5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The sixth benefit of justification is confidence in God’s promises (5:5-8). “Hope does not put us to shame” because God poured his love into the heart of the believer through the Holy Spirit.
5 and hope [confidence] does not put us to shame [disappoint],
“Hope” is confidence in God’s promises. The characteristic of hope in God generates confidence in His promises. Confidence in God does not shame us; rather, it is reinforced because of the certainty that He fulfills His promises.
Ro 9:33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Christian hope does not fear, because it rests on the character of God. God is eternal, immutable, and faithful; thus, we can count on Him. No one can confound our future because of that. He is not fickle or changeable. Confidence originates in an understanding of God’s integrity in dealing with us. He never disappoints us in life’s issues. Trust in God is no false confidence.
because
“Because” gives us a reason to trust with confidence (hope) in God’s promises. The following phrase shows the ground of hope’s confidence—God’s love has been shed in our hearts.
God’s love has been poured into our hearts [persons]
God’s love reassures our hope. It is a love that is “poured into our hearts.” We experience God’s love in a rich manner.
The tense of the word “poured” means that God poured His love (passive voice) into our hearts in the past with the result that it remains in our hearts (perfect tense). Love is a gift from God’s hand. This gift began from salvation and continues into daily Christian living.
There is no drop-by-drop dispensing of God’s love but lavish generosity. Justified people do not have to work for God’s love; we have His love. He is richly generous, thus He pours out other things:
Ti 3:6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The Holy Spirit is a gift. We received this gift at the moment of salvation. The word “through” indicates that the Holy Spirit is the Agent of God’s love to the believer. God gives the Holy Spirit to us guaranteeing that we have not misplaced our hope. His love will not fail us. It is the action of the Holy Spirit that gives God’s love to us.
Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
2 Co 1:21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
PRINCIPLE:
Assurance of salvation rests ultimately on the assurance that God truly loves us.
APPLICATION:
God is indeed on our side; He is for us and not against us. Trials we experience can distort that view of God. When God’s love truly grips us so that it becomes obvious to our consciousness, we come to a present realization of His blessings He has provided for us. The certainty of His love strikes our hearts indeed. One day God will transform us into His glorious image. What a future we have in Christ. Hope anchored in Christ offers a bright future—the right to stand in the presence of the King of Kings. It is a bold assertion to say to the world, “I will stand in the presence of God one day. That is my confidence.”
Thank you for this elaboration on Roman’s 5 about Hope not putting us to shame. I will read this commentary over and over until I get the full meaning of that scripture.
Confidence in Christ promises without feeling disappointed.
If you have other words of wisdom to help with my understanding, please send them to me.
Thank you and Blessings.
K.maureen, you have access to over 5,000 studies by going to the upper right and chose a passage or if you want longer studies, go to “Articles” where you can see these studies. Also, you can receive a free daily email by subscribing.