Love Boasting In the Lord

In today’s English the word “boast” doesn’t usually have a positive meaning, but often comes with a sense hope or desperation.  People boast how many followers they have on Instagram or Tiktok (you can have a high count on social media and still be one of the loneliest people around). People boast about their expensive purchases (are they trying to prove their value by their wealth?).  Some may brag about how busy they are (they may be trying to prove their commitment, but often appear stressed or overworked).  So, how can I be so bold as to tell you today to “Love Boasting In The Lord?” I would imagine it would be easier to make such a statement if my life was easy because I was a Christian.  But, you know that our lives are often filled with disappointment. You make family plans to go to the ballgame, and the phone rings and you have to change your plans.  Disappointed?  You purchase two Whataburgers with Cheese and after driving away from the drive-thru you smell French fries!  I didn’t order those!  Then you look into the bag and see that you have two junior burgers with a “special” sticker.  After opening up the wrapping you discover two plain, not topping burgers! Disappointed?  Yes, there are plenty of disappointments in our lives yet the Bible says,

“Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Philippians 4:4

Today in Romans 5 we hear this statement, “And we rejoice confidently.”  The word in the original says, “boast” confidently.  What?!?  Reality is that we are living in a world infected with sin and we know there will always be disappointments on this side of heaven.  That’s right.  But, today is Trinity Sunday.  Today we want to give our Undivided Attention to the Mystery and Majesty of our God!  Knowing and Believing in our God serves to comfort, enrich, and fill our hearts with confidence especially when we face those days of disappointment.  So, while our plans may be disrupted and the world can be a disappointing place to live, there is a power place we can turn our attention to today.  Yes, may the Word of God by used by the Holy Spirit today cause us to

Love Boasting In The Lord

To Glow In His Glory

If you wanted to meet a group of people who were living with many disappointments it was the Christians living in Rome.  They were anxious to see the Apostle Paul so he wrote them this inspired letter by the Holy Spirit.  In the context of these verses it is helpful to know what Paul said in chapter 4 regarding the work of Jesus.

“He was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification”

Romans 4:25

These are facts upon which Paul basis his reason for us to have real hope in a world of disappointments.  Jesus died to pay the penalty of your sins.  Jesus’ work on the cross is complete and rising from the dead proves it.  So, now listen to what Paul says,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

The definition of “justified,” is “declared not guilty.”  Here Paul zeros in on the results of our justification, “we have peace with God.”  Stop and think about this statement.  We were once God’s enemies, born blind and unable to restore our relationship with God because of our sin nature and our sinful acts.  However, now in God’s eyes,

“we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

This peace of God doesn’t come from this world, our lives because we try to live as Christians (that will always come with disappointments).  This free gift of forgiveness from Jesus Christ is dependent on the glorious victory of Jesus over the curse of sin, death and the devil.  Believe it and Glow In His Glory as you Love Boasting In The Lord!

Yes, even in a world of disappointments Paul goes on to explain why we can Glow In His Glory and God can have peace with us.  It was not because of our good intentions, but

“² Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.”

Can you picture it?  The Roman Christians at one time knew nothing of Jesus, had never seen him or heard about him.  But, by the grace of God the Word had been spoken to them and they learned and believed that now they were forgiven by “grace in which we stand.”  Yes, this was the work of our Triune God.  God the Father established the plan of our salvation.  God the Son carried out the plan, and God the Holy Spirit carried this plan to the Romans.  Paul reminds them,

“God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.” 

Believers who hear these words Glow In His Glory as they Love Boasting In the Lord.  These believers were also a fulfillment of Jesus’ command at his ascension:

“¹⁹ Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you”

Matthew 28:19

Because of this Paul encourages these believers in Rome who were experiencing disappointments to “Rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.”  Yes, actually the Greek says, “Boast confidently.” In spite of living in a pagan society with disappointments all around, they were to Boast In The Triune God who went to work to bring them to faith in Jesus Christ.

It would take some explaining if you told your friend that you are boasting in the glory of the Lord.  The world is quick to boast about its accomplishments.  But, our boasting in the Lord is not wrong.  Listen to the Prophet Jeremiah:

“²⁴ Instead, let those who boast boast about this: that they have understanding, and that they know me. They know that I am the Lord, who shows mercy, justice, and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things, declares the Lord”

Jeremiah 9:24

While you may get to boast about God’s glory with your words, more than likely people watch your actions and see if you are a content, joyful person.  Once they see that even though your life is surrounded by disappointments, yet you are content and joyful, they will want to know your secret.  It may give you the opportunity to tell them why!  I live in the shadow of the Lord’s Glory and Love to Boast in the Lord who has redeemed me!  I Love To Boast In The Lord

To Glow In His Hope

The Christians in Rome were growing and becoming a big group.  That’s good thing, isn’t it?  Not, if you were living in Rome with Nero at the Emperor.  These were days of idols, false gods, wickedness and sexual immorality.  When Christians stood up for the holy will of God they soon faced great persecution.  Nero even captured Christians and tied them to stakes, lighting them on fire and using them to glow as lights along the road.  That was extreme suffering for the sake of Jesus.   So, Paul wrote,

“³ Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings.”

Why would anyone boast in their sufferings?  Because these sufferings were a sign of their faithfulness to the Lord.  It was God the Father who created them to live with him in heaven.  It was God the Son who died and rose again.  It was the Holy Spirit who created and sustained faith in their hearts.  Yes,

“And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God. ³ Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings.” 

And what possible benefit would come from these sufferings?  Paul explains,

“Because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, ⁴ and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope.”  

Think of a person who is training to run a race or a person in military boot camp.  They are trained to face difficult situations and learn how to cope/endure the event.    Through that experience they will develop “character.”  The dictionary says character is “moral excellence and firmness.”  A person of good character has the ability to evaluate a situation and knows how to deal with it.  For instance, if you were stranded on an island and met someone who knew how to guide and encourage you how to catch fish and cook them, you’d have hope to survive!  Or if you were assigned a new task at work that you knew nothing about, you would depend on a person with good character to train you in order to accomplish your task.  Spiritually speaking if someone you love is diagnosed with a difficult sickness, if there is a battle going on in your family, or someone you love dies, what a great source of help from a person who has suffered, endured and built up their character and survived.  It gives us encouragement and hope!

Dear Christian friends, when we Glow in the Shadow of Christ’s hope, we are in a safe place. 

“⁵ And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.”

Rather than put us to shame, it gives us the joy, peace and hope of knowing we will live with Jesus in heaven no matter what.  This does not mean all our difficult days will disappear, or we will not be disappointed by aches, pains and suffering as we live in this sin infected world.  But, the Lord God can use every one of these sufferings to build our endurance, which produces character, which strengthens our hope in Christ Jesus. Yes, our strength is the Lord Jesus.  Trust in him!

I am not expecting that as you leave here today that the word, “Boast” will make it into your conversations more often.  However today we are giving our Undivided Attention to the Mystery and Majesty of our God.  In our weakness, God shows us his gracious strength.  In our suffering we have hope no matter what.  Today I will encourage you to leave here and Love To Boast In the Lord to Glow In His Glory and Hope that will never disappoint you.  Amen.