And patience trial; and trial hope;

“And viewing the hope as twofold-that which is expected, and that which has been received-he now teaches the end to be the restitution of the hope. "For patience," he says, "worketh experience, and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given to us." On account of which love and the restoration to hope, he says, in another place, "which rest is laid up for us."”

“Tribulations; that is, are so far from confuting these hopes, that they even prove them. For before the things to come are realized, there is a very great fruit which tribulation hath-patience; and the making of the man that is tried, experienced. And it contributes in some degree too to the things to come, for it gives hope a vigor within us, since there is nothing that so inclines a man to hope for blessings as a good conscience. Now no man that has lived an upright life is unconfiding about things to come, as of those who have been negligent there are many that, feeling the burden of a bad conscience, wish there were neither judgment nor retribution. What then? do our goods lie in hopes? Yes, in hopes-but not mere human hopes, which often slip away, and put him that hoped to shame; when some one, who was expected to patronize him, dies, or is altered though he lives. No such lot is ours: our hope is sure and unmoveable. For He Who hath made the promise ever liveth, and we that are to be the enjoyers of it, even should we die, shall rise again, and there is absolutely nothing which can put us to shame, as having been elated at random, and to no purpose, upon unsound hopes. Having then sufficiently cleared them of all doubtfulness by these words of his, he does not let his discourse pause at the time present, but urges again the time to come, knowing that there were men of weaker character, who looked too for present advantages, and were not satisfied with these mentioned. "Because the love of God is," he does not say "given, "but "shed abroad in our hearts," so showing the profusion of it. That gift then, which is the greatest possible, He hath given; not heaven and earth and sea, but what is more precious than any of these, and hath rendered us Angels from being men, yea sons of God, and brethren of Christ. But what is this gift? The Holy Spirit. Now had He not been willing to present us after our labors with great crowns, He would never have given us such mighty gifts before our labors. But now the warmth of His Love is hence made apparent, that it is not gradually and little by little that He honors us; but He hath shed abroad the full fountain of His blessings, and this too before our struggles.”

