Having approached our subject from the perspective of God’s purposes, we are now ready to see what Paul says suffering will do in the lives of Christians, and why this is reassuring. What benefits does suffering bring?
First, it produces perseverance. You may notice another word used to translate this idea in your Bible. Some versions say “patience,” others “endurance,” still others “patient endurance.” The full meaning of this word emerges when we consider it together with the word for “suffering,” which occurs just before it in the Greek text and which is what Paul says produces “patience.”
The word as a whole means to “live under something.” If we take this word together with the word for tribulation, we get the full idea, which is to live under difficult circumstances without trying, as we would say, to wriggle out from under them. We express the idea positively when we say, “Hang in there, brother.” It is hanging in when the going gets tough, as it always does sooner or later.
So here is one thing that separates the immature person from the mature one, the new Christian from one who has been in the Lord’s school longer. The new believer tries to avoid the difficulties and get out from under them. The experienced Christian is steady under fire and does not quit his post.
Second, just as suffering produces steady perseverance, so (according to Paul) does perseverance produce character. Other versions translate this word as “experience.”
The Greek word means something “tested” or “approved.” There is an illustration that Paul himself provides. In I Co.9.27 Paul is speaking of self-discipline and says, “… I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.”
It is the same in our Romans text (5.3-4), where Paul says that the sufferings of life or the pressures of merely trying to live for Christ in our godless environment produce endurance, which in turn proves that we are fit. When we draw closer to God and He to us, working in us what is well pleasing to Himself, we become “weighty,” as He is. We become approved persons of great value.
Paul finally indicates that the steadfast, approved character created by perseverance in its turn produces hope. Here we have come full circle. We started with hope. We saw it as an assurance of what will one day be ours, though we do not possess it yet. Then we looked at our sufferings. We saw why we can rejoice in them. It is because they lead to endurance, endurance to an approved character, and character to an even more steadfast hope. And all this is further evidence of our security in Christ – when we share in Christ’s sufferings and embrace them in like fashion.
According to the Bible, suffering is not harmful; on the contrary, it is a beneficial experience. It is beneficial because it accomplishes the beneficent purposes of Almighty God. It is part of all those circumstances that work “for the good of those who love him …” (Ro.8.28).
Maranatha!
(mar-uh-nath-uh – “Our Lord Comes”)
Pastor Steve can be reached at PastorSteve@MaranathaBibleChurch.org