“and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:4).
There is a noticeable progression in our text from Romans 5:3-4. The first item in that sequence is tribulations (verse three). Tribulations help develop the next element on our list: perseverance. Now we arrive at the third link in this four-link chain: character.
Even though we may derisively refer to a difficult day at home, work, or school as a “character-building experience,” Romans 5:4 offers a Biblical justification for that idea. This reference to character speaks of something that has been tested and approved. We can find illustrations of this concept in virtually every walk of life. For instance…
- A mechanic may depend on a reliable piece of equipment that never fails to do the job.
- A project manager will assign a business task to an employee with proven expertise.
- A chef is likely to gravitate towards an effective and dependable culinary tool.
- A software engineer or computer technician will utilize a preferred application that is known to produce predictable, accurate, and repeatable results.
We can find other common examples in a reliable motor vehicle, a trustworthy appliance, or a dependable friend. These qualities and virtues serve to exemplify this reference to character in our text from Romans 5:4. The following source makes use of another metaphor to illustrate this concept…
“The word he uses for character is dokime (G1382). Dokime (G1382) is used of metal which has been passed through the fire so that everything base has been purged out of it. It is used of coinage as we use the word sterling. When affliction is met with fortitude, out of the battle a man emerges stronger, and purer, and better, and nearer God.”
This same source continues this analogy with a reference to our next quality: hope…
“‘Character,’ Paul goes on, ‘produces hope.’ Two men can meet the same situation. It can drive one of them to despair, and it can spur the other to triumphant action. To the one it can be the end of hope, to the other it can be a challenge to greatness. ‘I do not like crises,’ said Lord Reith, ‘but I do like the opportunities they provide.’
The difference corresponds to the difference between the men. If a man has let himself become weak and flabby, if he has allowed circumstances to beat him, if he has allowed himself to whine and grovel under affliction, he has made himself such that when the challenge of the crisis comes he cannot do other than despair. If, on the other hand, a man has insisted on meeting life with head up, if he has always faced and, by facing, conquered things, then when the challenge comes, he meets it with eyes aflame with hope. The character which has endured the test always emerges in hope.” (1)
(1) Barclay, William. “Commentary on 1 Timothy 1:2-17”. “William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb/romans-5.html. 1956-1959.