Romans 8:24

Rom_8:24-25

For we are saved by hope.

Saved in hope

According to our version we are saved by hope, but that is scarcely in accordance with other parts of Holy Scripture. Everywhere we are told that we are saved by faith (Rom_5:1). The original should be rendered in hope. Believers are saved by faith and in hope. At this present moment believers are saved, and in a sense completely. They are entirely saved from the guilt of sin, from its defilement, its reigning power, and its penalty. Yet we are conscious that there is something more than this to be had. There is salvation in a larger sense, which as yet we see not; for at the present moment we find ourselves in this tabernacle, groaning because we are burdened. We have not yet attained, but are pressing on.

I. The object of this hope.

1. Our own absolute perfection. We have set our faces towards holiness, and by Gods grace we will never rest till we attain it.

2. The redemption of the body (Rom_8:10-11), to consort with our purified spirit.

3. Our eternal inheritance (Rom_8:17).

4. The glory which shall be revealed in us (Rom_8:18) tells us which is a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

5. The glorious liberty of the children of God.

6. The manifestation of the sons of God. Here we are hidden away in Christ as gems in a casket; by and by we are to be revealed as jewels in a crown.

II. The nature of this hope.

1. It consists of three things.

(1) Our hope of being delivered from sin as to our soul, and infirmity as to our body, arises out of a solemn assurance that it shall be so. This is our belief because Christ is risen and glorified, and we are one with Him.

(2) This also we desire at all times, but especially when we get a glimpse of Christ.

(3) This desire is accompanied with confident expectation. Thus our hope is not a hazy, groundless wish that things may turn out all right.

2. It is grounded upon the Word of God, the faithfulness of God, and His power to carry out His own promise, and therefore it is a hope most sure and steadfast, which maketh no man ashamed who hath it.

3. It is wrought in us by the Spirit of God. Ungodly men have no such hope.

4. It operates in us in a holy manner. He that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself. It makes us feel that it is a shame for princes of the blood imperial of the skies to dabble in the mire like children of the gutter.

III. The anticipatory power of this hope. We obtained the first part of salvation by faith. But, besides this, we have in hope the fuller range of salvation. How is this?

1. Hope saw it all secured by the promise of grace. Knowing that the whole of the promise is of equal certainty, hope expected the future mercy as surely as faith enjoyed the present blessing.

2. Hope saw the full harvest in the firstfruits. When the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the body, hope concluded that the body would be delivered as surely as the soul.

3. Hope is so sure about this coming favour that she reckons it as obtained. You get an advice from a merchant beyond sea: he says, I have procured the goods you have ordered, and will send them by the next vessel. The deed is done that makes them yours. So it is with heaven. I have advices from One whom I cannot doubt that He has gone to heaven to prepare a place for me, and that He will come again and receive me to Himself. The apostle is so sure of it that he even triumphs in it (Rom_8:37).

IV. The proper sphere of hope. Hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for?

1. A Christians real possession is not what he sees. Suppose God prospers him and he has riches: let him be grateful, but let him confess that these are not his treasures. One hour with the Lord Jesus Christ will bring more satisfaction to the believer than the largest measure of wealth.

2. But it is clear that we do not at present enjoy these glorious things for which we hope. The worldling cries, Where is your hope? and we confess that we do not see the objects of our hope. For instance, we could not claim to be altogether perfect, but we believe that we shall be perfected. By no means is our body free from infirmity, yet our firm conviction is that we shall bear the image of the heavenly.

3. Away, then, with judging by what you do, or see, or feel, or are. Rise into the sphere of the things which shall be. When there is no joy in the present, there is an infinite joy in the future.

V. The effect of this hope. Then do we with patience wait for it. We wait, but not as criminals for execution, but as a bride for the wedding. The joy is sure to come, therefore do not complain and murmur, as though God had missed His appointment. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Salvation by hope

Hope saves inasmuch as--

I. It revives.

1. While despondency benumbs, hope sends a thrill of life through every fibre of our being. If, e.g., you tell a sick man that he has no chance of recovery, how rapidly he sinks; but if you tell him there is hope, he revives, the blood circulates through his veins with a vigour which all the medicines in the world cannot inspire. Take the case of Hezekiah (Isa_38:1-22.).

2. Transfer this to the spiritual. Look at a man who is struggling with evil around and within him. If you make him believe that it can never be subdued, paralysis and death settle upon his energies. But if, in moments of depression, you meet him with instances of success, and show him that the work must succeed, you inspire him with life. How often hope revived St. Paul we know. The hope of his calling, the hope of salvation, the hope of Israel, the hope of the glory of God, the hope that his work would yet bear fruit, that blessed hope, the glorious reappearing of Christ, in his moments of depression, came to him like inspirations from heaven. Had they had no power, the world would have borne a very different look. It is the same with ourselves. Take the hope of forgiveness, the hope of heaven breathes life into the dullest. And when sorrowing for those we have lost, that which reconciles us to the will of God and sends us back to duty is the hope that they are as the angels.

II. It sustains. It is the principal cause of success. In those who watch by the sick this is evident. How it sustains through long nights of weary watching, and enables them to make sacrifice after sacrifice! Without hope, again, who could endure the myriad anxieties of life? Or look at the advocates of an unpopular cause. How hope sustains them! That of St. Paul and his companions is a case in point. To their heart and hand hope gave courage, labour, patience.

III. It incites to active endeavour. If we wish to incite children to diligence, we use hope. It incites the student, the workman, the merchant, the soldier, the sailor, the artist, the statesman. Hope, in fact, is the great mover of the human mind. The hope of doing good is the inspiration of our noblest deeds. The hope of subduing our evils, and of being transformed into the image of Christ, incites us to struggle against them.

IV. It purifies. Every man that hath this hope purifies himself even as He is pure. Conclusion:

1. This hope is Divine, God is the God of hope--its object, its source. The hopes by which men are revived, sustained, or incited, are not their own. They are inspired by the Holy Ghost. And what solidity is here given to our hopes as believers, as citizens of heaven! Their mere existence is a pledge of their reality and truth.

2. The gospel of Christ is a gospel of hope. It does not contradict the soul. Men have always believed that their parentage is Divine. The gospel confirms this: Beloved, now are we the sons of God. They have always believed in immortality. The gospel says, In My Fathers house are many mansions. They have always believed in the Divine nearness. The message of the gospel is, Lo, I am with you alway.

3. See the necessity for preaching it. Tell men they are the children of the devil, and you do the best you can to make them such. But tell them they are the children of God, and you give them hope. (W. M. Metcalfe.)

