by Jack Weaver (reposted article)
For centuries man has misunderstood or misinterpreted many words in God’s Holy Scripture. “Scholars” debate the meanings of Biblical words and we must determine whether such interpretations are errors or truth. If errors, whether they are accidental or deliberate. Let’s take the wonderful and exhilarating word “Hope” and see if we can understand it. Of course this writing will be an abbreviated explanation of the word but it is a start.
One may say, “I hope it will not rain today.” “I hope my car will start when I have an emergency.” “I hope my children will grow up to be great citizens.” “I hope. I hope. I hope.”
The standard dictionary definition, and one that is generally accepted by most of the world is “to FEEL that something desired MAY happen:” The words “feel” and “may” are two very indefinite and vague words, but such a definition of “hope” exemplifies the thinking of most people.
The dictionary definition of the word “hope” is NOT the Biblical Hope of which we speak.
Let us investigate the Old and New Testament meanings of the word “Hope.”
Psalm 33:22
“Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”
Hope in this verse is the Hebrew word, “yachal” meaning “trust.”
Psalm 130:7
“Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.”
Again this is the same Hebrew word, “trust.”
Psalm 39:7
“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”
Here we see a slightly different Hebrew word “towcheleth“ but with the same root but meaning “expectation.” These and many, many more verses illustrate the Psalmist’s reliance upon the trustworthiness of the Lord. The Lord CAN be trusted. He WILL keep His promises.
Now, in the New Testament we see the word “Hope” in several verses. This word “Hope” is an absolute, a guarantee without a doubt. It is the Greek word “elpis” meaning “to expect or anticipate with pleasure.”
Romans 5:2
“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
We rejoice in the glory of God, not with uncertainty but with joyful anticipation — guaranteed.
Colossians 1:5
“For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;“
The Hope of Heaven is not a maybe — but an absolute and definite guarantee by the Word of the Truth of the Gospel.
Titus 1:2
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
Eternal life — guaranteed and promised by the God of the Universe. He cannot lie.
Titus 2:13
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
Every believer in Jesus Christ may look with confidence to the glorious appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt!
Titus 3:7
“That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
We are Justified by God’s grace, guaranteed — Rendered innocent or free by God’s Grace, eternal life guaranteed!
As you read this, I want you to have that Hope or guarantee personally. God offers you this by His Grace.
Just briefly, no one deserves to live in Heaven or have eternal life with the Righteous God (Revelation 21:27). We are all sinners by nature and deed. Simply put, we have all sinned and come short of the mark of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23). All sin requires a payment that must be paid — and that penalty is spiritual death, being apart from God in Hell (Romans 4:23).
By God’s Grace and Love He provided a Sin Bearer in the person of Jesus Christ who was crucified for our sin, was buried and rose again. This Grace is available to the whole world — including you personally (John 3:16). It is not determined by how good you are — or how hard you try — or by your good works, but by Grace alone, which means “undeserved mercy.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
How can we KNOW that Hope is real?
1 John 5:13
“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, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
You can KNOW. God promises Heaven, the Hope (guarantee) of eternal life is when you trust that Jesus paid the death penalty in your place. He promises — and all you need do is to trust Jesus as your Savior. Believe His Word — He died for you.
If you have never trusted Jesus alone as your Savior, do that right now. Believe His promises of eternal life which are yours the very moment you trust Jesus as YOUR Savior.
Remember and believe this:
Jesus died — That is history. Jesus died for ME — that is salvation.
When you make that simple decision, your eternity in Heaven is secure in Jesus Christ. It is God’s guarantee, thus your HOPE of Heaven is guaranteed eternal. You are immediately declared righteous before a Holy God with no possibility of losing His Gift of salvation. Eternal life is ETERNAL — without end, beginning the moment you trust Christ as your personal Savior.
Romans 1:16
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [gentile].”
Please, trust Jesus Christ as your Savior NOW! God has no strings attached! Claim that wonderful HOPE.
Notes From A Retired Preacher 
Phil121,
Thanks for dropping by again.
