So let’s consider Romans 5:2–5.

Through him [i.e., Christ] we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3) More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4) and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5) and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

In verse 2 Paul says that he does the very thing that he commands in Romans 12:12: he rejoices in hope, specifically, hope in the glory of God.

Then in verse 3 he says that he rejoices in his sufferings as well. But why? The answer is that it’s just another way of rejoicing in hope. Follow his train of thought: the reason we rejoice in suffering is that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope! So what he is really rejoicing in when he rejoices in suffering is more hope. Hope is the great source of joy in Paul’s life.

But how does this hope and joy in Romans 5:2–4 relate to the work of the Holy Spirit? This is what Paul tells us in verse 5: “And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”

Verse 5 says that underneath our hope, giving it an unshakable foundation, is the love of God. And the work of the Holy Spirit is to pour this love into our hearts, to make us see it and grasp it and cherish it.

Now we can put the pieces together: first, there is the love of God which chooses us and calls us and justifies us and guarantees for us a share in the glory of God. Then, there is the work of the Holy Spirit that pours the love of God into our hearts so that we recognize it and cherish it. Then, out of this deep experience of the love of God grows an unshakable hope even in the midst of suffering. And finally, in this hope we rejoice.