Salvation by hope

The gospel, as the term denotes, is glad tidings to all, not excepting the chiefest of sinners. It is a Divine dispensation of encouragement. Its salvation is a salvation by hope. To understand this doctrine, it will be necessary to begin by considering generally what mankind stand most in need of as a motive and means to that change of heart and life on which salvation depends. And, first, in case of hardened and abandoned sinners. With respect to such men, at least, I believe the impression is almost universal, that what they stand most in need of is, to be thoroughly alarmed by the terrors of the law, by vivid pictures of the judgment to come if they die impenitent. The argument is, that as bad men, through the indurating effects of sin, have become insensible to higher and better motives, they must be moved, if moved at all, by a fear of Gods indignation and wrath. Sin hardens men, I admit, against a sense of duty and a sense of shame; but it hardens them, if possible, still more against a sense of any spiritual dangers. Howard and Elizabeth Fry, with the men and women who have followed them in their mission to carry the gospel into prisons, are found to have trusted almost exclusively to the power of Christian sympathy, aided by a gentle and kind manner, as a means of subduing those who feared neither God nor man, neither death nor hell. But if this is true of abandoned sinners, how much more so of all such as still have their relentings, whose sin consists, for the most part, in halting between two opinions, having determined that they will become religious at some future day, but not yet. They think it would be harder work for them to be Christians than for most men; that it is beyond their reach, at least for the present; that it would be vanity or presumption in them to make the attempt. Now, I ask, how are these obstacles, all consisting radically in a want of confidence, most likely to be overcome? Clearly as the gospel aims to do it--by inspiring new confidence, by holding out the promise of sympathy and help; by a Divinely authenticated dispensation of encouragement. We are saved by hope. But if I were to stop here, half of my purpose would be left unaccomplished. All will agree, I doubt not, that life without hope from any quarter would be insupportable. Still, some may ask, why look to religion, why look to Christianity for this hope?

1. In the first place, the Christian hope is not limited and bounded, like all worldly, irreligious, infidel hopes, by what men can do. Unless we recognise the being, and trust in the presence and agency of a Higher Power, the hour is coming when the soul will be without hope. Despair will take the place of hope. Here also it is of importance to observe that, with persons of reflection and forethought, whatever is seen to end in despair, begins in despair.

2. Another distinction of the Christian hope consists in its not being limited and bounded, as all worldly, irreligious, and infidel hopes must be, by the present life. Almost the entire language of condolence under grief, hardship, and oppression is borrowed from the Bible, and owes its force to the Christian doctrine that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

3. A third circumstance distinguishing the Christian hope is that, unlike all worldly, irreligious, infidel hopes, it does not profess to measure itself by the real or supposed deserts of the individual, but by the boundless goodness and mercy of the Supreme Disposer. Under the Christian dispensation it is impiety to despair of Gods mercy on account of our past sins: for this would be to suppose these sins to be greater than His mercy. Of course, when we compare what we are and what we can do with what we hope to receive, we cannot fail to be struck with the infinite disparity; but neither is this just ground for misgivings. What is promised is to be regarded, not as being of the nature of wages for work done, but as being of the nature of a gift on condition of obedience; and in this character as a gift, it takes its proportions, not from our poor earnings, but from the munificence of the Giver.

4. Who, it may be asked in conclusion, does not feel his need of this hope?

5. Again, who would not cultivate this hope? As religious dispositions are not of this world they are not likely to spring up spontaneously under worldly appliances amidst worldly avocations. Religion, religion at least in its highest forms, is a delicate exotic, which must not be expected to grow wild in the fields; it must be nurtured with effort and care; it must be sheltered from all ungenial influences, and surrounded, as far as may be, with the atmosphere, so to speak, of its native heaven.

6. Finally, who would knowingly and willingly disappoint or frustrate this hope? Because a man has hope in Christ it does not follow that this hope is well founded in his case. Our very hope may perish; nay, it will do so, unless we establish it in righteousness, and unless we show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. (Jas. Walker.)

Salvation by hope

I. We can trace some illustration of this great general law in our own lives. Saved by hope. Upon how many lives, how many works, might that be written!

1. One man is saved by hope from indolence: a poor form of hope it may have been, but it kept the life in him till the worthier motive claimed him.

2. Another is saved by hope from the insanity of self-satisfaction: hope startled him with the challenge of a heros life or the pathos of a heros death, and the snare was broken and he was delivered.

3. Another may have been drifting towards the utter loss of self-respect: drunkenness or impurity may have been quenching all the light out of his soul, but hope came to him--the hope of a noble love--and his chains fell off. Yes, hope is the spur of every effort--the strength of every enterprise--the stay of all endurance. As one may go round a garden after winter and there mark the signs of lingering life, and say, Ah! that may come right after all: so may God look into unnumbered hearts, wintry and dull as death itself, and see the half-conscious germ of hope, and know that there is that whereby they may be saved. Aye, and as in the individual life, so also in the whole race of man, hope wields its saving energy. It is the great impulse of all onward movement: the mainspring of progressive civilisation: the instinct of mankind towards the amendment of every circumstance of life. Any hope that is not sinful is better than no hope at all. St. Paul puts terribly near to one another having no hope and without God in the world.. Even a hope which could never call out all the power that is in a man may yet serve to keep his head above water till better help comes.

II. If hope is to have its perfect work, then it must fulfil at least two conditions--it must rest on a sufficient ground, and it must point to a sufficient object.

1. The hope that leads us on must not be like a will-o-the-wisp, hovering over dangerous ground, and vanishing altogether where we thought we must come up with it. Many such hopes there are: e.g., of a startling career, of brilliant originality, of large but vague philanthropy; hopes, hazy and delusive, corresponding to no solid reality, marking out for us no clear course.

2. Other hopes there are which will direct us definitely enough: the hope of money, of success, of power; we may follow them with confidence, but it is like walking down a street that leads us nowhere; we may reach the end, but only to find it as dull and disappointing as a blank wall. In regard to one such hope, the commonest perhaps of all, the hope of wealth, a working-man said to me once, I suppose no one is rich till the day when hes got a little more than he has. His paradox exactly told the truth: the clearest of worldly hopes are at the same time most disappointing.

3. The hope that really saves, and maketh not ashamed, is a hope which points with clearness to an aim which cannot prove inadequate; a hope which will not halt till every power and energy of our life has found its rest, its joy, its perfect and unwearied work. To such a hope hath God begotten us by the resurrection of Christ. It is an infinite enrichment of all human life that we commemorate at Easter; even the gift of one steadfast, serious, sufficient hope.

III. There is no department of life which may not be liberated and uplifted by the hope which the risen lord reveals. Some seem to shrink from laying stress upon the future life lest it should be used to disparage or obscure the duties of the present. But was it so when the living hope was freshest and strongest? Who, for instance, in those first Christian days, really made the most of the great trust of this life? The heathen poet, laughing at the idea of being serious when you have but a few years in which to enjoy yourself? The philosopher, inculcating suicide whenever the pains of life outweighed its pleasures? The heathen emperor, leaving the vast duties of his position to plunge more freely into every phase of vice? Or Paul, the slave of Christ? In all the change that came with the faith of Christ few things are more remarkable than the advancement of hope from the place of a weaknes to the power of a great motive for a good life. And we need never fear that a man will grow careless or halfhearted about the concerns of time, because in and through them all he seeks those things which are above. Much rather does the saving hope that firmly rests on Christs resurrection avail, as nothing else avails, to give steadiness and calmness and confidence to every worldly hope which can be pursued in this life.

1. What a change, e.g., passes over the hope of the student when, beside the empty tomb, he begins to discern the true vocation of the intellect, the range, the use it may hereafter have. In Christ the human intellect has passed to the sphere of its perfect and unending exercise.

2. But what shall we say about that other sphere of effort where the real crisis of our life must find its issue; how can we measure the moral life the saving power of the Easter hope? Here we renew the experience of the Psalmist, I should utterly have fainted; but that I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

3. Let us see whether the words have not a bearing also upon the life of nations. Is it not to be feared that many cherish less reverently than of old the salutary grace of a true hope? Hope, as we have seen, is essential to the vigour, the harmony, the welfare and happiness of each separate human life. If we were to give up hoping, how would for us the sun be darkened, and desire would fail and purpose falter, and all joy and courage and helpfulness fade out of our life. Must it not be so, in some degree, if the temper, the character, the current literature of a nation begins to discard or trifle with the duty and the strength of hope? Oh! if this be so, then there are two things at least that we can do for England now. Let us see to it that, by the grace of God, we stand sure and steadfast in that only hope which maketh not ashamed, which is nothing else than faith in the omnipotence and in the love of God. And then let us humbly and constantly pray to Him who spanned with an unfailing hope the interval of earth and heaven that He may renew and purify with the knowledge of His truth the heart and thought of England. (Dean Paget.)

