The Blessings Of Being Right With God Series

Strong character produces hope. Again, Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Suffering builds our endurance so we don’t give up. If we keep holding onto God He will transform our character, making us pure in heart. And if we are pure in heart, we have a promise from the mouth of Jesus that we will see God! (Matthew 5:8)

Hope will see God’s promises fulfilled. Hope will not disappoint us. The more we trust God through the hard times, the more patient we become and the stronger our character. Godly character gives us a hope that doesn’t fade away because it is based on the promises of the God whom we trust! Now Paul gives the reason why our hope will never let us down, and that leads us to our final point.

4. Those who are right with God are filled with His love (5b)

Romans 5:5b “…God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

-Paul gives this statement as the reason our hope does not disappoint us. Now if our hope is that we will see God, then the only way our hope could disappoint us is if something prevented that from happening- prevented us from seeing God.

-We already have a first installment of the glory of God. It is given to us when we first believe and call on the Lord to forgive us and save us from a life without Him. He pours His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is what keeps our hope alive – we have tasted of His goodness and will never be the same!

-John had a lot to say about love. He said, 1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” He also said, 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” So, those who are right with God know how to love because the love of God has been poured into their hearts! If they don’t know how to love, then something is wrong! They don’t know God if they don’t know how to love.

-So we find ourselves back to the basics of trust and relationship which we talked about a few weeks ago. God has revealed and is revealing who He is to every person on this planet! If they believe what He says about Himself and begin to trust Him, then He accepts them as His own. He declares them righteous and begins to change them from the inside out! When He pours His love into our hearts, it changes us from being self-centered and self-seeking to being God-conscious and caring about others. There is power in His love that changes us and can change situations and people around us.

-If you can’t seem to love those around you, what is the answer? Trust God! And when you believe Him and put your faith in Him alone, then He justifies you or makes you righteous. And as the last sentence here says, He pours His love into the hearts of everyone who believes in Him and calls on His name!

-If you’ve done this, then you have love in your heart! Now it’s time to show it! Freely you have received, now freely give!

-What a blessing! Those who are right with God have been filled with His love! The Holy Spirit is the agent of this blessing. And along with all that love, Paul mentions the amazing fact that God has given His Holy Spirit to us – if we have been justified (made right with God). When we put our faith in Christ and He makes us come alive spiritually, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us. Jesus promised this in the gospel of John, esp. ch.14&16. And we know that’s not all! There’s more! Not only does the Holy Spirit live in us once we put our trust in Jesus, but He comes upon us with power as we see throughout the book of Acts!