Romans 5:3-5 – Glorying in Tribulations

In Romans 5:3 Paul adds another treasure with the words “and not only so.”

It’s like he keeps saying, “and there’s more.” We already have justification, peace with God, access by faith, standing in grace, and rejoicing in hope. Now he adds something surprising and we read,

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 

We glory in tribulations also. That sounds strange because tribulations don’t feel like treasures. So what does that mean?

Tribulation in the Bible means pressure, trouble, distress, opposition, even persecution. Sometimes life feels smooth, but other times everything seems to be against us. We feel stress, fear, anxiety. We often even have enemies fighting against what we believe. All of that is tribulation. It’s like taking a beating—sometimes physical, sometimes mental, sometimes spiritual.

But Romans 5–8 shows how Christ delivers us. He delivers us fully in the resurrection to come—the hope of glory.

But even now, while we’re in this earthly body today, He gives us the peace of God inside, so even when everything outside is beating us up, we can still be at peace in our soul because we’re in Christ.

Paul explains this in other verses as well.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 he says,

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

God is “the God of all comfort,” who comforts us in all our tribulation so we can comfort others.

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 says this,

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

That’s Romans 5 in action. Tribulation doesn’t destroy the believer because we have hope. Despair has no hope, but faith in Christ gives hope that tribulation cannot touch.

In 2 Corinthians 7:4–6 Paul says,

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. 

For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. 

Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 

He’s joyful in all tribulation yet he still has comfort and joy because of the hope he has in Christ.

So, Romans 5 teaches that because we’re justified by faith, and because God’s given us peace, access, grace, and hope, we can even glory in tribulations. Troubles don’t take away the hope of glory we have in Christ Jesus.

In 1 Thessalonians 3  where the Thessalonians were facing persecution and physical affliction from their own people, Paul says he sent Timothy to comfort them so they would not be moved by these afflictions. He says “for we are appointed thereunto ”reminding them that he already told them they’d “suffer tribulation,” and it happened just like he said. So tribulation, affliction and trouble all go together. This is real life.

Paul lists “glorying in tribulations” as a treasure we have in Christ. He never says tribulation goes away. He never says, “Now that we’re saved, we’ll never have fears within or fightings without.” In fact he says the very opposite.  We will face trouble, but we can glory in it.

That’s very different from Israel’s promises in the Old Testament.

Israel was promised earthly peace, victory over enemies, and safety in their land. Paul doesn’t promise that to the church, the Body of Christ. He says we will face trouble, but Christ gives us something inside that lets us glory in it.

So as Christians we don’t pretend tribulation doesn’t exist. Some try to act like being saved means smiling all the time and pretending nothing bad happens. But Paul never teaches that. Trouble comes to all of us just as it also comes to the unsaved. And also, we should never think that tribulation won’t come again just because we had a good season. That’s not the promise. Tribulation will come.

And here we’re not talking about the prophetic “great tribulation” Jesus spoke of for Israel before the kingdom comes. That’s Jacob’s trouble. Here we’re talking about the everyday tribulation believers face—persecution, opposition to truth, fears, pressures, enemies of the cross. In this life we’re living today we can glory in tribulations.

Romans 8:18 says this,

For I (that’s Paul) reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Paul told the Thessalonians, tribulation would happen and he told the Philippians the same thing while he sat in prison.

Our flesh wants to avoid trouble. We think, “I won’t do that again; it caused problems.” But sometimes the very thing causing trouble is the will of God—standing for truth, preaching Christ, forgiving someone, living out who we are in Christ. Then we’ve got to choose: our comfort or God’s truth. Paul says in Philippians 1:29 says,

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Suffering looks different in different places. We may not suffer like some believers do, but we all face frustrations and pressures. And there’s no promise that because we live in a certain place we’ll escape persecution. If the whole world turns against us, it doesn’t mean God’s truth’s failed.

It’s simply the course of this present evil world which we see in Galatians 1:4.

Christ hasn’t brought His kingdom to earth yet. The Head of the Body is in heaven, and we’re His ambassadors on earth, preaching reconciliation to a world that rejects Him.

2 Corinthians 4:4 says,

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

The god of this world is the devil.

Many if not most people don’t believe in him, yet they follow his thinking, his deceptions, rejecting God and doing whatever seems right in their own eyes.