A saving hope

We begin with the first of these parts, viz., the general proposition, We are saved by hope. The present salvation of a Christian lies not so much in possession as it does in expectation. The word hope in Scripture does admit of a double signification, either as it denotes the grace or else the object of hope. Now, here in the text it seems specially to be understood of the latter. First, seeing we are saved by hope, it concerns us to strengthen ourselves in the hope of Christianity in general, namely, that there are such things indeed as a Christian doth hope for. Thus St. Paul speaking of himself (Act_24:15). This hath divers grounds whereupon it is raised. First, the promise and covenant of God (Isa_55:3). Secondly, the oath of God (Heb_6:18). Thirdly, Christ Himself in the performance of all His offices. That is another ground of our hope. Christ, He is called the hope of glory (Col_1:27). Lastly, the firstfruits of the Spirit, and the beginnings of glory here in this world, which Christians have in their own hearts and consciences, they are great assurances of this hope unto them. But secondly, not only so, but further, we are to strengthen ourselves in our own hope for our particular condition. That as there is such a hope as this is for the thing itself, so that we also have hope of this hope. Forasmuch as we are saved by hope, it concerns us very much to keep up hope alive in ourselves, not only to have it in the ground of it, but also in the discovery. How may we come to do so? First, by conscionable walking and watchfulness over ourselves. The more holiness, still the more hope. These things they run in a circle. Hope, it provokes to holiness, and makes us to walk more warily; and holiness, it encourages hope, and makes us to walk more comfortably (Pro_14:32). To this I may add sincerity, and uprightness, and fruitfulness, in our places. The hope of the hypocrite shall perish (Job_8:13). Thirdly, by meditation on the promises, and often looking over our evidences and grounds of hope. And lastly, by frequent prayer. The more that we are acquainted with God, the more shall we hope from Him (Psa_62:8). Thus should we confirm our hope for our own particular. Yea, further, we should not only nourish and strengthen this hope in ourselves, but be ready likewise to give a reason and an account of it to others (1Pe_3:15). Lastly, seeing we are saved by hope, as is here in this present Scripture declared unto us. This serves for the just reproof of three sorts of persons: First, desperate, which do exclude themselves from all hope at all. Secondly, presumptuous, which do hope there where there is no ground of hope for them. Thirdly, carnal, which do place their hope in things of the world. First, such persons do plainly offend against this doctrine who are absolutely desperate and hopeless. Forasmuch as we are saved by hope, in what a sad condition are they which do cast themselves out of hope, and do shut up the grace of God against themselves! We see from hence the great aggravation of the sin of despair. It is a trespassing upon the blood of Christ, who hath purchased salvation for us; and it is also a disparagement to the Holy Ghost, whose office is to comfort and to persuade us to come up to Christs terms and conditions. In a word, we overthrow the whole scope and tenour of the gospel, and the rule of Gods grace in it. Secondly, presumptuous persons, they are also from hence condemned, because we are saved by hope; for as despair is a trespass upon hope on one hand, so is presumption likewise on another. Those therefore that take up a hope of their own making, who, though they walk in sinful courses, yet hope for all that they may come to heaven, do exceedingly deceive themselves. Presumption is one thing, and hope is another. Thirdly, carnal and worldly persons, they come under this censure likewise, from the consideration of this point in hand, that we are saved by hope, which is not such a hope as is founded in the things of the world, but in matters of a higher nature (1Pe_1:3; Col_1:5). It is the condition of many people that their portion is only in this world, as the Psalmist speaks of them (Psa_17:14). All their happiness it lies here below, and they rest themselves satisfied with it. Give them but their desires here, and take heaven who will. For hope, etc. The second is the particular description of this hope, what it is; which is laid down negatively, by denying it to be of such things as are seen; but does include the affirmative also in it as being of such things as are not seen. The hope of a believer, it is the constant expectation of good things to come. Let us take notice of that. It is not of things visible, but of things invisible (2Co_4:18; Heb_11:1; 2Co_5:7; Col_3:3; 1Jn_3:2). The ground hereof is not only the nature of hope itself, which is so in all other things, as looking at things which are future for the object of it; but when we speak of Divine hope, as it is considered under the notion of a grace, and proper to a Christian, so there is a further reason why it should be (to choose) of things not seen. And that is that by this means it may bring the greater glory to God by trusting Him on His bare word. Thus do we by hoping for things invisible. We honour Him so much the more in His power, goodness, and all His attributes. And so likewise it shows us the reason why Gods children are so much scorned and contemned by men of the world. It is because they are such persons as have their good things only in reversion. Lastly, seeing hope is of things which are not seen. We may here, by the way, take notice of the difference of these two saving graces--faith and hope. While the former is of those things which are present, the latter of those things which are to come; and though the same things happen to be the object of each, yet under a different notion and consideration. As, for example, eternal life: hope looks upon it as a thing which is future, in regard to its remoteness; but faith looks upon it as a thing which is present, in regard to its sureness. The third and last is the adjunct and concomitant of this hope, which follows in these words, But if we hope for, etc., where we may observe and note thus much, that true and right hope indeed, it is accompanied still with patience, and waiting, and quiet resting, and dependence upon God for the things hoped for (Heb_10:36). Hope, if it be such as it should be, it hath still patience annexed unto it. This is requisite upon divers grounds. First, the ground which is intimated here in the text, because we hope for that which we see not. Forasmuch as the object of hope is invisible, the companion of hope must be patience. Especially if we shall add, moreover, that they are things of special worth, and which do move the appetite to them. Here, now, there is required patience so much the more, for men to be some time without those things which they have no need of, nor no great desire towards them, this is no patience or forbearance at all. Secondly, this hope of a Christian had need have patience to be joined with it, not only from the distance of the object, not only for that the time is long, but also for that the way is troublesome and dangerous and full of annoyance. If a man have never so brave a palace or stately dwelling which he is to come unto, yet if he have a great way before be comes thither, his patience will be exercised about it. But now, further, if as the way is long, so it be also dirty and subject to thieves, here the life will be still so much the worse, and the greater patience required in it (Act_14:22). Thirdly, things contrary to our hope, these likewise do call for our patience. And those are our own corruptions, and the assaults and temptations of Satan, whereby he labours to discourage us. Soldiers had need of patience, that they may go through those several hardships and encounters which they shall meet withal. The contradictions of sinners and the discouragements which arise from wicked men. These made up another consideration for the necessity of this patience likewise. Lastly, patience is very justly and properly required as an attendant upon hope, because hope in the nature of it breeds patience. The more we hope, the more patient we either are, or at least have cause to be, in that regard. Those that have nothing to sustain them, it is no wonder that they should be impatient (Heb_6:19). Now, the application of this point to ourselves may be reduced to these two improvements: First, as a just censure of many people for their defect in this particular, who are many times out of patience when any evil does at any time befal them, or that anything does fall cross to them, from whence they are ready to complain and murmur even against God Himself. This impatience of Christians not walking worthy of their hope does discover itself upon sundry occasions. First, in ease of wants, when they have not presently that which others have or which themselves have a mind to. Secondly, in ease of delays and procrastinations. Thirdly, in ease of distress or any particular trouble and affliction. This is another discovery of this impatience. This impatience, besides that disparagement which it casts upon our Christian hope and profession, is very prejudicial to us in sundry regards. First, it increases our misery and adds to the affliction which is upon us. This it does two manner of ways. In respect of the condition itself, as it provokes God oftentimes to multiply afflictions upon us. Impatience under loss provokes God to the sending of greater. A burden in our condition from the affliction, and a burden upon our spirit from the distemper, and both together do very much press upon us. Secondly, impatience, it puts men upon the taking of indirect courses and the use of unlawful means. Thirdly, this impatience it does disturb all good performances in any way or kind whatsoever. No man can serve God so cheerfully who has this distemper prevailing upon him. Therefore, for a second use of this point, let this serve to stir us up, as a proof of our faith, and the hope which is in us, to labour for this spirit of patience, which is here commended unto us. First, for the encouragements, take notice of them, as, namely, first of all, that here in the text, The earnest expectation of the creature, waiting, etc. The creature, though it groans, yet it waits; let not us be worse than that. Secondly, the practice of the saints, and of such persons as have received the firstfruits of the spirit, who are said here also to practise this patience (Jam_5:10). Thirdly, the practice of all other men besides in other things as to their particular concernments: the merchant in his way, the soldier in his, the husbandman in his, as it is also there expressed in Jam_5:7. Fourthly, the practice of God Himself. How patient is He towards us, and waiting for us! These and the like are arguments, and encouragements, and inducements for it. There are also helps and conducements to it for the obtaining of it. As--First, prayer and supplication. Secondly, study the promises, and dwell more upon the attributes of God. Thirdly, reflect upon former experiences. Experience breeds patience (Rom_5:4). Fourthly, let us set before us future glory, and therein imitate Christ Himself upon the like occasions (Heb_12:2). (Thomas Horton, D.D.)

