Romerbrevet 15:13

On the ground of this mercy and grace that flows out to the Gentiles, and will yet bring Jew and Gentile together in the coming Kingdom, the Apostle commends believers to the God of hope, that they might be filled with joy and peace in believing and abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit, who is the Earnest of the coming glory.

We shall do well to notice the three ways in which God is characterized in this chapter. "The God of patience and consolation" in verse 5. "The God of hope" in verse 13. "The God of peace" in verse 33. Having noted them we shall do well to meditate upon them. What God is at any time He is always, and what He is for any of His people He is for all and for each. Therefore He is all this for you and for me.

In full accord with this God is here put prominently before the reader, as the God of patience, and of comfort, and of hope, and lower down, in v. 33, as the God of peace. Patience, comfort, hope, peace, all these the saint needs. And of all of them our God is God. Hence He can supply them as often and as fully as they are required. The supply will never fail, the spring can never dry up. What a God is ours!

If we would have the hope of glory heightened in our souls — and truly we need it — we must turn our eyes to "the God of hope."

Many there are who earnestly desire peace and joy, but they think to arrive at them in working, in resolving, in praying or in feeling, but none of these things lead to the desired end. It is only in believing. Faith, and faith alone, puts the soul into touch with God. And only by the Spirit are our hearts filled with all joy and peace and hope, which are the proper fruits of the Gospel.

The believers in Rome were mainly Gentiles, hence there is a special force in the Apostle's desire in verse 13. They had been without God and without hope in the world — as the Gentile believers in Ephesus were reminded — and now God, who is the God of hope, is to fill them with such joy and peace that they abound in hope. This is a most desirable, a most glorious result, which is achieved as the fruit of faith in the Gospel; for it is, "in believing," and also, "through the power of the Holy Ghost." Believing the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is received, and peace, hope and joy follow, as the fifth chapter of our epistle taught us.

The Person of Christ is the hope of the believer now. The same Person will be the hope of the nations hereafter, when His dominion shall be to the ends of the earth... The transition from the 12th to the 13th verse is not so well appreciated by an English reader, who is not aware that the last word in verse 12 should be "hope," and not "trust." The God of hope is invoked to fill them with all joy and peace in believing, that they may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is a very full expression when its connection with the foregoing passages is seen.

There is thus to the believing Gentile now an abundance of hope. For his calling is not to rejoice with Israel the earthly people of the Lord, but to rejoice in hope of that glory which is his appointed and hoped-for portion as made already in Christ a participator, in hope, of the heavenly as well as the earthly inheritance of the saints in light. The power of the Holy Ghost is the means of this more abundant hope.

In the revelation God had made of Himself, whether to the disheartened adherents of the dying paganism, or to the remnant of Israel disappointed of their national expectations, He had indeed approved Himself as the God of hope. In the realization of the blessings which were now become their own, they could afford to bury their dead past, and forget it. He prays that they may be filled with all joy and peace in believing, so as to abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. How good to make full proof of the possibilities that are in our hands! and how do we possess ourselves of what is our possession!

In verse 13, he turns affectionately to the Romans to express his desires for them, and his confidence in the blessing they had received from God.

With the prospect of the coming glory before us we should be lifted above all questions of meats and drinks, and observance of days, and in the joy of the prospect of the coming glory, we should enjoy peace amongst ourselves.