Romans 5:5

ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶδ οὐ καταισχύνει : and hope, i.e., the hope which has not been extinguished, but confirmed under trial, does not put to shame. Psalms 22:6. Spes erit res (Bengel). Here the aurea catena comes to an end, and the Apostle points to that on which it is ultimately dependent. All these Christian experiences and hopes rest upon an assurance of the love of God. ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ κ. τ. λ. That the love of God to us is meant, not our love to Him, is obvious from Romans 5:6 and the whole connection: it is the evidence of God's love to us which the Apostle proceeds to set forth. ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν (cf. Joel 3:1; Joel 2:12, LXX, Acts 10:45): has been poured out in, and still floods, our hearts. διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου τοῦ δοθέντος ἡμῖν : the aorist τοῦ δοθέντος can hardly refer to Pentecost, in which case ἡμῖν would express the consciousness of the Christian community: the spirit was given to Christians in virtue of their faith (Galatians 3:2), and normally on occasion of their baptism (1 Corinthians 12:13; Acts 19:1 ff.): and it is this experience, possibly this event, to which the participle definitely refers. What the spirit, given (in baptism) to faith, does, is to flood the heart with God's love, and with the assurance of it.