<p>15:13 <i>Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit</i>- The &quot;hope&quot; is the certainty of salvation made possible for all men by becoming &quot;in Christ&quot; (:12). The certain hope ahead comes from having sin dealt with, and the subsequent peace with God. And this brings joy. But the God who is the source of that Hope fills believing human minds with that joy and peace, &quot;in the power of the Holy Spirit&quot;. The arena of the Spirit's operation is therefore in the human heart- for that is where joy and peace is experienced. This 'filling' by the Spirit is that found in Acts 13:52, where the believers &quot;were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit&quot;. We note from that reference that 'filling' is an ongoing process, and not something which only occurs at baptism. The believers in Rome had already been baptized, and Paul wishes them to experience another 'filling', as happened in Acts 13:52. Paul uses the same word in :14 concerning how he believed they had already been 'filled' with all knowledge and goodness; but he wished that filling to be ongoing.</p><p><i>So that you may abound in hope- </i>They already had hope (:12), but the work of the Spirit in their hearts was to help them feel that, so that they might abound in that hope. Following through Paul&rsquo;s reasoning in Rom. 15:9-13, he seems to be saying that &ldquo;hope&rdquo; (RV) leads to joyful praising, which in turn leads to hope and trust. It&rsquo;s an upward spiral, a positive circle. And each of those fruits of the Spirit become more gripping upon us the more we develop them.</p>