Salvation by hope

1. This is a very strong expression. But not more so than some others. It is described as one of three cardinal virtues of the Christian character (1Co_13:13); as the great object of Gods gift to us of His Holy Word (chap. 14:4); as an attribute to God Himself as its Author, and as the end of prayer for other graces (chap. 15:13).

2. Such is the place of hope in the Christian system. Its real place in ours is one widely different. Who ever speaks or thinks of the duty of hope? Who ever prays for hope as a necessary part of the Christian character? Who is ever ashamed of being without hope? To be desponding, to be filled with religious fears and doubtings, is by some regarded as almost a sign of grace. And by most Christians hope is regarded rather as one of those late and precarious attainments, or even as a matter of temperament, which belongs only to those to whom it comes naturally.

I. What is hope?

1. In general it is the anticipation of a pleasant future.

(1) It admits of degrees. Like fear, its opposite, like faith, its next of kin, hope is capable of every shade of variety, from the first faint glimmering of a possibility, to fulness of persuasion and conviction.

(2) It is progressive. The cherishing of the thought that a certain thing is possible, tends to form the idea that the possible is probable, and that the probable is certain,

2. And now what is Christian hope? It, too, is the expectation of a pleasant future. But the Christians pleasant future has to do mainly with things inward, and with the time after death. But do not suppose that it is therefore less real, less sensible, or less practical. Nothing surely is so real as that which is absolutely imperishable. Nothing is so sensible as to see things as they are, refusing to be put off with things as they seem. Nothing is so practical as the making a vigorous daily effort to be that which we shall certainly one day rejoice to be, or else vainly wish that we had been. The pleasant future of the Christian is a time when he will be quite holy, when he will so have the mastery over his own rebellious will, as to be entirely in harmony with the will of God. No more struggles therefore, but quietness, peace, and rest for him in God, with Christ, with all the good, for ever. This is a faint glimpse of his far future. And his near future is like it; pleasant in proportion as it is like it.

II. Its difficulties.

1. One of these arises from the observation of the world around us. The Christian sees vast tracks of land still heathen or Mahometan; worst of all, some in which Christ was once known, but which have relapsed into darkness. He sees, too, that superstition has laid its hand upon a large portion of Christendom itself, and that even a perfectly pure faith is no safeguard against a predominantly worldly or sinful life. Now all this is deeply discouraging.

2. Then he turns within. Alas, there chiefly he finds hope difficult. His individual life is by no means all sunshine. How often does he pray, and no answer seems to come! Nay, how often does he pray without praying, striving in vain to summon his own heart to the offices of praise and devotion! How often, yet again, has he heartily prayed, and risen from it refreshed and hopeful, and then, almost before the heavenly radiance has faded from his heart and brow, some little trifling temptation comes across him, and he has fallen! These things sadly overcloud hope.

III. Its encouragements. In general it must rest entirely on God; His character, His revealed intentions and relations. Some of the most elementary of all His revelations are felt in times of despondency to be the most available. Such is the thought of--

1. His holiness; a holy God must desire that we should be holy; and that is what we wish to be, though so far from it.

2. His power; what the holiness of God desires His power can effect.

3. His mercy; a God of love cannot but, if holiness and happiness be one, design to help through their difficulties, and save from their sins, those who in His name and strength are facing them like men.

4. Creation. Do we suppose that a God of infinite knowledge created and endowed man with such gifts only to discard him?

IV. Its uses.

1. It stimulates exertion. I know nothing in the world so indolent as despondency, nothing so paralysing as discouragement. But what can we not do with a prize in view? One victory, ever so small, gained over self contains within it the germ not of a second victory only, but of all victory. Experience worketh hope, and hope maketh not ashamed.

2. It inspires charity. Charity hopeth all things. He who hopes for himself, in spite of many discouragements about himself, may well hope also for another, in spite of many discouragements about another. He who knows in detail what Gods forbearance and longsuffering have been towards himself, will not limit Gods forbearance and longsuffering in cases of which he knows not the details. We hope, and therefore we labour. Conclusion:

1. Hope itself has limits. We are in a day of grace; but every day has its night. When that night comes hope ends; either perfected in enjoyment, or annihilated in despair.

2. The way to hope is through humility. It does not come from ignorance of ourselves, but from that deep self-knowledge which drives us for refuge to God only.

3. It has Christ Himself, not only for its basis, but for its object. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope. (Dean Vaughan.)

Salvation by hope

1. Hope is not simple foresight or expectation, because the foresight and the expectation may be of mischief. We never hope for misery, for mistakes, but for victory, coronation, love, and joy. So hope has this peculiarity, that it is sweet-minded and sweet-eyed. It draws pictures. It fills the future with delights. And then, having created them, it brings them near, and appropriates them. The greatest and most needed architect is Hope; and it builds with the flimsiest material--the fancy.

2. The Christian religion stands contrasted with all others by the hope that is in it. He who represents the Christian faith in any other light than that of joyous hopefulness, misrepresents it. In the Old Testament day there was a certain element of hope; but it was undeveloped. The Jews lived mostly in the present. They said, This do, and live. They pointed to the round of duties which belonged to each day, saying, Perform these, and God shall be well pleased. The Christian faith is for ever looking forward, and cheering men, by the perpetual vision of the future. The contrast of the Christian faith with the faiths of the heathen is still greater. They were mostly religions of fear.

