First some overall observations:
This short passage has a trinitarian language embeded in it as it mentions, God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit all in this very condensed passage.
It also has the time trinity embeded within as it looks at the past - "we have been justified," the present - "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," and the future - "we boast in the hope of the glory of God."
And finally, this short pericope covers hope whether we are doing fine or suffering. Either way, it leads to hope. The suffering route seems to meander a bit as it produces perseverance, character and then hope, but at least it gets there.
Another note about the word "boast" or "rejoice" Some versions of the Bible use rejoice instead of boast as boast, for us, has a negative connotation.
In our Bible study, we spent some time on looking at some passages that bolster the concept of faith being a gift from God that is freely given. We looked at Ephes 2:8-9 and Acts 16:14 and finally Philippians 1:29. These are the verses listed in Wikipedia's paragraph about justification.
Personally, I love this passage as a way of reminding me to live boldly and confidently because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for me to give me peace, faith, justification and hope. It is a wonderful combination that gives me energy for the future.
Romans 5:1-5 - New International Version (NIV) (thanks Biblegateway.com)
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
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