Jesus said the same about Israel when they rejected Him. So we live in an evil world, ruled by the god of this world, and suffering’s part of it. There is no promise in this dispensation that we’ll avoid it.

Now, at this point you might be saying, “I thought Romans 5 was going to be a glorious chapter.” It is. But first we have to clear up the wrong ideas people have about tribulations. God never promised Christians that we’d be saved from trouble. The treasure in Romans 5 is not that trouble goes away, but that we can glory in tribulations. That’s an unnatural response. What sets a Christian apart is not a life with less trouble, but a different way of responding to it because of what we know in Christ.

 

Some people think a Christian with no problems must be spiritual but that’s just not true. The treasure is that the believer, justified by faith, can glory in tribulations because of the hope God gives. Paul’s not saying, “Just endure it.” Many people can endure suffering. He’s saying something higher: glory in it.

That means rejoicing in the middle of trouble, not pretending the trouble’s good, we’re not calling bad things good, but having a real hope of something better that lets us rejoice even when everything around us is falling apart.

Romans 5:3 says, “We glory in tribulations knowing…”

So the ability to glory in tribulation comes from knowing something. That’s why some saved people don’t know how to glory in tribulations—they don’t know the truth that produces that hope. Glory means rejoicing. It’s not fake optimism. It’s not a wilful act to put on for the world to see. It’s a real expectation of good from God, even when the situation’s bad.

So the question is: what do we need to know that gives us this hope?

Men naturally glory in their own strength. When trouble comes, some people double down and say, “I’ll beat this thing.” That’s where wrong preaching comes in—people say, “You have a Goliath in your life; go knock it down.” But that was Israel’s promise, not ours.

David trusted God’s covenant promises to Israel but God never promised the church that we would defeat every earthly problem.

In this dispensation of grace, our strength works differently. Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians, which is a book full of suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11:30 after he lists the terrible challenges and persecutions he personally suffered, he says, “If I must glory, I will glory in my infirmities.”

People normally glory in their strengths—being smart, strong and tough or skilled. Paul glories in his weaknesses. That sounds crazy to the world, but this is the mind of a sanctified or set apart believer.

In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh.”

He prayed three times for God to remove it, no doubt thinking, “Lord, if this was gone, I could do more for You.” Many of us have prayed that prayer. But Christ answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

Jesus was not saying “No” in a harsh way. He was teaching Paul that he was looking for strength in the wrong place. Christ was saying, “My strength is in My grace, not in your flesh. You are insufficient but My grace is enough.”

So any Christian who thinks God promised to heal their flesh or make them physically strong is putting their hope in the wrong place. God gives a spiritual strength that’s greater than anything we can see with our eyes or touch with our hands. And that strength is what allows us to glory in tribulations.

Jesus told Paul,

My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

That means Christ’s strength shows its full power when we’re weak. When Paul learned this, he said he would quote “glory in my infirmities,” because now he understood where real strength comes from.

Christ was teaching Paul to stop looking to his own flesh for power and to trust the strength that comes from God’s grace.

Then he goes even further and says he takes pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, and distresses for Christ’s sake.

He’s not enjoying the pain and the persecution itself. He’s rejoicing because these weaknesses give him a chance to show the love of Christ and the power of God’s grace.

He explains that every kind of trouble he faces becomes a way to preach Christ. One of the greatest testimonies a Christian can have in this dispensation is not when life looks great, but when life looks weak, painful, and even when we’re close to death. In those moments, the believer can say, “The life I live in the flesh is not mine—it’s Christ’s life.” And when this flesh is done for, we have glory, resurrection, and eternal life. Our hope is not in this life. It’s in Christ.

Sometimes a Christian’s life that looks “too good” can sometimes hide Christ.

People look at the Christian instead of Christ and they falsely think trusting Christ means getting a better life now and when the good life doesn’t come to them they say, “What’s the use of the Christian life, what’s the use of Christ?”

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says that if our hope is only in this life, we are “of all men most miserable.”

Yet many Christians live as if this life is all there is and the only place Christ can help them and when that doesn’t happen doubt confusion and anxiety take over.

Paul says when he’s weak in the flesh, he’s strong in Christ. That’s the testimony of the Christian life and the way ministry works today.

