Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #65 - The God of Hope

We wanted to pick up where we left off in our last post with a reference to Romans 15:13 - "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."  We have considered the subject of "abounding in hope" found in this verse in a previous post (3/9/2014).  It is evident from this verse that God is the Source or Origin of the believer's hope - apart from God there is no true hope in this life or in eternity.  Those who are "without God" are without hope in the true sense of the word (Ephesians 2:12).  But this verse also speaks of God as the Object of the believer's hope - the One in whom we hope as well as the One from whom we are given hope.  This brings us back to the distinction we attempted to make in our last post between the possession of hope (our subjective hope) and the placement of hope (our objective hope).  And so we wanted to pursue this aspect of hope a little further.  There is at least one verse in Scripture that combines our "having" or "possessing" hope with the "placement" of our hope in God, or more specifically in Christ Jesus:  "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (I Corinthians 15:19).  As believers we have hope, but only because we have hope in Christ!  It is evident from this verse that the believer's hope in Christ is a reality "in this life" but that it also extends beyond this life to our resurrection and glorification in eternity.  Some might piously state in the context of the relatively easy life of modern American Christianity that they would gladly live for Christ even if there was no heaven or hell, but in the context of the almost daily sufferings of the first century Christians the Apostle Paul spurned the idea of any hope that was not eternal!  How miserable was his earthly life compared to my own, but how joyful was his eternal hope in Christ!  Try reading the end of the chapter with that thought in mind and rejoice with Paul as he writes, "But thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:51-58).  Yes, our hope is real because Christ is real; Our hope is eternal because Christ is eternal; Our hope is certain because it is centered in Christ!  There are three prepositions used in the Greek New Testament to describe this placement of hope in the Person of Christ as our Lord and our God:  unto (eis), upon (epi), and in (en).  We do not state this in order to make some artificial distinction between believing in Christ versus believing on Christ as some have done (while such a distinction may be made in certain contexts it is not based upon the choice of the Greek preposition alone).  But we should note that all three prepositions are employed by the Holy Spirit to emphasize the various aspects of our hope in Christ (not just for the sake of variety).  According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon we may observe the following distinctions:

1)  hope directed toward God (expressed by the preposition eis) - "... that your faith and hope might be in (Greek unto) God" (I Peter 1:21).  This distinction is lost in the English translation.  Other verses include II Corinthians 1:10 and I Peter 3:5 where the Greek word hope (elpis) is translated as "trust".

2)  hope placed upon God (expressed by the preposition epi) - "And every man that hath this hope in him (that is, in Christ) purifieth himself, even as he (Christ) is pure" (I John 3:3).  Again the distinction is lost in the English translation.  The point of the verse is not that we have a hope within us (which is also true), but that we have our hope placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  Again we found two more verses with this preposition where the Greek word hope (elpis) is translated as "trust" - I Timothy 4:10; 6:17.

3)  hope resting in God (expressed by the preposition en) - "If in this life only we have hope in Christ ..." (I Corinthians 15:19).  Which brings us back to where we began!  But if these statements were not plain enough, the Apostle Paul gives us one more statement that makes it unmistakeably clear that our hope is found in Christ alone, by way of his own personal testimony of faith as expressed in I Timothy 1:1 (made even more forceful by omitting the added italicized words of the KJV):

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ

by the commandment of God our Savior,

and Lord Jesus Christ,

Our Hope

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #64 - Having Hope

Thus far in our studies in the New Testament on the word "hope" we have primarily been looking at the "objective" side of the believer's hope, that is, at the objects that make up the hope of the Christian:  salvation, eternal life, resurrection, glorification, etc.  In this sense we may state with the Scriptures that our hope is "laid up" for us "in heaven" (Colossians 1:5).  In other Scriptures we find the "subjective" side of hope, that our hope in another sense also resides in us.  E.W. Bullinger noted that "hope" may be either objective or subjective.  He described our subjective hope as "a well-grounded expectation and a gladly and firmly held prospect of future good" and our objective hope as "the expected good, that for which we hope."  I Peter 3:15 exhorts the suffering believer to "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."  This speaks of the hope of the Christian as an inward possession.  In other passages this aspect of hope is simply described as "having hope".  For example:

Romans 15:4 - "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

II Corinthians 3:12 - "Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech."

