The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost - 08.23.2026

Paul asks what makes for legitimate boasting, and he gives an answer far different from medals, trophies, records, or any other human accomplishment. Paul says that Christians “boast in the hope of the glory of God,” yet this hope is not a happy sentiment, a good dream, or another way of saying good luck. Christian hope is confidence for the future based on present realities.

The future held before God’s children is heaven, where they will see God face to face, experience his glory, and receive imperishable, immortal bodies. The present realities anchoring that confidence are justification, peace, access, and grace. Paul says that sinners have been justified by faith, declared not guilty through the redemption won by Christ Jesus. Christ died for sins and rose for justification, so terror and hopelessness give way to peace with God.

The torn temple curtain pictures the access believers now have to a holy God. God’s grace becomes like a room whose walls, ceiling, and floor are all undeserved love and unmerited blessing. Christians stand in that grace, and God’s whole attitude toward them is love. Nothing can shake the hope that rests on such a foundation.

Paul also shuts down every boast in “the hope of the glory of me.” The words powerless, ungodly, and sinners leave no room for self-righteousness, comparison, emotional manipulation, penance, or shallow good deeds. Sinners cannot make God love them, nor can guilt somehow earn forgiveness. God demonstrates his own love in this: while sinners were still sinners, Christ died for them. The cross leaves believers with open palms, receiving forgiveness rather than trying to manufacture it.

Paul then gives the surprising second boast: sufferings. Paul means actual suffering, not an imaginary or comfortable version of it. Christ promises troubles in this world, and Christian lives know persecution, sickness, broken relationships, guilt, and the costly work of calling straying people back to God. Comfort is a blessing, but avoiding pain cannot become life’s highest goal.

God works through suffering because he worked his greatest work through Christ’s suffering on the cross. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. The refiner’s fire burns away impurities and forms Christian character more like Christ. Because believers have peace with God and stand in grace, no suffering can drag them out of that grace. Human glory fades, but boasting in the living God will never fade or perish.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Hope rests on present realities Christian hope does not float on wishful thinking about an unknown future. Christ’s justification, the peace God has established, and the grace in which believers now stand make heaven a certain promise. Hope looks ahead because Christ has already acted. [35:53]
• 2. Grace leaves no room for self-boasting Powerless, ungodly sinners cannot climb toward God by guilt, charity, comparison, or religious effort. Christ died precisely while sinners had nothing to offer him. The cross humbles pride, but it also gives a far better boast: the glory of God. [41:06]
• 3. The torn curtain gives access God did not merely become more approachable from a distance. Christ’s death tore down the dividing wall between holy God and unholy people. Faith now stands inside grace, surrounded by God’s undeserved love. [39:41]
• 4. Suffering serves a greater purpose Suffering is not automatically good, nor is pain something Christians must chase. God nevertheless refuses to let suffering have the last word, using it to cultivate endurance, tested character, and deeper hope. The cross proves that God can work magnificently through agony. [49:21]
• 5. Nothing removes believers from grace Peace with God does not depend on easy circumstances or a pain-free life. Suffering can press hard, but it cannot drag God’s children out of the grace where Christ has placed them. Hope remains secure because God’s love, not human strength, holds it fast.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [30:05] - What Makes for Legitimate Boasting?
• [32:07] - Boasting in the Hope of Glory
• [33:49] - Christian Hope Is Certain
• [35:53] - Justified by Faith and at Peace
• [39:15] - Access into the Grace of God
• [41:06] - No Boasting in the Glory of Me
• [43:10] - Christ Died for Ungodly Sinners
• [45:07] - Boasting in Sufferings
• [47:29] - Comfort Is Not Life’s Highest Goal
• [49:03] - God Works Through Suffering
• [51:06] - Grace Holds Through Every Trouble
• [51:53] - Boast in the Living God

Bible Reading

Romans 5:1
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [36:13]

Romans 5:2
“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” [38:54]

Romans 5:3
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,” [45:21]

Romans 5:4
“and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” [50:13]

Romans 5:5
“and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” [50:46]

Romans 5:6
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” [41:19]

Romans 5:7
“For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—” [41:27]

Romans 5:8
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [41:34]

Matthew 27:51
“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” [39:41]

Observation questions

1. What present gifts does Paul name before he speaks about the future “hope of the glory of God”? How do justification, peace, access, and grace fit together in Romans 5:1–2? [38:54]
2. What words does Paul use to describe people before Christ died for them in Romans 5:6–8? What action does God take toward those people?
3. What picture is used to describe grace, and what does that picture communicate about where Christians stand before God? [40:08]
4. What examples of real suffering are named, and what three results does Paul say God produces through suffering? [46:39]

Interpretation questions

1. Why is Christian hope more than wishing that something good will happen? How do Christ’s completed work and the believer’s present peace with God make hope certain? [34:33]
2. How does the torn temple curtain help explain what it means to have access to God? What difference does it make that this access comes through Christ rather than personal effort? [39:38]
3. Paul says Christ died for the weak, ungodly, and sinful. How do these descriptions challenge the common attempts to deal with guilt through comparison, good deeds, penance, or trying to feel sorry enough? [42:23]
4. Paul does not say that suffering itself is pleasant or that Christians should seek pain. What is the difference between receiving suffering faithfully and making comfort the highest goal in life? [47:55]

Application questions

1. What accomplishments, possessions, abilities, or recognition are most tempting to use as a reason for personal pride? How might boasting in the glory of God reshape the way those things are viewed? [41:03]
2. When fears about the future rise up, which present reality in Romans 5 is most needed to remember: justification, peace with God, access to God, or standing in grace? Why?
3. Is there an area of guilt where there is a temptation to make up for sin through extra effort, emotional regret, or comparison with someone else? What would it look like to come to Christ with open hands and receive his forgiveness instead? [43:39]
4. Because believers have access to God, how could prayer become more honest and confident this week—especially after failure, temptation, or a hard conversation?
5. What suffering or hardship is currently testing endurance: sickness, grief, strained relationships, consequences of sin, uncertainty, or something else? How might God use that hardship to draw a believer toward his Word and prayer? [49:53]
6. Is comfort or avoiding awkwardness making it difficult to love someone who is straying from God? What might a truthful, gentle, and caring step toward that person look like? [48:27]
7. When suffering feels as though it might overwhelm faith, how does the truth that no suffering can drag God’s children out of grace give strength for the next day? [51:20]