Romans 15:13

This verse concludes the section dealing with the practice of God’s righteousness (Romans 12:1 to Romans 15:13). It is another pious wish (cf. Romans 15:5).

The mention of hope points forward to the future. Throughout this epistle Paul kept referring to the fact that God had not finished His saving work in his readers’ lives. They were still under construction as Christians. There was more to God’s salvation than they had experienced yet. In closing his treatise on God’s righteousness the apostle focused his readers’ attention on the rest of their sanctification and final glorification.

The God of hope is the God who inspires hope in and provides hope for His redeemed ones. Christians can be joyful because of what God has already done for us and is doing for us. We can also be peaceful as we realize what He is doing for us now and what He will do for us in the future. It is possible for us to abound in hope because the omnipotent Holy Spirit is at work in us (cf. ch. 8).

"The achievement of all God’s purposes for the spiritual welfare of His children comes from the power given by the Spirit of God. What a fitting closing reminder to the apostle’s discussion of Christian living." [Note: Witmer, "Romans," p. 496.]

This concludes Paul’s exposition of the theme of the righteousness of God that constitutes the heart of this epistle (Romans 1:18 to Romans 15:13). Paul showed man’s need of God’s righteousness (Romans 1:18 to Romans 3:20), how God imputes it to people who trust in His Son (Romans 3:21 to Romans 5:21), and how He imparts it to those to whom He has imputed it (chs. 6-8). Moreover he demonstrated that God is consistently righteous in doing all this (chs. 9-11). He ended by urging his readers to practice their righteousness in their most important relationships (Romans 12:1 to Romans 15:13).