Romans 5:1

Romans 5:1 says, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  When we are justified by our faith, we have peace with God.  If we find ourselves questioning God, or seemingly at war with His will for our lives, we need to return to our faith.  Faith in God keeps us secure, not only in this life, but in life everlasting.  When we truly grasp this concept, we will never falter.  Verse two adds, By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Paul stated that through faith in Christ, we have access to into God's grace, and in that grace is where we should stand. God does not call us into a limited standing in His grace, but into a full fellowship by His grace.  As Paul states, we should rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  We as followers of Christ should be a rejoicing people. We have an everlasting relationship with God, so nothing should keep us from rejoicing in that relationship. Verse three continues, And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;  Paul had just stated that we are to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and now he states that we are to rejoice in tribulation as well.  Many would claim that as followers of Christ that He only wants happiness and success for us, but Paul knew the truth that tribulations could come from our following Christ.  The question is never if tribulations will come, but how we will react when they do.  We can either rejoice in Christ during any tribulation that comes our way, or we can falter in our faith and question or even blame God for our problems.  We must also remember that these tribulations come from our faith in God and not from our own following after the way of the world instead of obeying God.  Verse four states, And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  Paul is telling us that we learn by the experience that patience brings, and this brings us hope. When we patiently wait on the will of God to be made manifest to us, we learn that we can always rely on Him. Verse five adds, And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.  Paul continues by saying that we are not to be ashamed of hope in Christ, because the Holy Spirit sheds the love of God in our hearts.  We can never be effective followers of Christ if we are in any way or at any time ashamed of the gospel, because the Holy Spirit is with us at all times filling our hearts with the love of God.