the precious blood of Jesus Christ. "...Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope..." (Romans 5:3-4) We are to rejoice in the Lord, no matter what problems we may be called upon to face. i. The Consecration Of Spiritual Energy (part 2). [⇑ See verse text ⇑] Paul is describing some of the benefits for those who, by faith in Christ, have been justified and made right before God with our sins forgiven. Accordingly, it will usually be found that those Christians who are longest and most severely afflicted are the most patient. We are called to holiness and we are accepted in the Beloved. Indeed, in Christ, we are enabled to approach the throne of grace.. for mercy to find help in time of need. We are not of this world but have become a citizen of heaven - and we are sealed by the Spirit of life, Who has set us free from the law of sin and death. We have been given peace with God by our Lord Jesus Christ, and are no longer estranged from Him through sin.. for we have been redeemed with a price - i.e. Romans chapter 5, however, is one passage that provides a foundational understanding of who we are in Christ. Knowing - Being assured of this. The meaning is, that we rejoice not only in hope; not only in the direct results of justification, in the immediate effect which religion itself produces; but we carry our joy and triumph even into the midst of trials. It is important to understand that the Adam and Eve account is not an optional passage to be accepted or re… continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and not to be moved away from the hope of the gospel, ΚΑΥΧΏΜΕΘΑ ἘΠʼ ἘΛΠΊΔΙ Τῆς ΔΌΞΗς, καυχᾶσθαι ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι, ΖῆΝ ΜΕΤᾺ ΚΑΚῆς ἘΛΠΊΔΟς, οὐ μόνον δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ καυχώμεθα, ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται, And not only so, but we glory in tribulations, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. III. We are to rejoice IN our suffering. Paul is not saying that the downside of the Christian life is the fact the we must go through difficulties and dangers. The word used here refers to all kinds of trials which people are called to endure; though it is possible that Paul referred particularly to the various persecutions and trials which they were called to endure as Christians. Worketh - Produces; the effect of afflictions on the minds of Christians is to make them patient. He who on earth was most afflicted was the most patient of all sufferers; and not less patient when he was "led as a lamb to the slaughter," than when he experienced the first trial in his great work. Compare James 1:2, James 1:12. , and might be rendered “endurance.” II. In accordance with this, our Saviour directed his followers to rejoice in persecutions, Matthew 5:11-12. Our God: whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; Blessed be the God of Shadrach, &c., who hath delivered his servants that trusted in him. The one emotion with which the Christian should front all the facts, inward and outward, of his earthly life. According to Paul (and according to Jesus, as He says in Matthew 19:4-6), Adam and Eve were real people and what they did has a lasting effect to the present day. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; I. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned; a. Romans 5:3. Endurance, in its turn, worketh experience--the state of a force or virtue which has stood trials. B. Exulting in trials does not mean denying the pain.