We concluded our last visit referring to Romans 5:5, “hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Let’s dwell a little longer on this wonderful verse.
The reason we will not be disappointed regarding our hope is because God has given us a down payment, a seal of His ownership, guaranteeing our eternal destiny. This seal is the gift of the Holy Spirit at the time we were converted. Jesus promised in John 14-16 that He would not leave us as orphans in this world. The Holy Spirit would be with us as believers permanently.
Paul reiterates this promise in many places, most clearly in Ephesians 1:13-14: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.”
The experiential dynamic of God’s promise for the believer is when God, by the Holy Spirit, begins to pour out His love into our hearts. The word Paul uses for this pouring out is in the perfect tense in the Greek and has the force of an action that takes place with ongoing present force. The commentator Denney translates it, “has poured in, and still floods our hearts.” There is an infinite supply of the love of God that is continuously being poured out into our hearts.
If you’re relating to someone who is hard to love, thank God for this infinite supply of His love, and then by faith trust God to love that person through you.
