Romanos 15

Romanos 15:13

Stedman adds this comment... What a magnificent verse! Whenever I am asked to give an autograph, I almost always include this verse in it. It is such a beautiful expression. Look how much you have got going for you. All the great words of the Christian faith appear here: hope, twice (once it is called "overflowing hope"); and joy, great joy; and peace, calmness and confidence; and trust, belief in a living God; and finally, the power of the Holy Spirit, the invisible force that can open doors and no man shuts them, and can shut and no man opens -- the power of God released among us....What the apostle is urging us to do is to unite on the great positive words of our faith, and that we allow these qualities of hope, and joy, and peace, and trust, and power to be visible when others see us gathered together as Christians. When they hear us talking about each other we are to reflect these qualities, rather than the miniscule divisions and arguments that many of us have. (Read the full message Romans 15:1-13: Our Great Example) William Newell It is the will of God that you and I--all believers--be filled with all joy and peace in believing---blessed spiritual state! that we may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Ghost. Some are content if they merely find the way of salvation through faith in the blood of Christ. They are much given to talk about being "saved by grace, " but they are not much exercised about holy living. A second class of believers become deeply exercised as to a life of "victory over sin." These, of course, if instructed aright, accept the wondrous fact that they died with Christ, and are now on resurrection ground, freed from sin, and from that which gave sin its power, the Law. A third class go further, to the Twelfth of Romans, and enter on true Christian service, by presenting their bodies a living sacrifice to God (Ro 12:1); and discovering thereby His good, acceptable, and perfect will for them (Ro 12:2) -- whatever measure of faith He may give them, and to whatever gift or peculiar service He may call them. But here, in this great fountain of water in Romans 15.13, we find that a daily, hourly life filled with all joy and peace in believing, abounding in hope, is the normal state for every one who is in Christ! It will not do for us to make excuses for ourselves: God is the God of hope! His yearning is to fill you and me with all joy and peace, if we will just launch out and believe. Others just as unworthy as we have believed; we will never become "more worthy" of believing. "This poor earth is a wrecked vessel," as Moody used to say. Man is drifting on into the night, and judgment is coming. All the more, then, may the God of hope fill YOU with all joy and peace in believing, that YOU may abound in hope! Many cherish their doubts, even adducing them as a proof of their humility, which is sad indeed. As Charles F. Deems used to say, "Believe your beliefs, and doubt your doubts; most people believe their doubts, and doubt their beliefs." You can believe. What a wonderful thing to be among those (sadly few!) believers who are filled with all joy and peace, and abound in hope! (Romans Verse-by-Verse) Hope (1680)(elpis [word study]) in Scripture is not the world's definition of "I hope so", with a few rare exceptions (e.g., Acts 27:20) Hope is defined as a desire for some future good with the expectation of obtaining it. Hope is confident expectancy. Hope is the looking forward to something with some reason for confidence respecting fulfillment. Related Resource: Believer's Blessed Hope Hope as the world typically defines it is a desire for some future occurrence of which one is not assured of attaining. The ancient world did not generally regard hope as a virtue, but merely as a temporary illusion. Historians tell us that a great cloud of hopelessness covered the ancient world. Philosophies were empty; traditions were disappearing; religions were powerless to help men face either life or death. People longed to pierce the veil and get some message of hope from the other side, but there is none outside of Christ. The book of Hebrews defines hope as that which gives "full assurance" (He 6:11-note). Thus we can have strong confidence that God is going to do good to us in future. The opposite of hope is despair, (hopelessness; a hopeless state; a destitution of hope or expectation) which is all that those without Christ as Savior can know, for Paul defines hope as "Christ Jesus, Who is our Hope" (1Ti 1:1). Thus genuine Biblical hope is not a concept but a Person, Christ Jesus! Richards writes... Hope is a unique word in Scripture, where it indicates “confident expectation.” The person with hope has complete assurance about the future. And the overflow of the hope we have as we trust in God fills us with joy and peace. (The 365 Day Devotional Commentary) William Barclay tells the story about hope... It is easy in the light of experience to despair of oneself. It is easy in the light of events to despair of the world. The story is told of a meeting in a certain church at a time of emergency. The meeting was opened with prayer by the chairman. He addressed God as ‘Almighty and eternal God, whose grace is sufficient for all things.’ When the prayer was finished, the business part of the meeting began; and the chairman introduced the business by saying: ‘Friends, the situation in this church is completely hopeless, and nothing can be done.’ Either his prayer was composed of empty and meaningless words, or his statement was untrue....There is something in Christian hope that not all the shadows can quench—and that something is the conviction that God is alive. No individual is hopeless as long as there is the grace of Jesus Christ; and no situation is hopeless as long as there is the power of God. BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: en dunamei pneumatos hagiou: THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT By the power - Literally "in" the power. In the sphere of His divine, enabling power or as Wuest renders it... Now the God of the hope fill you with every joy and hope in the sphere of believing, resulting in your superabounding in the sphere of the hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Bishop Handley