“After the Apostle has shown the necessity of the grace of Christ — because without it neither did the knowledge of truth profit the Gentiles, nor circumcision and the law profit the Jews, unto salvation — here he begins to commend the power of grace. And concerning this he does two things. First he shows what goods we obtain through grace; second, from what evils we are freed through it, at the place "therefore as through one man," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the manner of arriving, or the way by which we come to grace; second he shows the goods which we obtain through grace, at the place "and we glory in the hope of glory," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he exhorts to the due use of grace; second he shows us the entrance to grace, at the place "through whom access," etc. He says therefore first: it has been said that faith will be reckoned unto righteousness for all who believe in the resurrection of Christ, which is the cause of our justification. Being justified therefore by faith — that is, insofar as through faith in the resurrection we participate in its effect — let us have peace with God, namely by subjecting ourselves and obeying him. Job 22:21: "Acquiesce therefore to him, and have peace." Job 9:4: "Who has resisted him, and had peace?" And this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who has led us to this peace. Ephesians 2:14: "He himself is our peace." Hence he adds: through whom, namely Christ, we have access, that is, as through a mediator. Timothy 2:5: "the mediator of God and men," etc. Ephesians 2:18: "through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father." Access, I say, into this grace, that is, into the state of grace. John 1:17: "grace and truth were made through Jesus Christ." In which, that is, through which grace, not only have we risen from sins, but we also stand, fixed and erect in affection amid heavenly things. Psalm 120:21: "our feet were standing." And again: "we, however, have risen, and are erect." And this through faith, through which, namely, we obtain grace — not because faith precedes grace, since rather faith exists through grace. Ephesians 2:8: "by grace you are saved through faith," namely, because the first effect of grace in us is faith. Then, when he says "and we glory in the hope of glory," etc., he shows what goods have come to us through grace. First he says that through grace we have the glory of hope; second, that through grace we have the glory of God, at the place "and not only so," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows the greatness of the hope in which we glory; second, its vehemence, at the place "and not only so," etc. Third, its firmness, at the place "and hope does not confound," etc. Now the greatness of the hope is considered from the greatness of the thing hoped for, which he sets down saying, "and we glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God," that is, from the fact that we hope that we will obtain the glory of the sons of God. For through the grace of Christ we have obtained the spirit of adoption of the sons of God, as is said below in chapter 8:15, and Wisdom 5:5: "behold how they are numbered among the sons of God." Now to sons is owed the inheritance of the father — below 8:17: "but if sons, then heirs also." But this inheritance is the glory which God has in himself. Job 40:4: "if you have an arm like God," etc. And a hope of this kind has been implanted in us through Christ. 1 Peter 1:3f.: "he has regenerated us unto a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an incorruptible inheritance," etc. And this glory, which will be fulfilled in us in the future, is meanwhile now begun in us through hope. Below 8:24: "we are saved by hope." Psalm 5:12: "all who love your name will glory in you." Then, when he says "and not only so," etc., he shows the vehemence of this hope. For he who vehemently hopes for something willingly endures, for its sake, even difficult and bitter things — just as a sick man, if he vehemently hopes for health, willingly drinks a bitter potion that he may be healed by it. A sign, therefore, of the vehement hope which we have on account of Christ is that we glory not only from the hope of future glory, but also concerning the evils which we suffer for its sake; hence he says, and not only do we glory — namely, in the hope of glory — but we also glory in tribulations, through which we arrive at glory. Acts 14:21: "through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven." James 1:2: "count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials." And he then shows the cause, saying "knowing," etc. Where he sets down four things in order, of which the first is tribulation, concerning which it is said that tribulation works patience — not indeed in such a way that tribulation is its efficient cause, but because tribulation is the matter and occasion for exercising the act of patience. Below 12:12: "patient in tribulation." Second, he sets down the effect of patience, when he says "patience, trial." Ecclesiasticus 2:5: "gold and silver are tried in the fire: but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation." For it is manifest that we easily endure the loss of some thing for the sake of the thing which we love more. Hence if someone patiently endures loss in bodily and temporal things for the sake of obtaining eternal goods, it is sufficiently proved from this that such a one loves eternal goods more than temporal ones. But against what is said here stands that saying of James 1:3: "the trial of your faith works patience." It must be said, however, that "trial" can be understood in two ways. In one way, according as it is in the thing tried, and thus the trial is the very tribulation by which a man is tried; hence it is the same thing to say that tribulation works patience, and that tribulation tries patience. In another way, "trial" is taken for having been tried — and thus it is taken here that patience works trial, because from the fact that a man patiently endures tribulation, he is thereby rendered already proved. Third, he adds the third, saying "and trial, hope" — namely, works — because, namely, from the fact that someone has already been proved, hope can be had, both by himself and by others, that he will be admitted to the inheritance of God. Wisdom 3:5: "God tried them, and found them worthy of himself." Thus therefore, from the first to the last, it is clear that tribulation prepares the way to hope. Hence if someone glories vehemently in hope, it follows that he should glory also in the tribulations themselves. Then, when he says "and hope does not confound," he shows the firmness of this hope. And first he sets it down, saying: and hope — namely, this hope by which we hope for the glory of the sons of God — does not confound, that is, does not fail, unless a man fails it. For that man is said to be confounded by his hope who falls short of that which he hopes for. Psalm 30:2: "in you, Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded." Ecclesiastes 2:11: "no one has hoped in the Lord, and been confounded." Second, at the place "because the charity of God," etc., he sets down a twofold argument for the certainty of hope, of which the first is from the gift of the Holy Spirit, the second from the death of Christ, at the place "for why did Christ," etc. He says therefore first: from this we can know that hope does not confound, because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Now the charity of God can be taken in two ways. In one way, for the charity by which God loves us — Jeremiah 31:3: "with an everlasting charity have I loved you"; in another way it can be called the charity of God by which we love God — below 8:38f.: "I am certain that neither death nor life will separate us from the charity of God." But each charity of God is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For the Holy Spirit, who is the love of the Father and the Son, to be given to us, is for us to be led to a participation in that love which is the Holy Spirit; from which participation, indeed, we are made lovers of God. And this, that we love him, is a sign that he loves us. Proverbs 8:17: "I love those who love me." Not as though we had first loved God, but because he first loved us, as is said in 1 John 4:10. Now the charity by which he loves us is said to be poured forth in our hearts, because it is openly shown in our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit impressed upon us. John 3:24: "in this we know that God abides in us," etc. But the charity by which we love God is said to be poured forth in our hearts, that is, because it extends itself to perfecting all the habits and acts of the soul; for, as is said in 1 Corinthians 13:4: "charity is patient, is kind," etc. But from each understanding of these words it is concluded that hope does not confound. For if the charity of God by which God loves us is taken, it is manifest that he will not deny himself to those whom he loves. Deuteronomy 33:3: "he loved the peoples, all the saints are in his hand." Likewise also, if the charity of God by which we love God is taken, it is manifest that he has prepared eternal goods for those who love him. John 14:21: "if anyone loves me, he will be loved by my Father," etc.”

“And patience experience,.... As tribulations tend to exercise and increase patience, so patience being exercised and increased, enlarges the saints' stock and fund of experience; of the love and grace of God communicated to them at such seasons; of his faithfulness in fulfilling his promises; of his power in supporting them; and of their own frailty and weakness; and so are taught humility, thankfulness, and resignation to the will of God: and experience, hope; hope is a gift of God's grace, and is implanted in regeneration, but abounds, increases, and becomes more strong and lively by experience of the love, grace, mercy, power, and faithfulness of God.”

“And patience, experience - Δὀκιμεν, Full proof, by trial, of the truth of our religion, the solidity of our Christian state, and the faithfulness of our God. In such cases we have the opportunity of putting our religion to the test; and, by every such test, it receives the deeper sterling stamp. The apostle uses here also a metaphor taken from the purifying, refining, and testing of silver and gold. Experience, hope - For we thus calculate, that he who has supported us in the past will support us in those which may yet come; and as we have received so much spiritual profiting by means of the sufferings through which we have already passed, we may profit equally by those which are yet to come: and this hope prevents us from dreading coming trials; we receive them as means of grace, and find that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

“patience worketh experience--rather, "proof," as the same word is rendered in Co2 2:9; Co2 13:3; Phi 2:22; that is, experimental evidence that we have "believed through grace." and experience--"proof." hope--"of the glory of God," as prepared for us. Thus have we hope in two distinct ways, and at two successive stages of the Christian life: first, immediately on believing, along with the sense of peace and abiding access to God (Rom 5:1); next, after the reality of this faith has been "proved," particularly by the patient endurance of trials sent to test it. We first get it by looking away from ourselves to the Lamb of God; next by looking into or upon ourselves as transformed by that "looking unto Jesus." In the one case, the mind acts (as they say) objectively; in the other, subjectively. The one is (as divines say) the assurance of faith; the other, the assurance of sense.”