Jesus Christ—live with their eyes fixed upon the glory of God.

This true hope offers solace to the godly in every circumstance.

Particularly it provides comfort amidst suffering, lightening even the most grueling hardships and soothing the soul. In this sense, a child of God can smile even while shedding tears, for he knows that the moment is drawing near when the cross will be lifted from his shoulders and a crown placed upon his head; he knows that, even while enduring the agony of manifold trials, he will in an instant be clothed in the garments of eternity and exalted to a station higher even than that of the angels.

Moreover, this true hope brings comfort even to the godly person facing death—fulfilling the words of Proverbs 14:32: "The righteous has hope in his death." For even when every earthly source of comfort has vanished, he remains in possession of that "true hope of eternal life."

7)    However, sisters and brothers! While this hope is indeed heaven-oriented and eschatological, it is also true that this hope, directed toward the glory of God, allows us to enjoy the "firstfruits of glory" together with Christ even while we live in this world.

This sentiment echoes Question 83 of the “Westminster Larger Catechism”, which asks: "What is the communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy in this life?" and answers: "The members of the invisible church enjoy the firstfruits of glory with Christ in this life. As members of Christ, their Head, they share in that glory which He possesses in its fullness; and as an earnest thereof, they enjoy the sense of God’s love (Rom. 5:5), peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and the hope of glory (2 Cor. 1:22; Rom. 5:1–2, 14:17)."

8)    Even this hope of God’s glory was guaranteed by God Himself through an oath (6:17); His Son, Jesus Christ, became our Forerunner, passing through the veil to enter into God’s presence, and the Holy Spirit sealed it (2 Cor 1:22). Therefore, I pray that throughout this year—sustained by the hope that has been kindled within us through faith—we may triumph in every circumstance, so that ultimately, we may all attain the inheritance God has prepared for us and dwell in the midst of His glory.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that faith produces hope, while hope strengthens faith. So after reflecting our life of faith and hope and checking if we are standing in faith and hope, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, we became to know that this hope makes us endure and win in sufferings, because sufferings produces endurance, endurance character and character hope. So after reflecting our life of faith and meditating on if we are producing character by enduring sufferings and standing in hope, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.