Hebrews 6:9 - "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil."

This "having hope" or the inward possession of hope is a privilege unknown to the unbeliever.  Twice we read of those who "have no hope":  

Ephesians 2:12 - "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." 

I Thessalonians 4:13 - "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."

These verses do not speak of the vain and imaginary "hopes" that men may have (some "hopes" are purely human in origin), but of the true and genuine hope that comes from believing in Christ (the Christian hope).  The Christian possesses an inward hope that does not originate in himself.  The possession is inward but the source and placement is outward, or better yet, God-ward.  The reason an unbeliever has no such hope is because he is "without Christ" and "without God" (Ephesians 2:12).  It is impossible to speak of the subjective hope of the Christian apart from their objective hope in God and His Word.  Thus the very first passage we cited that speaks of "having hope" points to the source of that hope as being found in the "patience" (i.e. perseverance or endurance) and "comfort" (or possibly admonition) we are taught by the Scriptures (Romans 15:4).  And the verse following that immediately attributes the granting of such patience and comfort that allows us to "have hope" to "The God of patience and consolation" (Romans 15:5).  Therefore the possession of hope is directly related to the placement of hope in God and His Word.  Our subjective hope is only as good as our Object of hope! 

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

Romans 15:13

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #63 - The Hope of Eternal Life (Part III)

This is our third post on the subject of the hope of eternal life as referred to in Paul's epistle to Titus:  "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world (or this age) began;" (Titus 1:2); and, "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:7).  In our last post we left off by noting that the Biblical concept of "life" often includes much more than the thought of mere animal existence, but involves the possession of "life real and genuine ... a happy life and every kind of blessing" (Thayer).  We wanted to explore this idea a little further.  There is a great contrast presented in the Bible not only between the life of the believer and the unbeliever in eternity (which we have already discussed), but in the quality of life possessed by the saved and the unsaved in this present world.  For example, the Bible describes the condition of the unbeliever as being "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1,5).  Likewise, "But she that liveth in (sinful) pleasure is dead while she liveth" (I Timothy 5:6).  Just as we have considered the "death" of the unredeemed in hell as meaning separation from God for all eternity, so the unsaved sinner is spiritually dead or spiritually separated from God even while he is physically alive in this world.  There is no true life apart from being in fellowship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!  But once we have accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord, He imparts spiritual life unto us and we are spiritually born:  "And you hath he quickened (made truly alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1,5).  The Bible presents this "quickening" under three figures:  1) Regeneration or the New Birth (John 1:13; 3:3); 2) Resurrection or being "made alive" in Christ (John 5:25; Romans 6:13; Colossians 3:1); and 3) Re-creation or becoming a new creature (II Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10).  Thus the eternal life of the believer begins at conversion and lasts for eternity.  The present aspects of eternal life are described in numerous passages of scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments.  In Psalm 73:24-24 Asaph wrote:  "Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."  In John 17:3 Christ said: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."  John Walvoord commented on this verse by noting that "eternal life is described in its experiential aspect of knowing God and having fellowship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ" (emphasis mine).  This is what the Lord Jesus meant when He said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).  This is an echo of the cry of Wisdom in the book of Proverbs:  "For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.  But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:  all they that hate me love death" (Proverbs 8:35,36).  It is a profitable study just to look at all the verses in the Bible where "life" means so much more than merely "being alive" but that is beyond the scope of this post.  But we must also note that the gift of eternal life means much more than merely existing forever. Unger speaks to this matter very plainly:  "Life is endless in every human being, saved or unsaved.  Natural life has a beginning but no end.  For the saved it involves eternal life or endless union and fellowship with God.  For the unsaved it involves eternal existence in separation from God.  (Eternal life) must not be confused with mere endless existence ... it involves the endless continuance and perfection of blessedness and communion with God ..." (emphasis mine).  Thus the Psalmist wrote:  "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).  Some of the "pleasures" the believer will enjoy for all eternity are described as "everlasting habitations" (Luke 16:9); an "eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15); "eternal glory" (I Peter 5:10); and participation in an "everlasting kingdom" (II Peter 1:11).  Quoting Unger once again, "Immortality, then, is not simply a future conscious condition, however prolonged, but a state of deliverance, of bliss, due to redemption and the possession of a glorified body, united to the soul and the spirit ... a glorified body that is immortal, deathless, painless and sinless ..." (emphasis mine).  So much more could be said about this indescribable gift of eternal life promised to those who will receive it by faith in Christ.  But we will close this post with the invitation and ultimatum that God gave to mankind long ago:  "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life ... that thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for He is thy life ..."  (Deuteronomy 30:19,20). 

