This love of God mentioned in Romans 5:5 does not refer to the love of our neighbour to which a Christian is called (Romans 12:9; Romans 13:10), but rather to loving God himself. This love flows from the peace that God now enjoys with us through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). This is the love by which he sacrificed Christ for us unto death (Romans 5:8). This love is not distant; it is now already palpable. Paul says that this love has been poured into our hearts,
and here he uses a verb that actually fits better with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (ekchein
). The apostle thereby simultaneously confirms these two things: First, that the Holy Spirit was given to believers when they came to faith, and second, that the outpouring of the Spirit is evidence of God’s love for us. God’s love
has, in fact, also come to live in us. In other words, the peace that we have with God is now palpable in our hearts with which we praise him (Romans 5:11). When you rejoice before God through the Holy Spirit in your heart, this affirms that our expected experience of the fullness of God’s glory is imminent.1
5 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.