3. Hope is a distinct and peculiar faculty, and exists in different degrees in different persons. Some live by the power of conscience. Duty is their watchword. Some live by the power of caution, constant anxiety. Others are cheerful and expectant. There are many who, if you bend them down to the ground, break short off at the stump. There are others who, like the young hickory, the moment the pressure is removed, spring back again. Yesterday was disastrous; but to-day has come. To-day is dark; but it will clear off before tomorrow. This has miscarried; but no matter, begin again. Hope is a charming trait in men. There is something very admirable in conscientiousness; in the acceptance of unwelcome duty which it carries with it. There is also in fear much that is to be admired. It carries with it great activity and intense provocation. But, after all, commend me to the sweetness and the inspiration of hope.

4. Hope has its own peculiar dangers.

(1) The whole generation of what are called schemers are children of hope. They are not balanced by suitable caution, but they are pioneers of success. If you are starting in an unknown channel, you are not glad of any mishap to him that goes ahead of you; but if he run upon a sandbank he is a buoy for you, and you do not go there. The men who go ahead, however, often scheme, laying the foundation for valuable results, though they do not reap them. The inventor, in his day, received nothing from his invention; but that invention bore fruit in another mans hand a little later. Let me, therefore, speak an encouraging word for the men who drift through society, and are said to be rolling stones that gather no moss. Fortunate are we in the hopefulness of these precursors of society. Blessed is the society that is full of hopeful men.

(2) But there is a disease of hope; there is such a thing as perverted hopefulness. It is hope, in one or other of its perverted forms, that leads men into all manner of gambling. Unperverted hopefulness is specially needed--

I. By all those who endeavour to create the fabric of Christian character. Yon are called, not to a toilsome and burdensome life, unalleviated by promise or cheer. You are called to a higher manhood, to a nobler spiritual ideal, and you find your way beset and obstructed on every side--hope. But God will wait for you, and be gentle with you. Ply, therefore, every instrumentality, and do not give up in despair, saying, There is no use in attempting to be a Christian.

II. By those who are appointed to poverty. When a man is poor, having been rich, or without having tasted of riches, and finds himself perpetually at variance with his circumstances, he needs indeed the light of hope. Now, in ten thousand ways, if men have poverty, they may rise above it by the sense of hope. You are not poor, except among men. Is not your Father infinitely rich? This is not your home. Do you suppose a traveller at a caravansary thinks the cold, desolate building in which he rests is his home?

III. By those who are in the struggles of daily duty. This man is thrown out of business. Sickness befalls another man, and destroys his prospects. What to do they do not know. Some are overthrown by their own mistakes; but they are quite as likely to be overthrown by their connection with friends and neighbours. But, whatever the cause, if it comes to them in mid-life, or late in life, it is most unfortunate, unless they are versatile, fruitful of resources, and hopeful in disposition. If despondency be superinduced upon disaster, in the case of any man, woe be to that man! When you are checked in your career, begin again. Do not let go of manhood and courage. The inward man is better than the outward man. Hold on. Many and many a man carries himself over the critical point by hopefulness. But do you say, I am too old to hope? Do you say, I have, constitutionally, too little hope? Then open your heart to God. Draw near to Him in His great providential relations. I will not let a sparrow fall to the ground without My notice, and are not you of much more value than many sparrows? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, etc..

IV. By those whose mind becomes gloomy through morbid conditions of the body; as where men find themselves entirely shut up from all the sources of ordinary enjoyment. While there are kinds of sickness that are quite compatible with the exercise of Christian feeling, there are other kinds which carry such distemperature that it is very difficult for a man under their influence to maintain hopefulness. But whatever your condition may be, do the best you can; and do not think that it is a part of the prerogative of sickness to bemoan ones state, and pity ones self. As much as possible, look away from yourself toward God. I have never seen insects that, if they fell into the water, did not attempt to fly out again as soon as possible.

V. By the aged. It is a very painful thing to see a matron who has lived in toil go back over her experience. One has died; another has died; another remains. Would to God he had died also! Poverty comes in, with disappointment. She is seventy. This woman, whose life has been a heroism, goes, it may be, to the poor-house. And it is sad enough. But cheer up. It may be that you have laid up more than you think. You have built no house; there are thousands of things that men rejoice in here that you have not; but you do not know how many comfortable words you have dropped as you have gone along; how your kindness has thrown radiance on the paths of others; how much good you have done with your faith; how much you have lightened the burdens of your fellow-men by the example of your life. When you go hence, one, and another, and another, whom you have directly or indirectly helped in their trouble, will throng the gate of heaven with gratitude. You will be surprised to learn how many know you that you do not know. There is a life not far beyond where the silver cords broken here shall be brought together again. (H. W. Beecher.)

Hope

Let us look at hope.

I. In its relation to home and pressing work.

1. The nurse and loving friend who watch by the sick say, While there is life there is hope. It is curious to see how God, who puts us here as mere strangers and pilgrims, mere grubs, about to burst into the beauty of the heavenly life, should implant in us a keen and obstinate love of life such as we see it here. But so it is. We cannot bear the idea of being dead, and fly for medical help directly there is danger to health. No doubt this is right. Jesus raised bodies to toil a few years more, to die a few years later.

2. But God reverses the saw of the nurse and says, While there is hope there is life. When we can look onward in our work, and believe in progress, then we work with life. Even the sluggard is inspired by results. Thorwaldsen was once found deeply dejected, if not in tears. On being asked why, he confessed that he was satisfied with the work he had in hand; that he accepted this satisfaction, which he had never felt before, as a sign that his powers were decreasing, that he had no higher aim, that the turning moment of his decline had come. So it is in the commonest handicraft. He who hopes to see shoes made better will always work with a reserve of energy and enjoyment. But the moment a man loses heart, i.e., hope, his value is diminished in the labour market; he is merely writhing in the clutch of death, and unless rekindled by the fire of God, will before long disappear vauquished. Hope is the sun, and when it sets the night creeps on from place to place in the soul.

II. In its higher aspects. The constant looking forward to victory is the secret of the Christian life.

1. Life in the Psalms is the confidence of help, David rises before us inspired, irresistible, when he looks beyond the years of guilt and persecution. When he had eaten and was full, when his course was nearly done, there was much in his history we do not like to dwell on.

2. When we turn to the New Testament our eyes are drawn at once to Jesus. In the judgment hall He looks beyond the mob, the scourge, the shame, and thinks aloud, Hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God. More or less this spirit inspires all true disciples. Hope is the true elixir which confers perpetual renovation.

III. A mysterious incoming Spirit is the Giver of this hope. We have received the firstfruits of the Spirit … for we are saved by hope. Have we realised the existence of such a Spirit? or do we look for mere spiritual luxuries which will help us to say a Nunc dimittis? Do we look merely to a calm, comfortable ending of all desires, or to a growing power to take in the things of God? (Harry Jones, M.A.)

Hope

is evidenced--

1. By the mother of it--faith.

2. By the daughter of it--patience.

3. By the companion of it--love. (Elnathan Parr, B.D.)

Hope or sunshine

You have all experienced the difference between a sunny and a foggy morning. When you have risen and beheld the sun shining in its strength, have you not felt an irrepressible emotion of joy? But when the fog has begloomed your atmosphere a shadow has been cast over your very mercies.

1. There is a foggy side morally over which broods blackness of darkness; where hope refuses to take root; where all happiness is evanescent or imaginary. This foggy side is owing to sin. Upon it, we admit, there are clouds which promise much, but they have no water; trees, but they bear no fruit--having no hope, and without God in the world.

