What is the relationship between faith and hope? How is it possible for someone to say that they are walking in faith (ie. believing that God's promise will manifest in their lives once they have prayed in faith believing), and still talk about hope? Many times people who have heard the faith message have either failed to hear the whole thing, or have simply ignored I Cor.13:13 which speaks of 'faith, hope, and love.' (emphasis added)
An understanding of this relationship is important. In fact, I will go so far as to say that Hosea 4:6, which says that God's people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge, has a special significance to the topic of hope. By this I mean that those without the type of hope listed in Scripture may very well physically die before the Lord's return, even if this is the last generation.
While this has been said before, perhaps it should be mentioned again. We do not fear death. Should you die, there should be no doubt in your heart that you will go to be with the Lord. However, death is our enemy (I Cor.15:26, and we should not look forward to it as a means of escape, or as the only means by which we will see our Savior's face. Heb.10:3, 2:8 and Acts 3:21 show us that Jesus will not return until "all" his enemies have been placed under His feet in both the spiritual & physical realms. (This will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 6) In order to be used by Him as His instruments to bring this about, we must all diligently seek Him, and all that He has revealed about Himself in His Word.
Before we go any further, let's make sure that we are in agreement as to the definition of the word 'hope.' When some of us think of the word 'hope' all to often we think of it in terms of "I don't know if this or that is real, but I sure hope so." The word has been relegated to the level of wishing, with emphasis upon the idea that whatever we are hoping for probably will not come about, or at least, the 'odds' of it happening aren't much better than 50/50.
This is not the meaning as used in the Bible. Turn to Heb.6:18-19 where in we read; "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." How would you like to have a mere wish as the anchor for your soul? How would you like to have an anchor which may or may not hold (and probably won't) in times of stormy weather? That kind of hope is destructive. It leads to doubt and fear, both of which are in direct opposition to standing in faith. Whereas the hope we are to have, is to be our soul's steadying influence in the time of trouble. The job of hope is to keep our soul stable and secure. Now we can begin to see the correct relationship between hope and faith. According to Ja.1:22 and I Pe.1:9, the goal of our faith is the very salvation of our souls; whereas, hope is the soul's anchor.
Now that we know what hope is not, let's see what the Bible says it is. The Greek word for hope used in Heb.6:18-19 is eplis. According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance this word means to "anticipate with pleasure." While that is a brief definition, at least it begins to dispel the negative connotation which the word `hope' has come to imply, ie. a mere chance happening. Thayer's Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament brings us closer to the complete meaning when it says that hope is to "wait for salvation with joy and to be full of confidence." That totally eliminates the aspect of chance. To have hope is to have confidence. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words brings this more sharply into focus by saying that 'hope' is the HAPPY ANTICIPATION OF THE FUTURE, A FAVORABLE AND CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF GOOD. Hope then is that which makes it possible for us to look forward to each day regardless of the physical circumstances which could otherwise cause anxiety. Hope is the opposite of anxiety.
Notice that Heb.6:18 told us that hope is the anchor of our SOUL. As we have previously seen, the soul is the seat of our mind. Therefore, our emotional and logical responses to outside stimuli will be determined by what we have as the anchor for our soul. If money, or other worldly possessions are our anchor, and the economy collapses, so also will our soul, (mind collapse/ nervous breakdown). On the other hand, true believers have hope, we have a HAPPY FAVORABLE, & CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF FUTURE GOOD. We have this hope for two reasons. Verses 17-18 spell them out for us. First, God cannot lie. Second, His nature is unchanging, and is always, always, always, always, always truthful. God's Word is infallible and invincible, and THAT is the hope which anchors our soul. Our mental, emotional, and/or logical responses to outside influences are tempered by God's Word.
This concept of hope in God's Word and it's relationship to the soul was also brought forth in the Old Testament. Turn to Psalm 119:81; "My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in Your Word. This thought is carried through in vs. 147; "I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your Word." (see also Ps.130:5). Note, the Hebrew word for 'hope' used in those verses and others I have cited is yachal, and is defined in the New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon as 'expectations.' When we take hold of this hope as directed in Heb.6:19, we become stable and strong in our "logic" and in our "emotions." We are not tossed about by every wave, nor do we ride that emotional roller coaster of alternating peaks and valleys as we get tested and delivered over and over, because we have hope. We are to become immovable with the anchor of God's Word.
The relationship between hope and the soul is beautifully set forth by David in Ps.42:11; "Why are you downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise my Savior and my God." (see also vs.5, and note that even while David is battling depression he is talking of praising God) David knew that God's Word; his hope, his anchor for his mind - his emotion - his very thought process, was his source. As such, his soul had no reason for sorrow, or to be concerned about the physical circumstances which were surrounding him.
David was reminding himself that he also was to have this HAPPY ANTICIPATION OF THE FUTURE, A FAVORABLE AND CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF GOOD regardless of the physical outlook. The Holy Spirit is telling us the same thing. Regardless of the physical circumstances, or our perception of them, we are to have joyful hope. In Lamentations 3:19-25 we are told to call to mind the fact that His love never fails. We are to remember that the Lord is our source. We must never forget that "... the Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him."
