And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness;
3. Not only so, etc. That no one might scoffingly object and say, that Christians, with all their glorying, are yet strangely harassed and distressed in this life, which condition is far from being a happy one, — he meets this objection, and declares, not only that the godly are prevented by these calamities from being blessed, but also that their glorying is thereby promoted.
we glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience--Patience is the quiet endurance of what we cannot but wish removed, whether it be the withholding of promised good (Rom 8:25), or the continued experience of positive ill (as here). There is indeed a patience of unrenewed nature, which has something noble in it, though in many cases the offspring of pride, if not of something lower.
Sin breeds the quarrel between us and God; justification removes the guilt and so makes way for peace. God's benignity is such that immediately upon removing this obstacle, peace is made. This is friendship and loving-kindness, not merely a ceasing of enmity, and all of it comes through Christ, the blessed Mediator and Peacemaker between God and man.
AI summary
Commenting on Romans 5:1-5