2. From this fog there is a way of escape. Just as your lungs were not framed for fogs, so your spirits were not framed for moral gloom. God is light, and coming to Him, instead of darkness earth shall smile with the foretastes of heaven.

3. Let us, then, turn to the sunny side. The hope of the Christian respects--

I. That which is good. And this in common with the world. No man hopes for sickness, failure, misery, death, but the opposite. All men hope good for themselves, even the worst, which shows that God has lodged in the common heart a buoyant hope. Hence hope is opposed to fear. But all hope and no fear would not do. We fear evil while we hope for good. Noah feared as well as hoped when he built the ark, nevertheless, excessive fear kills hope, and unfits man for duty. How delightful to feel that we hope for nothing but good for ourselves and others! This is to be in sympathy with the mind of God.

II. That which is future. Hope that is seen is not hope. Here is a vast difference between the good and the godless man, who is all for the present. Well may our hope respect the future when we consider the promises relating thereto. There may be hope in heaven. How do we know that God will not give us another revelation and roll of promises, and enter more fully into the details of eternity. Anyhow, if we have hope only in this life, if it do not carry us beyond, we are of all men the most miserable.

III. That which is possible. Worldlings often hope for the impossible--without any foundation for what they wish. Hence their expectation is cut off. But the Christian says, All things are possible to God, and therefore to him that believeth in God. If God has said a thing we may confidently expect it.

IV. Trials and triumphs. Every grace is tried in this world of trials; so hope. David, looking at the foggy side, said, I shall one day perish. Looking on the sunny side he exclaimed, Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him. So Abraham, in hope believed against hope, and became the father of many nations. Experience worketh hope, for having gone through six trials we may confidently expect victory in the seventh. Consequently hope maketh not ashamed. The worldling is often ashamed because of the failure of his hopes; but the Christians hope moderated by the Divine promises cannot fail.

V. The supply of all temporal needs: light in darkness, strength in weakness, sufficiency in indigence, ballast in prosperity.

VI. A glorious resurrection. When the wicked man comes to die there is an end of all his hopes, but the righteous hath hope in his death, because Christ hath abolished death, etc. Hence, when bereaved, we sorrow not as those who have no hope.

VII. Everlasting life. (Mortlock Daniell.)

Hope, its power and usefulness

We are saved by means of faith, and on the principle of hope. The land we are to possess is chiefly one of promise. We have a wilderness to pass through with its trials, dangers, and temptations. Salvation on the condition of hope is advantageous. A state of waiting is one of moral worth, and helpful in the spiritual life. It tends to produce and develop the active qualities of endurance and fortitude, and the passive qualities of patience and resignation; and it also fits us to appreciate and form a right estimate of the blessings in prospect. In daily life we see that the prize in the future frequently makes a man what he is; and when his wishes are realised, and his ambition satisfied--in fact, when hope has found its accomplishment and ceased to exist--the same individual has not been unknown to deteriorate. The knowledge that the reward is ours at the end of the course, and would be forfeited or lessened by failure on our part, tends to call out our latent powers, stimulate our efforts, and produce states and habits of the soul which otherwise, without a miracle, could hardly exist. (C. Neil, M.A.)

Hope and faith

Hope is closely allied to, but is distinct from faith. By faith we believe the promises made to us by God; by hope we expect to receive the good things which God has promised: so that faith hath properly for its object the promise, and hope for its object the thing promised, and the execution of the promise. Faith regards its object as present, but hope regards it as future. Faith precedes hope, and is its foundation. We hope for life eternal, because we believe the promises which God has made respecting it; and if we believe these promises, we must expect their effect. Hope looks to eternal life as that which is future in regard to its remoteness; but in regard to its certainty, faith looks to it as a thing that is present. Hope, says the apostle, maketh not ashamed; and he declares that we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Thus he ascribes to it the same certainty as to faith; and in the Epistle to the Hebrews he speaks of the full assurance of hope. Faith and hope are virtues of this life, which will have no place in the life that is to come. Now abideth faith, hope, and love. Faith and hope will cease; and in this respect love is the greatest, as love will abide for ever. (R. Haldane.)

Hopes outlook

A captain in a prayer-meeting recently, by way of testimony, said that when, many years since, he crossed the old ocean, he was much in the habit, from day to day, of looking over the ships side, particularly near the prow, and watching the staunch and noble vessel as she steadily and irresistibly ploughed her way through the waves. Just under the bowsprit, and serving the purpose of a figure-head, was the image of a human face. This face to him came to be invested with a wondrous interest. Whatever the hour, whether by night or by day; whatever the weather, whether in sunshine or in storm, that face seemed ever steadfastly looking forward to port. Sometimes fearful tempests would prevail. Great surges would rise, and, for a time completely submerge the face of his friend. But as soon as the wrathful billow subsided, and the vessel recovered from its lurch, on looking again over the ships side, there, notwithstanding the fearful shock sustained, the placid face of his friend was to be seen still, as heretofore, faithfully, steadfastly looking out for port. And so, he exclaimed, his countenance meantime radiant with the light of the Christians hope, and of spiritual joy, and so I humbly trust it is in my own case. Yea, whatever the trials of the past, notwithstanding all the toils and disappointments of the present, by the grace of God I am still looking out for port, and not long hence I am anticipating a joyful, triumphant, abundant entrance therein.

Hope the boon of man

Oh, blessed hope! sole boon of man, whereby on his strait prison walls are painted beautiful, far-stretching landscapes, and into the night of very death itself is shed holiest dawn, Thou art to all an indefeasible condition and possession in this Gods world. To the wise, a sacred Constantines banner, written on the eternal skies, under which they shall conquer, for the battle itself is victory! To the foolish some secular mirage or shadow of still waters painted on the parched earth, whereby, at least, their dusky pilgrimage, if devious, becomes cheerfuller, becomes possible! (Thomas Carlyle.)

Christian hope

I. The objects it contemplates.

1. The raised body.

2. A perfectly holy nature.

3. Blessed society.

4. The vision of God.

II. From what it saves us.

1. Immoderate sorrow in affliction.

2. Earthly-mindedness.

3. Slothfulness.

III. By what it is sustained.

1. Meditation on God.

2. Communion with Him.

3. Union with Christ.

4. The exercise of itself. (J. Leifchild, D.D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 8:24-25. For we are saved by hope — That is, our salvation is now only in hope; we do not yet possess the full salvation; but hope that is seen is not hope — Hope here, by a usual metonymy, is put for the object of hope; and in Scripture, to see, often signifies to enjoy, and sometimes to suffer. The meaning here is, the thing hoped for, when actually enjoyed, is no longer the object of hope. But if, or since, we hope for that we see not — That is, which we do not enjoy; then do we — Naturally and usually; with patience wait for it — Especially if the object of our hope be very excellent and necessary for us, attainable by us, and assured to us in this way. Thus, if our hope of the heavenly inheritance, valuable beyond all we can express or conceive, be strong and lively, it will produce in us a patient waiting till God’s time be come to put us in possession of it, and in the mean while will render us willing to bear the intervening troubles contentedly.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Rom_8:24.—The salvation which we now enjoy is by the exercise of hope as well as faith.