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #62 - The Hope of Eternal Life (Part II)

In our last post we looked at the promise of eternal life granted by God's grace to those who have believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Titus1:2; 3:7).  But what exactly does this promise mean?  As John Walvoord states, "Both the terms 'eternal' and 'life' are difficult to define except descriptively" (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology).  The phrase "eternal life" is made up of two Greek words:  "aionios" (eternal) and "zoa" (life).  The Greek word "aionios" according to Thayer's Greek Lexicon may mean: 1) without beginning or end, that which always has been and always will be; 2) without beginning; or 3) without end, never to cease, everlasting.  In the first meaning it is used only of God (Romans 16:26).  The second meaning is found in our text in Titus 1:2 and is translated by the KJV as "before the world began".  This speaks of the "eternal promise" of God found in the Gospel which was established in the eternal counsels of God before the beginning of time (or the ages).  It is the third usage that is applied to the life of the believer both presently and after physical death.  John 3:36 states: "He that believeth on the Son hath (as a present possession) everlasting life:  and he that believeth not the Son shall not see (now or in the future) life; but the wrath of God abideth (now and forever) on him."  Those who refuse the gift of eternal life in this world will never experience it after death.  This is the "perishing" that is spoken of in John 3:16 that is only escaped through faith in Christ:  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  There is everlasting life and there is everlasting death:  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).  "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14,15).  Death in the Bible never means "to cease to exist" but always refers to a "separation" of some sort.  Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body.  Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God.  And the second death is the eternal separation of the unsaved from God in hell:  "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (II Thessalonians 1:9).  The Lord Jesus made it very clear that everyone will live forever somewhere, either in heaven or in hell.  No one simply ceases to exist after this life is over:  "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matthew 25:46).  The words "everlasting" and "eternal" are exactly the same in the Greek text.  You cannot limit the one and not the other.  Both the believer's life in heaven and the unbeliever's punishment in hell are eternal and without end!  Leon Morris wrote:  "In the NT there is no indication that the punishment of sin ever ceases."  And so, at the very least, the promise of eternal life includes the believer's escape from the eternal penalty of hell.  But there is even more in this promise of eternal life that is implied in the very word "life" as it is used in the Bible. Once again we may cite Thayer on the meaning of the Greek word "zoa". While this word may refer to the mere physical life or animation of the body, it is also used in the New Testament to refer to "life real and genuine ... a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last forever" (Thayer's Greek Lexicon).  It is this expanded definition of "life" that we wish to explore in our next post.

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #61 - The Hope of Eternal Life