So in Romans 5:3 we read and we read it in context with Romans 5:2,

By whom (that’s the Lord Jesus Christ) also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Verse 3,

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 

“We glory in tribulations, knowing…”.

That’s so important because glorying in tribulations relies on us knowing something.

Paul had to be taught about Christ’s sufficient grace and we must be taught too. We don’t just automatically glory in tribulations just because we’re saved. We glory because we know something that those who can’t glory in their tribulations don’t know.

This whole dispensation of grace that we live in today is based on what we know from Scripture. That’s why God gave us the completed Bible—to walk by faith based on what we know.

We know faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. We know justification by faith without works. We know peace with God. We know grace and we know hope—eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Romans 15:4 says this about the scriptures,

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 

See, hope comes from learning God’s truth, taking it in with patience, and finding comfort in what God’s promised us.

Without Christ, people are hopeless. But with Christ, even in weakness, we have strength, hope, and glory.

People say, “What’s the proof for God? If He doesn’t help me now, He’s worthless.” The big mistake here is thinking now is all there is.

If this life is all we have, then I’m sorry but we have no hope.

That’s why Paul says in Ephesians 2:12 that without Christ we’re without hope.

People can deceive themselves that they’re not getting older, and that their body isn’t breaking down and they can pretend life isn’t getting worse.

But that’s all it is, pretending. Without Christ we live in corruption, decay, and we’re heading toward the grave with nothing.

This is why it’s a treasure to glory in tribulation. We can be honest: “Yes, this hurts. Yes, I’m getting older. Yes, things are bad.” But our hope’s not in this life. Our hope is in glory.

Now, if we say we have hope, we need evidence.

Colossians 1:9–11 shows that our hope is based only on God’s word. It’s based on the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. It’s increasing in the knowledge of God that strengthens us with all might.

Then we know from Hebrews 11:1 that,

faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

And from Romans 10:17 that,

faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

Faith doesn’t come from wishing. It comes from hearing the word of God. Our evidence is that God spoke and that’s absolutely sure and certain evidence.

Paul prays in the incredible passage of Colossians 1 that believers would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

Colossians 1:10,

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

As we learn, and walk in what we learn, we grow stronger—not in our flesh, but in God’s power—unto “all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.”

Many Christians today act like knowledge is a bad thing, but Proverbs 16:16 tells us this,

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! 

We know from Ephesians 1:3 that we already have all spiritual blessings in Christ.

Knowing what these spiritual blessings are helps us glory in tribulations. We’re not glad for the trouble itself, we’re glad for the good thing God brings out of it—Christ’s life, Christ’s strength, Christ’s hope.

We also know our hope is in the Lord, not in ourselves, not in money, nor health, or safety. We begin to look at our day to day, ever changing circumstances differently. These are always in a state of change sometimes good sometimes bad and sometimes very bad, but as we increase in the knowledge of God we see hope beyond those circumstances and we begin to see them in the perspective of eternity and glory.

Philippians 1:20–21 Paul says,

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

Paul had confidence that Christ would be magnified in his body—whether by life or by death. That means no matter what happens, Christ can be glorified.

The opposite is trying to magnify ourself. People try to make their life better and better so they look great. But that only works while we’re healthy, strong, and alive. When those things fail, our hope dies with them.

But, if our hope is Christ, then whether we have little or a lot, whether we live or die, Christ is magnified.

We also know our hope is future, not now.

Romans 8:18 says,

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

1 Corinthians 15:19 says,

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Many of us live like our only hope is here and now, but that’s not the gospel.

Yes, life has it misery and challenges. And yes, serving Christ often makes life harder. We could have more free time if we didn’t spend so much time studying to increase in the knowledge of God.

The world may think preaching and teaching’s a waste of time and if our hope is only in this life, then yes that’s true.

We could work more, make more money, and spend less time learning about God, but there’s something greater than those things – the eternal truth of Christ, the hope of glory, and the life that never ends.

When we say, we don’t have time, what we really mean is that we think something else is more important. Choosing the things of God often feels miserable to the flesh, because the world tells us there’re better ways to spend our time.

But everything changes with Christ’s resurrection.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20,

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 

 

If Christ rose from the dead, then the gospel’s true. Salvation by grace through faith is true. We’re a new creature in Christ. We’re justified. We have access to God. We have peace with God.