Rom_8:25.—The duty of waiting with patient endurance is argued from salvation being yet a matter of hope. It enables all who possess it to wait in patience.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_8:24-25

The sustaining grace.—The sustaining grace is hope, for we consider it in this passage subjectively and objectively. We look forward in hope to its object, which is the perfected adoption and redemption of the believer. We may be allowed to consider hope in its bearing upon the whole of the Christian character. Perhaps we may extend the apostolic idea in this passage, as we observe:—

I. Hope appropriates the blessings purchased by Jesus Christ.—We are saved by hope, and thus it is the instrumental cause of salvation. “Thy faith hath saved thee.” It is the hand which lays hold upon the hand of Jesus, who leads out of the pit. Hope does not save apart from its object—Jesus Christ as mediator. Hope must rest on the foundation-stone laid by God in Zion. All other hope is baseless.

II. Hope is the “helmet of salvation.”—The head the most important part of the human frame, for therein resides the brain. Man of all animals has the largest brain and a weak defence. Reason and the inventive faculty enable him to provide against attacks. The helmet is the artificial safeguard for the human brain. The Christian soldier is crowned with the best helmet, the hope of salvation. In ancient warfare a strong arm would make the sword cleave the helmet and slay the man. No arm is sufficiently strong, no sword sufficiently well-tempered, to cleave the Christian’s helmet of hope. We are saved by a strong hope.

III. Hope holds the Christian’s head above water.—Hope is like the cork to a net—the lead upon the bottom of the net would sink it, but the cork bears it up; our troubles would sink us, the testimony of our external senses would sink us, but hope sustains. Hope is the life-buoy for the mariner. The ships of earth may sink; the billows may rise mountainous; but hope enables the man to swim in roughest seas. The tempest only makes sweet music in his soul. He rides calmly like the sea-bird on the swelling and rolling waters.

IV. Hope is the pleasant pilot.—The pilot takes complete control of the vessel, and conducts into the harbour. He may bring pleasant news from shore. Hope guides the soul, and tells sweet stories of succeeding joys. Amid the gloom that death’s shadows cast over the dying Christian hope brings gracious rays of heavenly light to cheer. Lightsome is life, less stern is death, when hope pleasantly pilots the soul.

V. Hope is not daunted by inscrutable purposes.—There are mysteries in life, dark providences in human proceedings. Hope brightens the dark design; hope contentedly waits for the solution of all mysteries. Dr. Payson was once asked if he saw any special reasons for some particular dispensation of providence. “No,” was his reply; “but I am as well satisfied as if I saw the design.” God’s will is the very perfection of reason. Hope teaches satisfaction. Philosophy kicks against the unknowable, and is in a state of unrest. Hope accepts the unknowable and also the knowable divine wisdom and goodness, and is in a state of delicious repose.

VI. Hope waits the Father’s time.—“Then do we with patience wait for it.” Time is a human word. Of course all words are human, but by the expression “time is a human word” we mean that men are subject to time conditions; and in what sense the word may be applied to the divine we cannot tell. God’s time is not measured by human dial-plates. The eternal clocks are made on larger scale than the clocks of time. A child measures time by fitful fancies. A man measures time by prolonged efforts. We are all children with our fitful fancies. God’s time must be measured by mighty purposes which require ages for their unfolding. Hope calmly waits at the post of duty, while God’s great time is moving onward to the development of His benevolent designs.

VII. Hope sees the unseen.—“Hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Hope ceases when its object is realised. Perfect redemption is unseen, but we live in hope. Heaven is unseen, but hope is so strong that it brings heaven down to earth. Let a man’s citizenship be in heaven—let his thoughts travel amongst the holy angels—let his spirit thirst for the joys of the upper temple—let his longings be towards the presence of the Lamb, who is without blemish and without spot, and that man must rise out of a low state of manhood into a condition that shall be sublimely glorious. With such a process carried on to perfection, he will appear as one let down from the upper sphere to this lower world. Blessed hope enables sorrowing disciples to rejoice in days of darkness, and martyrs to sing in the very hour of their martyrdom. It brings rich grapes from heaven with which to refresh the parched lips, and pours healing oil into wounded hearts. It scatters the darkness of death, chases away the gloom of the grave, by throwing around it the divine light of a glorious resurrection, and opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Let us then no longer dissipate our lives in a series of trifles; but let us recall ourselves to-day from fugitive events, and strike a nobler aim, and seek a more enduring interest, and cast a further anticipation on the futurity which lies before us, and on that blessed hope the realisation of which will fill our souls with joy unspeakable.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_8:24-25

How to know hope.—Thou shalt know hope by three things, whether thou hast it or not.

1. By the mother of it, which is faith: he that hopeth believeth, for faith is the ground of things hoped for.

2. By the daughter of it, which is patience: thus do we with patience wait for it. Merchants in hope of gain endure the water, martyrs in hope of recompense endure the fire; where there is no patience there is no hope.

3. By the companion of it, which is love: he that hath this hope purifieth himself. If then thou hast a true and lively hope of salvation, remember to increase in faith, patience, and love, which is the fulfilling of the law. Thus we suppress the rising sigh, thus we bow with submission to the will of God which afflicts us, thus we show to ourselves and others that we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. But we wait for the victor’s crown; we have not actually attained or come to the realisation of that for which we hope: that “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,” and therefore we patiently wait until the hour of glorious liberty, the deliverance from the bondage of corruption.—Adams.

Hope and despair.—Despair throws over the soul an oppressive gloom, paralyses the energies, benumbs the powers, and throws the man a wasted wreck on the sands of time; while hope fills the soul with light, braces up the man with strength, and sends him walking through God’s creation, a being endowed with powers of endurance. Despair is the result of sin’s working in this world, while Christian hope is the gift of God. He has given us a good hope through grace. God might have shut us up to the darkness of despair; but in the midst of our moral darkness mercy appeared and hope spanned the world in its many colours like a rainbow of divine promise.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8

Rom_8:24-25. Sir Walter Scott.—There is pleasure in abiding amid the storm when the anchor of a good hope fastens to the immovable throne of Him in whom is everlasting strength. When Sir Walter Scott was a little boy, he was found sitting on a knoll in a great and terrific thunderstorm. He was lying on his back, listening to the thunder, looking at the lightning, clapping his hands at each successive flash, and exclaiming with glee, “Bonnie, bonnie!” When Christian hope is in lively exercise, elements of delight may be found in the very storm which causes fear.

Rom_8:24-25. The steadfast boy.—A gentleman in London, having some business one morning to transact at the India House, took with him his son, then only six or seven years of age. The boy was left at one of the outer doors, with instructions to wait until his father came for him. Having been detained within for some time, the father, under the pressure of his engagements, forgot his son, and left by another door. When he reached home in the evening, the first inquiry of the wife was about the missing child, and then the father recollected all. He at once returned to the India House, and found the obedient boy waiting at his post, where he had waited the livelong day. The eternal Father never forgets, but sometimes to our shortsightedness He may appear to forget, and then hope comes to our assistance and teaches us to wait in patience the Father’s time. Wait through the longest day; wait through the darkest night. The shadows will flee away; the morning of perfect explanation will appear. Sorrow may endure for the night; joy will come in the morning of divine revelations.