There is one among many exciting things about Biblical Hope.. I love to read those verses and insert the real definition for the word “Hope” – “Guarantee.”
“…which is Christ in you, the hope [Guarantee,] of glory”
Just imagine — it is God Himself who guarantees — not us, our efforts or good works.
In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack
“which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”
Great verse, Phil, thanks; it’s a wonderful reminder of the Source of our hope! Join us again any time.
I posted on this website a couple of times before. I’m here again. This was a good article. I don’t think you included the following verse but I love it:
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Child of God
Well said, Marcella!
I just got back from vacation and saw this posted. Great article and great comments!
We saw several people dressed in what appeared to be “church clothes” at the hotel this morning, but we found out that they were JWs, mostly young men.
What happens when we don’t have hope? Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” When a person puts off hope, it can make the heart sick, but when hope is desired, it brings life. Despair results when there is no hope, but hope fills us with peace.
Jack, you wrote, “Titus 3:7, “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
We are Justified by God’s grace, guaranteed — Rendered innocent or free by God’s Grace, eternal life guaranteed!” That’s great news!
My hope is in Jesus Christ the LORD!
Thanks John and Jan.
John you have a very discerning eye for error.
FYI, I’m not trying to detour this discussion, so please keep it up, but I have just posted an article, “Lordship “salvation” Equals a Bi-Lateral Contract Salvation.” This was a phrase John brought to my attention. Thanks John.
http://www.expreacherman.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/lordship-salvation-equals-a-bi-lateral-contract-salvation/
In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack
I don’t know why so many people are afraid of Grace.
Right??!!! They’re paranoid of it!
JanH
I am amazed at how rarely the gospel is presented in its purity within the “Christian” community. The statements of faith of virtually every mainline denomination have some distortion or another. The pastor of the church we have been attending recently said the definition of repentance is “a change of allegiance”. My co-worker, who seems to at least lean toward free grace, did not have a problem with that. I have a couple of problems with that definition:
1. The pastor invented it
2. It borders on LS.
I don’t know why so many people are afraid of Grace.
Jan,
Excellent thoughts — ramble on.. Very true. It has been shown that the LSers would require that “something we can see” or else………..
In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack
When I say doing that, I mean trying to get something we can see, not sharing by faith.
And the moral is one should always preview one’s rambling before hitting “post.”
JanH
Though, as you say, “The results are God’s problem, not the messenger’s” I am often so frustrated when folks can’t see the simplicity of the Gospel that, were it possible, I’d reach right through the computer screen and drag them out of there to sit beside me at my desk and talk to them until they understand..
I forgot about that end of things. That is very true though a different angle than I was thinking of.
When witnessing I have to remind myself that salvation is between the sinner and God and I am just the messenger. It has nothing to do with me: it is neither my blood nor my message, and I am not authorized to diminish or augment or otherwise change the message in hopes of gaining satisfaction that the person really did believe, or even understood me correctly. Nor am I responsible for their rejection. I am only responsible to keep on task and make it about Christ vs. their sin, leaving the results up to God. It is very difficult and takes a lot of faith on my end. I always want to add something from myself to make sure they understood, or whatever, but then I find there is really nothing I can say that won’t just complicate things and make a mess of it. All I can do is present the gospel as it is and realize only the Holy Spirit can bring the conviction of it’s truth to the sinner in need. I cannot make them see anything, nor can I make them make the right choice, nor can I assure myself that they really did get saved because only the Holy Spirit can see their heart (though rejection is pretty straightforward). But that is really as it should be because the whole thing is between God and them and not even my business, except to present the message. It is really a lowly place God has given us, and rightly so, that it might be all of Him. But that position makes it really scary to preach Christ alone because our natural bent is toward doing something, or adding something from ourselves into the equation so we can make sure it was done right (walking by sight, not faith). At least, that is how it is for me.