We’re not trying to make peace with Him—we already have it through Jesus Christ.

That makes life far less miserable, because now we have something more valuable than anything in this world.

Our hope is future.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 is the incredible passage on what we call the rapture, what Paul teaches about the resurrection.

He says believers should not sorrow “as others which have no hope.” The lost have no hope after death. But believers who “sleep in Jesus” will return with Him.

Verse 16 says the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And then Paul says, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

This is real comfort in tribulation. At funerals, Christians can rejoice—not because death feels good or because there’s no hurt or sorrow, but because the believer’s in a better place.

Christian funerals have, or should have, this hope. If we truly believe Christ rose from the dead, then we can glory even in the death of a saint.

 

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:5,

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 

Our consolation, our comfort abounds by Christ. Christ came from heaven, suffered on earth, and then rose again. Now we, who’re saved by grace, are ambassadors of heaven living in a suffering world.

We share in His sufferings so we can also share in His comfort. Christ rose by His own power and we’ll rise by His power. That’s our hope.

This is why 2 Corinthians 4:5 says,

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

 

We don’t preach ourselves—our success, our strength and achievements. God’s not in the business of giving credit to the strong. Christ’s power’s not shown in earthly victories. It’s shown in His death and resurrection, and in weak people trusting Him.

His power’s made perfect in weakness. That’s why Paul glories in infirmities. When we’re weak, Christ is strong.

We glory in tribulations because we know by faith through God’s Word, the power of Christ, the truth of His resurrection, and the hope of glory that’s coming.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says,

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

God put the treasure of the gospel in weak flesh so the power would clearly be of God, not of us. When people ask how we have strength, joy, and hope, even in times of great trouble, we can say, “It’s not me. It’s God’s grace.” That answer itself is preaching the gospel. It’s saying I’m justified by faith, He gave me these things freely, and I trust Him.

2 Corinthians 4:10-11 says,

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Just as Jesus’ body hung weak and lifeless on the cross and yet He rose again, our flesh can be weak and failing, yet we still have life in Christ. This’s because we have the hope of eternal glory.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 we read,

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Paul refers to our suffering as “light affliction,” not because it feels light, but because it’s small compared to the eternal weight of glory.

If we believe in that hope of glory, even heavy suffering becomes light in comparison.

It all comes back to faith and that’s as strong as our knowledge about the gospel.

Paul lived this out. In Philippians 3:8 he says everything he once counted as gain is now “dung” compared to knowing Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. He wanted Christ’s power to rest on him, not only in future glory, but in his thinking and his daily life.

In Philippians 4 Paul says he learned to be content in every situation. He knew how to abound and how to be abased, how to be full and how to be hungry, how to suffer need. He rejoiced in the hope of God’s glory in every circumstance. That’s why he could say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The “all things” includes tribulation and peace. Christ is the strength.

All Paul’s later teachings—Philippians, Corinthians, Colossians, Ephesians—flow out of Romans 5: “we glory in tribulations also.”

So why don’t all Christians glory in tribulations?

First, weak faith.

If we don’t know the why or the how, we won’t glory.

We may believe the gospel, but if we don’t know these truths, we won’t know what to rejoice in.

Second, failure to acknowledge what we have.

Philemon 1:6 says,

That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 

 

Many Christians believe but don’t live like what they believe is true. We get nearsighted, focused only on this life, and forget eternity.

 

Third, misplaced hope.

If our hope is in our flesh, in our success, or in anything of this life, we won’t glory in tribulation. We’ll panic when life shakes us up. But if our hope is in Christ and glory, tribulation can’t touch our joy even though it’s very real and it hurts.

Romans 5:2 says we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” If we can’t rejoice in hope during peaceful times, we won’t glory in tribulation.

But if our faith rests in the hope of glory, then when tribulation comes, we can glory in that too—because our joy is not a result of life’s circumstances.

When we receive God’s truth and actually believe it, it changes how we think and respond.

So tribulation works patience, not because we’re strong, but because the hope and love of God produces it in us.

Patience in the Bible means waiting through time with the right mind. It’s not just hanging on or gritting our teeth. It’s waiting while holding on to the good hope we already have in Christ.

When we acknowledge that something in our life hurts, or is hard, but we still have that good thing God promised, that’s patience.

