Romans 5:5

‘And hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given to us.'

And our hope of being transformed daily into His image, and of one day being made holy, unblameable and unreproveable before Him is one which will not ‘put us to shame' and leave us ashamed. For God has made full provision for us. We can have confidence because of what God has done and is doing in us. He has shed His love abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Whom He has given us, the love that was made fully known to us in that Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Thus we are rooted and grounded in love, and we are coming more and more to know and appreciate the love of Christ which passes all knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17).

‘And hope does not put to shame.' The idea that God's people will not be put to shame is constant in the Old Testament. See Isaiah 28:16 LXX, ‘whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed' (compare its use in Romans 9:33; Romans 10:11); Psalms 22:5, ‘they trusted in You and were not ashamed'; Psalms 25:3; Psalms 25:20, ‘none who wait on You will be ashamed'. God's people will never end up ashamed unless they cling on to their sin.

‘Because the love of God has been shed abroad (poured out) in our hearts.' For what delivers us from the possibility of being ashamed is the fact that God's love has flooded our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit, giving us full recognition of His love. This is the first mention in Romans of the love of God (although it is of course implicit in His grace (Romans 3:24) and in the fact that we are ‘beloved of God' - Romans 1:7), but it underlines all of which Paul writes. ‘God commends His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8). Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35; Romans 8:37) and from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39). In this lies our assurance of all His blessings. But note that it does not preserve us from tribulation. Rather it comes to us in the midst of our tribulation giving us power to overcome (Romans 8:35). We can compare how the Holy Spirit, the gift of His love, is also ‘poured upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour' (Titus 3:6).

‘Through the Holy Spirit which was given to us.' Compare Romans 2:29 where it was the work of the Spirit in their hearts that made believers ‘true Jews'. Here mention of God's gift of the Holy Spirit comes almost as a surprise in the middle of the dissertation on justification from Romans 3:24 to Romans 5:21, but is of course a part of the introduction of the idea of sanctification in Romans 5:2, a sanctification which has to be a fruit of justification. It is the Holy Spirit Who floods our hearts with the recognition of God's love as He oversees His sanctifying work. This work of the Spirit will come to prominence in Romans 8:1, and its fruit is revealed in Romans 14:17.