Every person, both the saved believer and the unsaved (cf. Matt. 5:45), must face and cope with the pain and sufferings of the physical body as well as the emotional sufferings of the soul’s mind, such as are common to all mortal men. Yet as we will see, as believers, our sufferings have ‘purpose’ and ‘eternal reward.’

Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together [with Him].

Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in [heaven’s] glory.  

Here below the Apostle Paul wrote of the many severe sufferings that he endured. He goes on in v9 to reveal the Lord’s purpose in his and our sufferings.

2 Cor.1:8-10 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: ⁹But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, [so] That We Should Not Trust In Ourselves, But In God which Raiseth The Dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

We trust in God knowing His “word of truth” and thereby our eternal outcome and destiny. Yes, the sufferings of this present life on earth can be very overwhelming and difficult for many today. But as believers, we should know that our Father has provided us “salvation” from our sufferings By the Power of His Words. This kind of “salvation” is derived by faith in the Words of God that are able ‘deliver’ our inward [soul] man from the sufferings of this present time. Even though we will ‘physically’ go through tribulations and sufferings of this present time, the Words of God are designed to Renew Our Way Of Thinking Concerning Our Sufferings, and how we ought to respond to them with “the mind of Christ.” (1Cor 2:16)

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind [Grk. phroneo, attitude of mind] be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Jesus’ consistent mindset was to ‘do the will of the Father’ (cf. John 6:38). We know the Lord’s will when we listen to ‘His written words’ to us as they came through Paul as our “Apostle to the Gentiles,” (cf. Rom. 11:13). Jesus said His “words… are spirit and life.” “It is the spirit that quickeneth [makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63 Though Jesus of Nazareth spoke these words to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24) they are of universal truth for believers. The fact is that just as an automobile runs on gasoline, the Christian’s ‘life’ (Grk. zoe, the spirit life) operates on the power of the truth of “the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:2a). Only He in us can live the Christian life. Paul wrote to Timothy concerning the ‘power of truth’ which Empowers Us To Endure “Afflictions.”

2 Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me [Paul] his prisoner: but be thou Partaker of The Afflictions [hardship] of The Gospel according to the power [Grk. dynamis, dynamite power] of God;

In 2 Cor.1:8-10 Paul said he experienced many sufferings to the point where he was “pressed out of measure, above strength.” Paul went through each of those sufferings, then also saying in 2Tim. 3:11, “Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but Out Of Them All the Lord Delivered me.” The question is, how could Paul say he was delivered from “all” his sufferings, and… yet still go through them? Paul knew that his sufferings were the precursor to the ultimate ‘redemption of his [and our] bodies in the ‘resurrection’ to come.’

Rom.8:22-25 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but Ourselves Also, Which Have The Firstfruits of The Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, Waiting For The Adoption, To Wit, The Redemption Of Our Body [At The Resurrection].

For We Are Saved By HOPE [cf. Titus 2:13): but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not [yet], then do We With Patience Wait For It. We are to be “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13)

The Apostle Paul gladly “endured” the sufferings of Christ by means of his mind renewed to suffer and serve ‘Christ’s body’ at all cost.

Colossians 1:24 [I Paul, v23] Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh For His Body’s Sake, which is the church:

Paul is our PATTERN for the Christian’s life;

1 Timothy 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I [Paul] obtained mercy, that in me first [Grk. as the protos, prototype] Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering [patience], for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

Isn’t it true that we ourselves as parents would ‘gladly’ bear the infirmities of our children for their sake. We willingly take on burdens for their sakes. And in that case, we don’t even take note of every one the sufferings that we endure for the sakes of our children. We don’t ‘count’ each sacrifice that we give up for our loved ones. We gladly take on their burdens for their sakes because we love them, and think of them ‘first’ regardless what we must endure on their behalf.

So our Father knows that we will know how to love in His way, teaching us His true selfless love. We need to know that it is for His sake, and the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ that we will then endure the sufferings of this present time as ‘the sufferings of Christ,’ as we learn to be “more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

Rom. 8:36-37 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay [Grk. alla, but], in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

To have understanding about our sufferings is vital and essential to understanding godliness and our position as sons of God in Christ. Most importantly, we fully we must understand and appreciate the sacrifice that we are to make for our children, and our families regardless what we must endure. For instance, parents who have a newborn child understand that they must ‘endure’ lack of sleep in the beginning, but they would not tolerate the same from a 17-year-old child keeping them up all night. We must renew our minds to understand that how our Father desires that we ‘be a living sacrifice’ for Christ’s sake. Our sufferings are going to continue at one level of another over the course of our lives, but the issue is how we think about our sufferings, and know ‘Who it is that we are living for.’ When we understand that our child or spouse is our ‘dependent,’ or responsibility, we will make those sacrifices without considering our sufferings for them. Our Father and His Son sacrificed for us, but it was for our “inward man” of the soul that needs renewal to the mindset of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man [our body] perish, yet Our Inward Man [of the Soul] Is Renewed Day By Day.

Our Apostle Paul could say he endured was delivered INWARDLY in all his sufferings, because Paul offered himself as a living sacrifice for Christ’s sake, not his own sake.

2 Cor.4:7-12 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 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; 10 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 always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

Finally, our understanding of Godly deliverance ought to be understood as the deliverance of our inward man of the soul. The believer’s body will be delivered only in its resurrection from the grave. And because He saved our souls, it is with our souls that we are debtors unto Him. Even as we suffer our response ought to be to ‘look right through’ the sufferings that come our way. We are to “look not at the things which are seen,” we are to “hope for that we see not” (Rom. 8:25). We are to ‘say’ to these things, “if God be for us, who could be against us.” We know it is for “Thy sake we are killed all the day long.” We know these sufferings are as temporal as our physical lives are temporal and will ultimately pass. Ultimately, in eternity we will see ‘the glory’ of such sufferings.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 2 Corinthians 4:17 (KJV)

Consider that just as we know to Renew Our Mindset To Sacrifice And Embrace Sufferings for a baby or spouse. We too ought to understand and appreciate the necessity to love the One who suffered to save our soul, freely justifying us unto eternal life. When Paul beseeches us to be a living sacrifice, we know “Who” is doing the beseeching unto us. When we understand that it is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and the Saviour of all mankind beseeching us, we too should know that when sufferings come up in our lives, we ought to turn to the ‘Words’ of our Lord, knowing that they are designed to give us deliverance and salvation from our sufferings. Operating upon the selfless love of the God our Father and Savior, we would desire to be transformed by the renewing of our minds about our sufferings.

Rom.8:31-2 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he [The Father] not with him also freely give us all things [in accord with the Lord’s eternal purpose that we “be conformed to the image of His Son.” see Rom. 8:29]?

Then we will be “persuaded” that “nothing shall separate us from” operating upon His selfless love. Being delivered in our mindset, we will be “more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

Rom.8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Our suffering will one day have its reward when we “appear with Him” in “the heavenly places in Christ.”

2 Tim. 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in [heaven’s] glory.

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Some Portions Are Extensively Adapted from Rod Jones­ by Arthur J. Licursi