The relationship between hope and faith unfolds a little further. As we just saw, hope has its foundation in the fact that the Word is incapable of untruth, and is never changing. Faith is also based upon the Word in that we know "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of God." (Ro.10:17) First there is hope, then faith. Col.1:5 tells us that both faith and love spring from hope. Now we can understand Heb.11:1 in more depth when it says: "Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see." HOPE IS THE ANCHOR WHICH STUDIES THE VESSEL UNTIL FAITH ARISES TO CALM THE STORM.
There are promises in God's Word which are present tense, and some which appear to be past tense in nature. As to the ones which are for today, at first we hope that they apply to us. However, this hope must turn to faith (derived from His Word) in order for them to have an active part in our lives. Hope is honored at first, but it must develop into faith. Until our faith is FULLY developed in ALL areas where faith is to apply, we must not lose our hope. We cannot have faith in an area in which we have no knowledge other then by God granting us the gift of faith. And there is at least one area of God's Word where He has chosen not to reveal that knowledge to us. In fact Jesus specifically told us that knowledge of that particular area is reserved unto the Father alone As such, we must deal with this area in hope alone; ie. we must face it with a HAPPY ANTICIPATIRON OF THE FUTURE, A FAVOR ABLE AND CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF GOOD. What is this area?
Hope is the anchor of the soul, but the salvation of the soul is dependent upon faith, not hope. Since that is true, what about Ro.8:24 which says, "for in this hope we are saved"? What is this hope, and what is the salvation spoken of there? At this point we will jump ahead a moment to the concept of overcoming in all three realms: Spirit, Soul & Body. (Chapter 5 will discuss this in much greater detail) For purposes of our discussion now, please look at the concept of Spirit salvation as past tense, Soul salvation as present tense, & Body salvation as future tense. If hope has to do with a favorable and confident expectation of future good, and there is a hope which saves, and bodily salvation is future as opposed to the past tense nature of spirit salvation, or the present tense nature of soul salvation, then the salvation which is related to hope must be in regards to the body.
Read Ro.8:21-25. In part it says "... we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies, for in this hope we are saved."(emphasis added) This is the mortal putting on the immortality spoken of in I Cor.15:51. This being alive and remaining at the end is something for which we can only hope, because God has not yet revealed enough about that event for us to have faith that we are in that group. However, this does not mean that we do not have anything to do with it now. We are specifically told that all who have this hope must purify themselves now (I John 3:3).
The hope of being alive and remaining at the return of our Lord is definitely in the future, yet we must not forget that portion of hope which is to be an active part of our daily walk with Him now. There are some addition al present tense purposes which hope has. In Ro.15:13 God told us that it is His desire for us to be so filled with joy and peace as we trust Him, that we literally overflow with hope. Carefully note in this verse that the hope we have is granted to us by the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit would not want us to overflow with something that is of no current value, obviously there must be some present tense value in our future hope.
What are some of the present tense purposes of this future hope? We see from Ro.4:18 through 5:5 that Abraham's hope produced an unshakable confidence in God's promise. Boldness is closely related to confidence, and we see in II Cor.3:12 that boldness is a direct result of having hope in the Glory of God . In fact, the very endurance which we as believers are called upon to exhibit, is inspired by the hope that we have in Jesus (I Thes.1:3). Not only will hopeful believers exhibit an air of confidence and boldness, but they will display great joy. Prov.10:28 KJV tells us that the hope of the righteous shall produce gladness. Ro.12:12 specifically directs us to be joyful in hope. Remember also that Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that "the Joy of the Lord is our strength." When satan steals our hope, he also steals our joy and thereby zaps our strength.
Isaiah 40:31 says; "... those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength." In addition to strength, we are promised peace. Isa.26:3 tells us that God "...will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast ..." To those who take hold of the anchor of hope, and are thereby no longer tossed about, God gives peace. The depth of this peace is revealed in Phil.4:6-7. Earlier we saw that hope is the opposite of anxiety, and in these verses we are directed not to be anxious about anything. We are then shown that if we are not anxious, ie. have hope and do as God directs, we will be given a peace which transcends all understanding. I believe that it would be virtually impossible to exhibit all the fruits of the Spirit listed in Gal.5:22 - which includes love -without hope. We are reminded again that love springs from hope (Col.1:5).
I Pe.3:15 directs us to "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." And they will be asking. Eph.2:12 tells us that without Jesus there is no hope. Those without Jesus in their hearts cannot have the good anchor for their soul. As we discussed earlier, their hope is a false hope. II Tim.3:1 clearly tells us that in the last days there will be terrible times. When people have lost all their earthly hope, they should see the HOPE that is in us from the Holy Spirit. We must be prepared to explain this hope which anchors us when all seems lost.
Praise God, we are to have hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Before we were without hope; now however, we have the HAPPY FAVORABLE AND CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF FUTURE GOOD. Because of Him we walk in the ultimate hope, the blessed hope of Titus 2:13: the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.