Abounding and Abundant

Miscellanies post:  Romans 15:13

Paul’s prayer wish for the believers in Rome:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

A collection of thoughts from my morning reflections:

• God is the source and object of all hope.
• Personal joy, peace, and hope are gifts from our gracious heavenly father–and he desires to give us more!
• God fills us with joy, peace, and hope via our abiding trust in him. Personal faith and trust in God is the conduit God has chosen to communicate his joy, peace, and hope to us [causal: ἐν τῷ πιστεύειν].
• Hope does not operate apart from our trust, the forward-looking aspect of our faith.
• If I do not trust God for the future, I cannot experience his joy today.
• In faith, the Holy Spirit fills us with hope.
• Joy, peace, and hope are all external to us, they are gifts.
• Piper: “Confidence in the promises of God overcomes anxiety.”
• Faith’s object is the gospel (Rom. 1:16–17). To have faith in the gospel is to receive peace, joy, and hope.
• Schreiner: “Faith and hope are functioning here as virtual synonyms, for the God who gives hope does so by increasing faith, which results in joy and peace.”
• As we grow in our faith and in the content of the gospel promises we experience greater peace, joy, and hope. These are gifts from God.
• Paul’s pastoral concern in this prayer for the Roman believers is simple: he wants to see them grow in faith in order to experience more of God’s abounding and abundant joy, peace, and hope.
• Mounce: “Our role is to maintain a relationship of continuing trust in God.”