In our last post we considered the hope of salvation in its past, present and future aspects.  One of the future aspects of the believer's salvation is the hope of eternal life in heaven with God.  This aspect of hope is set forth twice in the Epistle to Titus:  1)"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;" (Titus 1:2); and 2) "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:7).  We must immediately state that once again the word "hope" in the New Testament speaks not of "wishful thinking" but of "confident expectation."  In other words, the Apostle Paul fully expected to inherit eternal life along with the all the believer's at Crete.  In the first reference the Apostle Paul spoke of his apostolic calling and ministry as being "in" or more literally "resting upon" (Greek - epi) this hope.  Lenski gives the following comment:  "The thing that Paul wants to emphasize in view of what he here writes for the benefit of the recently formed churches in Crete is his connection with the entire gospel and its eternal blessings and with all true Christians who are joined with him in all that this gospel bestows on them .... Paul is God's slave and Christ's apostle 'on the basis of (the) hope of life eternal ....'".  This hope is said to have been "promised" by the God who "cannot lie" making the reality of it a certainty.  God cannot lie since to do so would be contrary to His very nature and character, thus making Him to be something less than He truly is!  To doubt God's promise or word therefore is to call Him a liar.  Perish the thought!  The God of the Bible is the "God of truth" (Psalm 31:5) and His Holy Word, the Bible, is the "word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15).  We have the very promise of the never-lying God!  Furthermore, this promise is said to have been made "before the world began" or literally "before eternal ages"!  This makes the plan of redemption pre-date the present eons of time and places it within the eternal counsels of the Godhead.  While this is hard for us to comprehend other passages speak in these same terms (compare Romans 16:25 and II Timothy 1:9 which use the same Greek phrase).  The Eternal God views all time as one eternal "now" and only such a God who is eternal in Himself could grant such a gift as eternal life to us!  But what are the conditions for receiving such a wonderful promise?  The context provides the answer:  "according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after (i.e. accords with) godliness" (verse 1).  We are also not left wondering what this "truth" is we must acknowledge and place our faith in:  "But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching ..." (verse 3).  The promise of eternal life is therefore found in believing the gospel which Christ and His apostles preached which in time was recorded in the Word of God, the Bible.  And this gospel may be found spelled out in connection with our second text as well:  "But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our savior; that being justified freely by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7).  So many wonderful truths are found in this passage, but the essential facts are:  1)  Eternal life is a gift of God's grace and mercy (we do not deserve it!); 2) Eternal life is granted apart from our own works or efforts (we cannot earn it!); 3) Eternal life comes to us solely through the Lord Jesus Christ (we cannot save ourselves!  Christ must save us!); and 4) Eternal life is a life-changing gift that is the product of a new birth imparted by the Holy Spirit of God (He must wash us and renew us!).  If we have placed our faith in the Person and Work (sacrificial death and resurrection) of the Lord Jesus Christ then God has saved us by His grace and we have been made His child and therefore heirs of eternal life!  And we may confidently expect (hope) to obtain this inheritance because we have the eternal promise of the never-lying God! Have you received His promise of eternal life?

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #60 - The Hope of Salvation

Our next descriptive phrase of the believer's hope in Christ is found in I Thessalonians 5:8 - "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."  This passage is dealing with the protective armament of the believer in Christ that is needed as we live in a world of sinful darkness and spiritual conflict.  We may compare it to Paul's even fuller description of the Christian's armor (the whole armor of God) as found in Ephesians 6:11-17 where in verse 17 he states: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Both of these passages refer to the believer's salvation as part of a spiritual armor that guards and protects the head of the Christian.  Obviously the head is a vital part of the body and a blow to the head can lead to serious consequences in battle.  The head is also the source of thought, decision making, reason, hearing, speaking, and sight.  It is both the receptor center and the command center of the rest of the body.  Many if not most of all spiritual battles take place in the mind of the Christian!  We must carefully guard our minds with the helmet of our salvation.  Simply put we should continually think about what it means to be saved and then seek to think and act accordingly.  We must be thinking Christians! The consecration and renewal of the mind is essential to spiritual growth and success (Romans 12:1,2).  Likewise, complete mastery of our thought life is critical to spiritual victory (II Corinthians 10:3-5).  But what is meant by "the hope of salvation"?  Many times we have heard it said that we must have a "know-so" salvation, not merely a "hope-so" salvation.  While I would agree with this statement wholeheartedly, I do not believe that Paul is here speaking of a salvation that is merely "hoped for" in the modern sense of the phrase.  Rather we must remind ourselves of our previous findings in this study on the Biblical meaning of the word "hope" as used in the Scriptures.  We have consistently observed that the word "hope" in the Bible is not used of merely "wishful thinking", but always of "confident expectation", especially of future good.  Thus Paul is referring to the expectation of salvation that gives the believer complete confidence in times of spiritual conflict.  The word "salvation" is a rather broad term that includes all aspects of the spiritual deliverance and safety that the Christian has been given and/or will be given.  The basic meaning is "to be rescued from danger and to be placed in a safe condition."  There are present aspects to the believer's salvation which include, among other things, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation and the new birth.  There are progressive aspects of salvation which include such things as sanctification, spiritual growth and maturity, spiritual virtues and fruit bearing, conformity to the image of Christ, etc.  And there are future aspects of salvation too - such as resurrection, redemption of the body, and glorification.  Thus the Scriptures speak of :  1) having been saved (past tense) - Romans 8:24; Ephesians 2:5,8; II Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5; etc.  (This is more clear in the Greek text since both the Aorist and  Perfect tenses are used in these verses). 

