Do We *Have* to Suffer? | For Inquiring Minds

Question: What does it mean to ‘suffer’ in Christ? Why are we expected to suffer?

It seems as if it’s the conversation of every Christian I talk to. It’s like they want to suffer. They expect it, they welcome it … they find suffering to be a promise of hope for them.

But me … I hate suffering. I don’t think I want to do that, and I especially don’t think God wants me to go through that. But then, why does the Scripture speak so fervently about suffering … as a good thing?

When people (non-Christians) hear that word, they have two reactions: 1) laugh at us and 2) avoid us. Because who in their right mind would want to suffer?

Rejoice in our Sufferings

Romans tells us the following:

Through Him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:2-5 NIV

When the Apostle Paul wrote the Church in Rome, he explained why they were to rejoice in their suffering, outlining how the trials of this world can strengthen their character, which would, in turn, produce hope. 

He also said, in the same letter, that those who were co-heirs with Christ should expect to share in His sufferings on earth with the eternal promise that we would soon share in His glory.

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.

Romans 8:17

But what does that mean?

The Believer’s Suffering

Most of us as Christians think of suffering in the wrong way. 

We *know* we have to expect some level of persecution, especially when it comes to sharing our faith and standing firm in Christ. But, sometimes, we think that every trial we endure is persecution. 

It simply isn’t. 

We shouldn’t always compare our earthly trials to persecution as there is a real threat happening in the world to Christians who actually live every day wondering if this is the day they will die or be jailed for their faith.

Many of us, thankfully, don’t have that sort of persecution to worry about, but we can expect trials, and we can expect others to mock us and insult us for what we believe. 

What we shouldn’t think, however, is that this sort of suffering is on par with our Christian siblings, who face real threats every day. 

Our Duty as Believers

As believers, trials aren’t limited to us. There are two sides of the coin we should think about. The first is that as believers, the biggest suffering we would endure is the one of the flesh. The Holy Spirit helped to see this by examining how we view ‘the law’. 

We can view salvation through two lenses: the lens of moral obligation and the lens of personal conviction. 

We know that we are saved through faith and not works, yet we’re expected to obey moral laws. However, how we think about this could be detrimental to what we’re expected to do as believers. 

As Christians, our duty is to hold steadfast to the faith. Our utmost priority is to remain in relationship with the Father through the Spirit. When Paul wrote to Rome, he encouraged them to persevere in the faith, holding onto the sound doctrine of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life, has set you free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-4

Paul talks about endurance, fighting the good fight, and running the race to the end in reference to holding onto the truth that Christ is our Redeemer who has come to save us. Then, we are expected to profess our faith and preach the Gospel.

With Christ as our new identity and our mediator, we are free to live. We are free to remain connected to God through the Spirit, whose fruits will manifest through us. When it comes to the moral obligations of the law, the Holy Spirit is the one who directs us. 

When we allow Him to guide us, we will forever remain in communion with God. Through the Spirit, we understand how to live, but we are also cautioned on what to avoid. 

Galatians tells us that we should avoid the works of the flesh, which is what tears us away from Christ and ultimately becomes the suffering that some of us battle throughout this journey. 

The truth is, we’ll always have this issue to deal with. The constant battle in our minds and our flesh forces us to doubt Christ and His work on the cross.

The good news is that we don’t have to deal with it alone; we don’t have to succumb to it. 

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.

Romans 8:5-11

The Spirit vs. Temptation

Let’s say you’re dating an atheist. 

This person treats you well, respects your beliefs, and even attends church with you. Perhaps you think the relationship would work, but as your intimacy with this person strengthens, you begin to question yourself. 

These deep questions you ask are ultimately brought to your partner, who gives is own worldly guidance to you. He perhaps would share with you secular works that argue against God, take you to conferences hosted by skeptics, and soon, you begin to question the legitimacy of Christ. 

This is something that happens often as we interact with others who don’t believe what we believe. 

Some of us, when placed in a situation like this, begin to contemplate what a future without Christ would look like, and ultimately, we’re forced to choose between God or our partner. 

These are the moments that create this internal battle: the struggle between flesh and the Spirit. However, how do we truly hold onto the faith when moments like these appear?

This scenario highlights that we not just suffer for Christ, but we suffer with Christ. 

God showed me that even if I wasn’t a Christian, suffering in this life is still imminent. After all, the entire world experiences trials. 

The Entire World Groans…

Look around you. In every part of the world, suffering and persecution take place, and it isn’t just restricted to Christians. However, a believer has something that most others don’t have. Though we suffer, we have the joy of knowing that we serve a God who once suffered with us—for us. 

Becoming a believer doesn’t automatically end our suffering. In fact, the suffering may increase. However, with our newfound faith, we have hope in Christ, allowing us to push through our suffering. 

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8:22-25

As Christians, we suffer knowing that Christ suffered for our sake, and because of that, we are guaranteed eternal life with Him at the end of this present life. 

We suffer with Christ; we suffer knowing that Christ, too, has experienced what we are currently experiencing and that His love will surpass it.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? 

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who, then, is the one who condemns? No one. 

Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:31-35

A Redeemer We Can Run To

We suffer knowing that we have a Redeemer we can run to. 

The psalmist David said:

Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalms 61:1-2

Non-believers suffer, but there is no hope at the end of it all. In truth, many people suffer for nothing, and they readily accept that, in the end, there will be nothing for them. But as believers, we do not accept this. 

We believe that Christ made a promise to us, which is why we persevere through our sufferings. 

Some religions teach that a person must complete good works to gain God’s approval, and even then, there is no guarantee that God will reward them. So, on top of fleshly struggles and earthly pains, those persons still must make penance for a heaven they’re not guaranteed to receive. 

But the Bible teaches us that as believers, once we accept Christ’s finished work, we are guaranteed eternal life through the presence of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. 

Eternal life with Him is our end goal and our earnest desire. All we need to do is hold fast to the faith.

In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:37-39

Until Next Time…

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