2 Through faith in Jesus we have received God's grace. In that grace we stand. We are full of joy because we expect to share in God's glory.
3 And that's not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on.
4 The strength to go on produces character. Character produces hope.
5 And hope will never let us down. God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.
6 At just the right time Christ died for ungodly people. He died for us when we had no power of our own.
7 It is unusual for anyone to die for a godly person. Maybe someone would be willing to die for a good person.
8 But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.