lOMoARcPSD|22015503
BUSI 520 - Integrations of Faith and
Learning
International Business (Liberty University)
lOMoARcPSD|22015503
In this verse, Paul points to a benefit of salvation we experience immediately. For those in Christ,
our suffering matters. It counts for something. For those who die without Christ, suffering is
merely suffering. It is pain and loss and frustration, resulting in no particular benefit, and coming
to no resolution. For those in Christ, however, suffering has a point, since we're destined for
something higher. It accomplishes great good in us, in fact.
Of course, this teaching also implies that Christians still suffer on this side of eternity. Being
in Christ does not end our personal, temporary suffering on earth. That suffering does,
however, produce something Paul here calls "endurance," which itself produces other
powerful, positive characteristics in us. Endurance is the ability to keep going when we feel
like stopping, as long distance runners train themselves to do. In this context, endurance is
about our ability to trust God for longer stretches of time and through greater degrees of
difficulty. Suffering, in other words, is an opportunity to trust God at a deeper level through
harder stuff.
