I Can Hope, Can't I

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13) Much time has been spent on understanding faith and love, but Paul shows us that hope is also valid and necessary in the believers life. Paul tells us to "abide" in these three, which means to remain and or continue in. In this verse it denotes remaining in a place or in a state or condition of not changing. In other words, when the other things pass away, such as prophecy, tongues, and knowledge, (1 Corinthians 13:8), the sense here is that faith, hope, and love will always remain and of course the greatest and most important of these three is love.

Looking deeper at this verse, notice that faith and hope are quite distinct. Faith is the substance, here and now in your heart, of things that you are hoping for in the future. It is a sure persuasion and non-negotiable conviction concerning the reality of things not seen, which things are what God says in His Word. The Apostle Paul tells us, "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." (1 Thessalonians 5:8) We see that faith and hope are located in different areas. The breastplate, being in the realm of the heart, reveals faith is from the heart, whereas, the helmet the hope, covers the head, shows us that hope is of the mind.

With that said, it is crucial for us to understand the difference between faith and hope, knowing that hope is important to round out the Christian life. Again, the difference between faith and hope is, faith is something that you have right now and hope is directed toward the future. Faith is being fully convinced "now" of the Truth, God's Word, while hope is the confident mental expectation of something good in the "future." This is why the position for the believer is to "guard our heart and mind." Jesus said, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45) The Apostle Paul tells us, "...be renewed in the spirit of your mind." (Ephesians 4:23)  Therefore, believers are to have hope in their mind for the future, and faith in their heart in the integrity of God's Word for the here and now.

Looking closer at faith and hope, we also see a spiritual connection between these two spiritual realities. The Apostle Paul reveals the connection through the life of Abraham, "Who, (Abraham) contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, so shall your descendants be." (Romans 4:18) Abraham believed, and, as a result, he hoped. Notice that believing, that is, faith, came first, and hoping, or hope, was the product, or the outcome of what he believed. We see this as revealed by the writer of Hebrews, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]." (Hebrews 11:1 AMPC)

We can say that faith is the full assurance on which hope is supported and therefore, faith, produces
hope. Again, faith is in the heart, while hope is in the mind. Faith is in the now, while hope is for the future. Both are essential, but we must have them in the right place and in the right relationship. Next, notice, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13) God is not only the God of power, of righteousness, grace, promises, blessings, etc., but also, the God who inspires or produces hope in the believer through the working of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul reveal a sobering verse of scripture concerning hope and the unsaved, "that at that time you 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." (Ephesians 2:12)

This verse show us that the unsaved are without three things; without Christ, without hope, and without God the Father. When you are without hope, you are without Christ and without God the Father. It is very sad when we consider this, especially when considering people who we know, who are not born again. However, on the other side of the coin, "the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:26-27) We see here that the gospel centers on this great and wonderful revelation that was kept secret from ages past, but is now revealed to believers, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. When we were lost, we were without Christ, and without hope. But when we have Christ in us, we have the hope of glory, that is, hope for the future as well as hope of eternal life.

The one who has Christ in him/her has hope for a glorious, radiant, confident expectation of eternal glory with almighty God, the holy angels, and the redeemed of all ages. That is what a person has when they have Christ. So, yes, hope has and important part to play in the believers life, but let us not confuse it with faith. Finally, although there is much to say about love, I leave you with this, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5)