In the previous section of Scripture, the author explains "the secret" behind all the difficult times the readers had experienced and were currently experiencing. Their afflictions did not just come into their lives at the hands of fate and destiny. Instead, the author wants his readers to understand that God was and is behind all of it, including the affliction that was just now on the distant horizon. God ordains all the rough moments in a Christian's life but he does so for a divine purpose - the discipline of his precious children. Now, with this knowledge in hand, we must and can live our lives differently than in the past. The assumption of the author is that "knowing what God is up to in our suffering is the key to pressing on in the race of holy Christian living." Prior to understanding this truth, believers were often tempted to believe that God had abandoned them. When the affliction or persecution would begin, it seemed to the natural eye and mind that they were on their own. However, now armed with the truth that all the adversity we endure is part of God's sovereign design for our good and our holiness, believers know that God is using the current situations in their lives to accomplish a very good thing in their life: growth in holiness. Such knowledge is indeed transformative and should look like the following in the life of all believers.

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