I Thessalonians 1:2, 3 – “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”
In the above passage, Paul introduces his first epistle to the church of Thessalonica. Hereby it is clearly brought forth that the apostle remembered three things concerning the people of Thessalonica. First, he remembered their work of faith. Faith alone is dead, but living faith is working faith! The Thessalonians did not merely enjoy their faith; they employed their faith! They put their faith to work in such a way that it benefited the kingdom of God, and Paul the apostle did not forget it! Second, Paul remembered their labour of love. And third, Paul remembered their patience of hope. I wish to expound briefly concerning this patience of hope.
Commonly, it becomes clear to me that many Christians have a wrong idea of the meaning of this blessed word, “hope.” For too long we have allowed our culture to define the word for us, rather than allowing the Bible to define it. “Hope” is defined by many as an “unsure possibility.” We say, “I HOPE it will rain.” When this statement is made, what we mean is, “I do not know if it will rain or not, but I hope it will.” We say, “I HOPE the preacher doesn’t preach too long tonight.” These uses of the word, “hope” illustrates an UNSURE hope. The Bible sense of the word, “hope” is defined by Noah Webster this way: “Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God’s gracious promises; a scriptural sense.”
In the book of Hebrews, the writer gives us possibly the best definition of hope in the Bible in Hebrews 6:19 – “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.”
In this passage, the writer clearly shows us a hope that is compared to an anchor of the soul. He describes a hope that is both SURE and STEADFAST! The world gives an UNSURE hope; but God Almighty gives His children a SURE and STEADFAST hope. The world crosses their fingers, looking for a possibility; the Christian looks to a God who cannot lie, expecting an event that we KNOW FOR SURE is approaching!
Anytime the Bible associates HOPE with a something that God promised, it is a sure hope. When we hope for the coming of the promises of God, we do not cross our fingers, not knowing whether or not they will come; we look down the dusty road, knowing that they are on the way! Understanding this clearly, I wish to look at a couple of passages that deal with the subject of hope. These passages are usually interpreted through the lens of an unsure hope. But I would like to examine these passages with Biblical hope in mind – a sure and steadfast hope!
Saved by Hope
Romans 8:24, 25 – “For we are saved by hope: 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, then do we with patience wait for it.”
When reading this text, I have heard some say that we do not know for sure that we are saved, or that we will be saved in the end. Such an interpretation is contrary to scripture! I told someone recently that I am not TRYING to be saved; I AM saved! In I Corinthians 1:18, Paul said, speaking of the preaching of the cross, that it is the power of God to them which “ARE SAVED!” That’s the group I’m in! I am not STRIVING for salvation; I HAVE salvation! Ephesians 2:8 states plainly “By grace ARE ye saved!” The last time I checked, the word, “ARE” is present tense! I am not running a race to see if I will get eternal life; I HAVE eternal life! I John 5:13 plainly establishes this point when John says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye HAVE eternal life!” I am not working on obtaining everlasting life; I currently possess everlasting life! Jesus said in John 5:24, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but IS PASSED from death unto life.”
So, to say that the above passage is correctly interpreted as meaning that we do not possess salvation currently, and we are only hoping to obtain salvation, is the most ridiculous tale I have heard in long while.
But let us examine the above verses. “We are saved by hope,” the apostle says. Paul goes on to say, “For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for.” To the honest reader, it sure seems that salvation is something we have not yet seen. We are hoping for it. Paul clearly states that if we had already attained it, we wouldn’t be hoping for it! All of this is correct! There is a futuristic aspect to salvation. It has been rightly said that I HAVE BEEN saved from the penalty of sin – this is justification. I am BEING SAVED from the power of sin – this is sanctification. I WILL BE SAVED from the presence of sin – this is glorification. And glorification is the subject of the above verses. Paul was making reference to the time when even our bodies will be saved! In the future, our bodies will be changed to be like His glorious body! This is glorification! When Paul said, “We are saved by hope,” he was not inferring that he didn’t know for sure whether he would be saved in the end or not. He was in no way doubting that he would receive a glorious body when the Lord returns. Look at what he says in same chapter:
Romans 8:29, 30 – “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
Paul states clearly here that those whom God foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son! In no way does this sound like Paul didn’t know for sure whether he would be saved in the end or not. Paul says this of the faithful God whom he served – “…whom He justified, them He also GLORIFIED [past tense].” Paul here says clearly that if you have been justified, your glorification is already done! No, Paul was not claiming to have already obtained a glorified body, but he counted it as having already been done, because God is the One who promised that Paul would be glorified. And, in Paul’s heart, if God Almighty promised it, it’s as good as done!
So, when Paul says, “We are saved by hope,” he was not saying that he did not know whether he would be saved in the end or not. He was stating clearly that he had a hope of salvation in the end!
The Hope of Eternal Life
Titus 1:1, 2 – “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”
In these verses, Paul states that he had a hope of eternal life. Now, some interpret this passage to mean that Paul was in doubt whether he would receive eternal life in the end or not. How absurd. Again, it is clear that the hope that is associated with God Almighty is a SURE and STEADFAST hope! Paul certainly was not “crossing his fingers,” unsure as to his final state.
From this passage, we learn something else of the subject of hope. Hope of a coming event is always based upon a fact or condition. Allow me to illustrate. Suppose you are reading a newspaper and the meteorologist’s column informs you that there is a 90% chance of rain. You say to yourself, “I hope it rains! We sure need it!” On what is your hope built? It is built on what the meteorologist says. You know what kind of record they have! I never make or change plans based upon a weather forecast. They’re just not that dependable. This is the UNSURE HOPE we’ve been discussing.
But look at Paul’s hope of eternal life, and the fact upon which it was built. How could Paul hope to receive eternal life for even his decaying body? How could Paul be sure that his body would one day be changed into a glorious body, never again to die? That sounds far fetched, but Paul had a fact upon which he based such a conclusion. Here is the fact upon which his hope laid – GOD SAID IT, AND GOD CANNOT LIE! Paul’s hope was not based upon the 50/50 chance of a weatherman! It was based rather upon the never-failing promise of God Almighty!
In Paul’s “hope of eternal life,” he was not hoping, unsure of whether it would happen or not; he was rather expecting eternal life, because he KNEW he would receive it in its entirety, even in obtaining a new body!
Let us not get weary in waiting patiently for what God said would happen. Let us have a sure and steadfast hope, knowing that what God promised, He will perform!