The “good” doesn’t come from positive thinking. It comes from the hope we have in Christ Jesus.

Paul says this in 1 Timothy 1:16,

Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first (that’s Paul) Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 

God shows His longsuffering in this dispensation of grace.

If God is longsuffering toward sinners, and we stand in His grace, then we also have power to suffer long. We have promises, hope, and good things in Christ that carry us through.

The Thessalonians are an example.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul thanks them for their “work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope.” They were persecuted, but they kept the right mind because of what God promised them. That’s “tribulation working patience.”

If we don’t have the hope of glory, we just won’t have patience. We may endure, but not because of Christ. True patience comes from God’s hope working in us, not from our willpower.

So Romans 5:3-4 says,

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 

And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 

Patience worketh, or brings about, results in experience.

Paul’s not teaching that we prove ourself a strong Christian by fighting through trouble. He’s teaching that God proves Himself true as we trust Him in tribulation. We believed the truth before the suffering came, but when the suffering comes and we actually use what we know, we see God’s faithfulness. That becomes experience.

Maybe we lose a loved one. Do we sorrow like those with no hope? Or do we rest in what God said? When we trust the Scripture and it holds us up, and we say, “That worked.” That’s experience—not our strength, but God’s strength proven in our situation.

We don’t look down on Christians who haven’t had this experience yet. Life brings it in time. But Christians who know doctrine have more opportunity to gain experience, which is why we need to start with understanding truth.

 

Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 to commit truth to faithful men who can teach others. Faithfulness is not just head knowledge. It’s knowledge put into practice, so God can produce experience through it. Ministry itself is one of the ways we gain experience. We learn what works and what doesn’t and we see God’s Word prove itself true.

Experience is the assurance that grows as we see God’s faithfulness in real life. Our faith in the gospel is proven in tribulation.

In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul says ministers prove themselves “in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses.” That’s Romans 5 in action. How do we prove it? With pureness, knowledge, longsuffering, kindness, the Holy Ghost, love unfeigned, the word of truth, the power of God, and the armour of righteousness. These are the tools. And where are they proven? In tribulation.

You don’t have to go looking for tribulation. It will show up. And if everything in life is always smooth and successful, we can’t really prove our ministry anyway. In fact, big success often tempts people to compromise but Paul says we’ve got to stick to the word of truth.

When we go through trouble with God’s hope in our heart, we learn to wait with the right mind. That’s patience. And when patience keeps working, we gain experience, not in proving our strength, but proving that God’s hope works. Then that experience strengthens our hope even more. This is the hope of Romans 5:2, “the hope of the glory of God.” It’s the good we can confidently expect, in pain or in peace.

Romans 5:5 says this,

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

This hope is not a wish. It is not “I hope so.” It is a sure hope based on what God has said.

In 2 Timothy 1:12 we read,

For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 

He knows by faith, because God spoke.

People lack faith not because they can’t think, but because they won’t accept what God said. We can read a recipe, but until we follow it, we don’t know what it tastes like. Faith works the same way.

The “love of God” in Romans 5:5 is His grace.

His love shown in Christ dying for sinners. That love is “shed abroad in our hearts” by the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost gave Paul the mystery, gave us the gospel, seals us as Ephesians 1:13 says, and teaches us the deep things of God as 1 Corinthians 2 says.

This is the first time “the love of God” appears in Romans.

The next time is in Romans 8:37 which says “nothing shall separate us from the love of God.”

Romans 3 showed God’s love in Christ’s death. Romans 4 showed it’s by faith, not works. Romans 5 shows the riches that love gives us. Romans 8 shows nothing can take it away.

 

This is also the first mention of the Holy Ghost in Romans. And that matters, because we glory in tribulations by knowing things that only the Spirit of God can teach us.

1 Corinthians 2:10 says the Spirit searches “the deep things of God.” While verse 12 says we received the Spirit “that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

That’s Romans 5—things freely given by grace.

So how do you glory in tribulations?

By knowing what God said.

By believing what the Holy Ghost revealed.

By trusting the hope of glory that cannot fail.

The Holy Ghost wrote the Scriptures, and He lives in us the moment we believed. That’s how this works. That’s how we can respond to tribulations in a way that’s not natural, but spiritual—because we know the truth God gave us.