Assurance in Suffering: part three
The Knowledge of God's Design for our Sufferings

Looking again at Romans 5:3 along with verse 4: "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings...knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." Why should we rejoice in our sufferings as Christians? Our joy, our boasting in pain has to have a foundational, legitimate reason - what is it? According to Romans 5:3-4, it is a "knowledge" God has revealed to us concerning His providential design for the tribulations, trials, and hardships we are going to face. The basis therefore of our rejoicing when we suffer, is knowing what this suffering is actually working out for us by God's sovereign plan. Moreover, based on the larger context of Romans 5, this knowledge of God's design for our sufferings works to bring about a greater assurance of our salvation - and thus, a greater cause for rejoicing.

So, what then should we "know" about our sufferings which God has purposed as the basis for joy and a reason for salvation-assurance? There are three things that are plainly stated here in Romans 5:3-4.

Suffering produces endurance. We rejoice in our suffering because we know that our suffering is producing endurance. But what does this mean? What is endurance? The Greek word used in this text is upomone - which means "patient endurance" or "perseverance." Taken in the present context of suffering, it means to live under difficult circumstances without trying to wiggle our way out from under them. It therefore carries the idea of "constancy." It is the ability to go on in our suffering - patiently, steadfastly enduring.

But of course, the question for us is how does suffering produce endurance? All our sufferings, under God's providence, work to make our faith in Christ stronger because they drive us more to Christ where we realize (again and again) that He is our life, our sufficiency, our all. And the outworking of this is endurance. We therefore do not become bitter, resentful, and complaining when we suffer but rather we increase in strength, steadfastness, and perseverance.

In other words, our hardships are God's means of grace to grow our faith in Him, to remain more patient and enduring as we are suffering. And by this fruit, we are assured that we are saved, that God is keeping us - because we are not denying Him but running to Him for the grace to remain faithful and carry on. Hence, knowing this we can rejoice in our sufferings...[because] suffering produces endurance.

Endurance produces character. The word translated character comes from a Greek term that simply means "proof." This word was used originally to describe the testing of metals such as silver and gold to demonstrate their purity. The idea is that when you put metal through a fiery testing and it comes out on the other side persevering and enduring, what you call that metal is "proven" or "authentic" or "genuine." And this is the sense of what we're being told here in Romans 5:4, "endurance produces character."

How can we be sure we're saved? Here is one test: do our sufferings make our faith in Christ stronger? Do they produce endurance? Perseverance? Steadfastness? If the outworking of our hardships is greater faith, love, and obedience to Christ - then we're only proving the greater truth that we are genuine believers in Jesus Christ. Endurance produces character for the authentic Christian.

Our patient perseverance under trial is only working to prove what we are claiming to be as Christians. And because this is God's design for our pain, then we can rejoice in our pain - since this is giving us greater assurance that we are really saved. Commenting once on this matter, Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) said:

"Tribulations also work in this way, that they not only bring out God's love to me, but at the same time test my love to God, and prove it. If I only love God when everything is going well. I am not truly Christian. It is the man who can say with Job, 'Even though he slay me, yet I will trust him', who is truly Christian."

Are we truly Christian? When our world is falling apart all around us is our faith, love, and obedience to Christ proving true or is it all just a sham? This is where we need to really pause and think about our character in the face of suffering. I have known many people who have once professed loudly their faith in Christ, only now to deny it all because of some experience of suffering and pain. Their adversities only proved what they really were all along: they were not Christians but hypocrites.

Where are we going to be when we face tribulation? Or, when we finally come through on the other side of a great trial - will our professed faith and love to Christ stand under the pressure of that fiery test? Listen again to our text: "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character." For the Christian who knows this, he can rejoice, because this is God's way of sealing to His child's heart that he really belongs to the Lord. But there is one final product in God's design for our suffering which Romans 5:4 rounds off at the end:

Character produces hope. Now this should be no surprise to us. If all our suffering makes our faith, love, and obedience to Christ only greater, which in turn, brings greater proof to the authenticity of our Christian testimony - then the end result will be hope. Hope in what? Go to Romans 5:2: "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." What is this? Our "hope in the glory of God" is our certain and sure confidence that we will reach our final destination as believers in Jesus Christ. And that destination is being perfected in the image of Christ (see Rom.8:29-30). So then, we can rejoice in our sufferings because we know what God has designed them ultimately to bring in our lives: it is the hope that we really do belong to God and His promise to us of final glorification, on account of Christ, will indeed come to pass.

Therefore all our sufferings as Christians only work to assure us that we really belong to God through Jesus Christ. God's grace for us in Christ is real because it is actually working to establish us in greater faith, love, and obedience to Christ - and the fruit of that work is seen in how we go through tribulation, hardships, and trials. Rather than hatred, bitterness, or anger, there is a genuine rejoicing in our sufferings. We do not deny Christ but we love Him even more. Why? It is due to this: "[our] sufferings produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." And this is one of God's ways in giving His people the sweetness of salvation-assurance. So, in light of this, I leave you with one great searching question: what are your sufferings producing in your life - are they proving you to be a Christian or are they proving you to be an unbeliever?