2) being saved (present tense) - Luke 19:9; I Corinthians 1:18,21; 15:2; II Corinthians 2:15; etc. And,

3) shall be saved (future tense) - Matthew 10:22; Romans 5:9; 13:11; I Corinthians 3:15; etc.

The past tense speaks of our past reception of salvation at which time we were delivered from the penalty of sin.  The present tense speaks of our present possession of salvation and the progressive deliverance from the power and practice of sin.  The future tense speaks of the future consummation of our salvation and the perfect deliverance from the very presence of sin in heaven!  This comprehensive view of salvation should serve to give us hope indeed -  A confident hope of spiritual deliverance and victory that is a settled fact, a present enjoyment, and a future guarantee!  Let us guard our hearts and our head with this great helmet: the hope of salvation!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #59 - The Hope of the Gospel

In our last post we looked in the Book of Ephesians at the hope of the believer's calling.  We noted that there are two aspects to our calling in Christ:  God's perspective of an eternal calling (He loved us in Christ before the creation of the world); and man's perspective (We accepted His calling through personal faith in Christ at a definite time and place in our lives).  From God's standpoint of eternity (He sees and knows all things past, present and future as one eternal "now") He has either always known us or He has never known us (II Timothy 1:9; Matthew 7:23).  J.I. Packer has defined our calling as "the temporal execution of (God's) eternal intentions."  The means by which God extends His eternal calling to us in time is the evangelical call of the Gospel! The only way we can "make our calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10) is to be certain that we have believed the Gospel.  This is the means that God has ordained in order to make our calling effectual for salvation (many are called, but few are chosen - Matthew 22:14).  Thus the hope of our calling is inseparably linked to the hope of the Gospel:  "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven ..." (Colossians 1:23).  This verse comes in the context of the Apostle Paul's presentation of Christ as the Preeminent One:  He is preeminent over all creation because He is the Divine Creator (Colossians 1:15-17);  He is preeminent over the Church because He is her Divine Head (vs.18-23).  The Creator of the universe is the Sovereign of the Church!  And He alone is our Savior:
1) He made peace (between a Holy God and sinful men) through the blood of His cross - vs.20.
2) He made reconciliation possible to those who were once alienated as the enemies of God - vs.21.
3) He will present the believer as holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight - vs.22.
All of this constitutes the hope of the Gospel!  This is what we may confidently claim and expect to receive because we have believed the Gospel of Christ, but only if we have believed.  The peace and reconciliation Christ died to provide is offered conditionally.  He does not reconcile everyone unconditionally  or else the devil himself and all his demons would be reconciled to God (which is clearly not the case).  He does not reconcile anyone apart from faith in Christ which is a grounded and settled trust in His Person and Saving Work.  To "move away" from this Gospel message is to be excluded from the hope of salvation it offers the sinner.  Only the Gospel of Christ offers the sinner any hope for eternal salvation!  Do you have this hope?  "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus ... for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel" (Colossians 1:3-5).