But doing that always fails, as the LSers always show (whether they mean to or not) in that it is never enough. First it is make a public commitment to Jesus as Lord. But that is not enough because now it must be shown by a changed life. But that is not enough because now that change must be permanent. But that is not enough because now there must be more and deeper change. But that is not enough and it never ends and never really is enough so we have men like MacArthur saying you can have assurance but never certainty. Which is almost semi logical because what sight demands is never going to be enough. There are never enough signs or other indicators to generate faith. Faith comes by hearing, not by sight. But now I am officially rambling.
Anyway, I almost think it takes more faith to share the gospel than to believe it.
JanH
I thought that you all might enjoy a hymn that declares what Biblical Hope is all about: “Blessed Assurance,” by Fanny Crosby (please ignore other promoted videos on the site):
Thanks Faith, Jan and Pearl for your kind thoughts!
Yes, Jack’s article really hits the nail on the theological head with simplicity and profundity. In my opinion, Hope is an exclusively CHRISTIAN term! No one but a true believer in Christ can ever truly experience the kind of hope and assurance that the Bible promises.
Pearl: I, too, have often wondered about the motivation of so-called “Christian” pastors and authors who seem to do everything in their power to destroy assurance, to obfuscate the clear, straightforward gospel of hope, the gospel of Ephesians 2:8-9—we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, Acts 16:31.” It seems pretty uncomplicated to me. Could it be that the “religious peddlers,” as you call them, just want to dominate and suppress the flock, to keep the congregation in doubt and fear so the money and good “works” will keep flooding in?? Fear and doubt are pretty crummy motivators, in my opinion. But, sadly, as you say, many people still fall prey to those tactics.
Jan,
Thanks… you said, “I just don’t understand how that can be missed, nor why some other, supposedly more comprehensive obedience is required or expected in order to get saved.”
Exactly — But like Pearl said, the answer may be “keeping those religious peddlers in business.”
Though, as you say, “The results are God’s problem, not the messenger’s” I am often so frustrated when folks can’t see the simplicity of the Gospel that, were it possible, I’d reach right through the computer screen and drag them out of there to sit beside me at my desk and talk to them until they understand.. Yet I surely realize that, however we persuade, they may never want to understand (willingly ignorant) — it is still their decision and we cannot force it.
Too often “theologians,” educated beyond their ability to communicate, make simplicity complicated.
In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack
For the life of me I do not understand why anyone has a problem with this, insisting that it is not enough. It is so plain that this simple trust in Christ’s sacrifice is the precise obedience God is seeking. I just don’t understand how that can be missed, nor why some other, supposedly more comprehensive obedience is required or expected in order to get saved.
What we need is more servants like Jack and Bruce who are humble and faithful enough to not take it upon themselves to augment the simple message of salvation God gave in order to supposedly secure better results. The evangelist’s job is just to preach the assigned message, not to tweak it for better results. The results of the message are God’s problem, not the messenger’s.
JanH
Thanks Pearl,
Yep, you nailed it, “keeping those religious peddlers in business.”
That is the sad truth… which makes me so everlastingly thankful that I, even though late in life, trusted Christ in a solid Free Grace church/college and eventually chose to stay there and learn God’s Word. What a blessing.. even more than I realized at the time.
In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack
I can see why this is one of your most popular posts, Jack. To think that a great many churches see fit to undermine their congregants’ efforts of taking Jesus at his Word is just plain cruel.
But there are many folks who seem to prefer wallowing in self-loathing and uncertainty, keeping these religious peddlers in business.
Bruce,
Thanks for posting that.. the older post of this article are by far the most viewed over the years. We have been blessed. The Lord has used it beyond any expectations.
Faith,
Thanks — Isn’t it comforting to know that all of God’s guarantees are just that… Unequivocal Guarantees!!
In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack
Now that was simple Bible teaching on the word HOPE.
How sad it is that we don’t hear this in the pulpits. HOPE when looked at
in the Biblical sense is so deep and rich in meaning. We can put our HOPE in Christ and not be afraid or worry if His promises will come to past or not- We KNOW that they will!
Thanks Jack!
Thank you, Jack, for your terrific post! It was so well done it needed to be aired again.
Bruce