Rom_8:24-25. Bedridden for twenty years.—A friend once told us that when visiting a woman who had been bedridden for twenty or thirty years, she said to him, “What a useless creature I am, lying here doing nothing, just a burden to others, and everybody around me actively employed! I wonder how it is that God keeps me so long in the world?” And yet the fact was, as our friend told us, that she was the wonder of all who knew her. They could not think or say enough of her patient, cheerful resignation, her self-forgetfulness, her interest in everything and everyone she saw or heard of, her sweetness of temper, her heavenly, Christlike spirit. Her lowly estimate of herself added a charm to her character and life. Her beautiful exemplification of the passive virtues rendered her one of the most useful creatures in the whole parish.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 8:24. Ἐλπίδι) the dative, not of the means, but of the manner; we are so saved, that there may even yet remain something, for which we may hope,—both salvation and glory. He limits the present salvation, but, while he limits, he by that very circumstance takes it for granted.—τί καὶ) why yet does he hope for it? Where there is vision, there is no need of hope. The blessed will be sure of the eternity of their blessedness, because they shall have no need of hope; and therefore they will be established in it.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_8:24. Τῇ γὰρ ἐλπ. ἐσώθ.] Ground of the υἱοθεσίαν ἀπεκδ., so far as the υἱοθεσία is still object of expectation; for in hope we were made partakers of salvation. The dative, non medii, sed modi (Bengel), denotes that to which the ἐσώθ. is to be conceived as confined (Winer, p. 202) [E. T. 271], and τῇ ἐλπ. is prefixed with the emphasis of the contrast of reality; for sic liberati sumus ut adhuc speranda sit haereditas, postea possidenda, et ut ita dicam, nunc habemus jus ad rem, nondum in re, Melancthon. Comp. Tit_3:7; Col_3:3 f. Following Chrysostom, others (recently Rückert, Köllner, and de Wette) take the dative in an instrumental sense; by hopethus assuming that Paul characterizes faith, the proper medium of salvation, as hope. Incorrectly, because in general Paul specifically distinguishes faith and hope (1Co_13:13), while he always bases salvation only on faith, from which hope thereupon proceeds (comp. Col_1:27); and here especially, as is shown by what follows, he brings into prominence the definite conception of hope, which as δόξα μελλόντων (Plat. Legg. I. p. 644 C) rests in the προσδοκία ἀγαθοῦ (Plat. Def. p. 416 A). Hofmann also takes τῇ ἐλπ. in the sense of the means, but so that it shall signify the benefit hoped for, the object of the waiting, which God has offered to us in the word, by which we were converted to faith (Col_1:5). Thus, however, the thought that we have been saved by hope (instead of by faith, Eph_2:8) is set aside only by the insertion of parenthetical clauses. And in Col_1:5, the blessing hoped for, heard of through preaching, is set forth as the ground, not of conversion or salvation, but of love.

ἐλπὶς δὲ κ.τ.λ.… ἀπεκδεχ.] is a deduction from Τῇ ἘΛΠ. ἘΣΩΘ., closing the first ground of encouragement, and meaning substantially: the nature of hope, however, involves our patiently waiting for.

βλεπομένη] But a hope (ΔῈ ΜΕΤΑΒΑΤΙΚΌΝ) that is seen, i.e. whose object lies before the eyes (comp. on the objective ἐλπίς, Col_1:5; 1Ti_1:1; Heb_6:18; Thuc. iii. 57. 4; Lucian, Pisc. 3; Aeschin. ad Ctesiph. 100). Comp. 2Co_4:18.

τί καὶ ἐλπίζει;] Why doth he still hope for it? By καί is indicated thein the supposed case groundlessaccession of hope to sight (1Co_15:29). Comp. generally, on this strengthening use of the καί, etiam, in lively interrogation, Klotz, ad Devar. p. 633 f., and on 1 Cor. l.c. Bengel aptly remarks: cum visione non est spe opus.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 8:24 f. This sentence explains why Paul can speak of Christians as waiting for adoption, while they are nevertheless in the enjoyment of sonship. It is because salvation is essentially related to the future. “We wait for it: for we were saved in hope .” The dat τῇ ἐλπίδι is that of mode or respect. Our salvation was qualified from the beginning by reference to a good yet to be. Weiss argues that the sense of ἐλπὶς in the second clause ( res sperata ) makes it “absolutely necessary” to take it so in the first, and that this leaves no alternative but to make τῇ ἐλπίδι dat comm and translate: “for, for this object of hope eternal life and glory were we delivered from eternal destruction”. But the “absolute necessity” is imaginary; a word with the nuances of ἐλπίς in a mind with the speed of Paul’s need not be treated so rigorously, especially as the resulting construction is in itself extremely dubious. Hope, the Apostle argues, is an essential characteristic of our salvation; but hope turned sight is hope no more, for who hopes for what he sees? We do not see all the Gospel held out to us, but it is the object of our Christian hope nevertheless; it is as true and sure as the love of God which in Christ Jesus reconciled us to Himself and gave us the spirit of adoption, and therefore we wait for it in patience. For διὰ cf. Rom 2:27 . ὑπομονὴ : in 1Th 1:3 we have ἡ ὑπομονὴ τῆς ἐλπίδος ὑμῶν used of a suffering but steadfast Church: ὑπομονὴ is the constancy which belongs to and characterises hope in dark days. In the pastoral epistles (1Ti 6:10 ; Tit 2:2 ) instead of the πίστις , ἀγάπη , ἐλπίς , of earlier letters, Paul writes πίστις , ἀγάπη , ὑπομονή , as if he had discovered by experience that in this life “hope” has mainly to be shown in the form of “patience”.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 24, 25. “For we have been saved in hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why would he yet hope for? Now if we hope for that we see not, then do we with perseverance wait for it.”

Ver. 24 uses one of the three constituent elements of the Christian life, namely hope (1Co 13:13), to demonstrate the reality of that state of groaning and expectation which has just been ascribed to believers. On the one hand, undoubtedly salvation is a thing finished; this is indicated by the aorist ἐσώθημεν, we have been saved. But, on the other hand, this salvation having as yet penetrated only to the spiritual part of our being, is not fully realized, and leaves room for awaiting a more complete realization. Hence the restrictive specification τῇ ἐλπίδι, in hope. This word, from its position at the beginning of the sentence, evidently has the emphasis. This dative is, as Bengel says, a dativus modi, signifying: “in the way of hope.” The meaning therefore is: “If we are saved, which is certain, this holds true only when we take account of the element of hope which continues always in our present state.” We must not, like Chrys., De Wette, Rück., identify hope with faith, and find here the idea of salvation by faith. The whole context shows that it is really of hope in the strict and special meaning of the word that Paul is speaking. Already in the apostolic age we find persons who, intoxicated with a feeling of false spiritualism, gave out that salvation concerned only man’s higher nature, and who abandoned the body to everlasting destruction; so those Christians of Corinth who denied the resurrection of the body (1 Corinthians 15), and those heretics of Asia Minor who alleged that the resurrection was already past (2Ti 2:18), probably because they confounded it with moral regeneration. Were there such men at Rome? Paul must have had some reason for insisting, as he does here, on the outward and future consummation of the edifice of salvation. The meaning of the last two propositions of Rom 8:24 is clear: “Now, hope implies non-possession.” In the words: hope that is seen, the term hope is taken for the object hoped for, as is often the case, Col 1:5 for example. In the words following the term resumes its subjective meaning. The last proposition has been amended by the copyists in all sorts of ways. In our translation we have rendered the T. R. The Greco-Latin text, rejecting the καί, yet, signifies: “For what one sees, why would he hope for?” The Sinaït.: “What one sees, he also hopes for,” or “does he also hope for?”—a reading which in the context has no meaning. The Vatic.: “What one sees, does he hope for?” This is the reading which Volkmar prefers; for in regard to the Vatic. he gives himself up to the same predilection with which he rightly charges Tischendorf in regard to the Sinaït. This reading is impossible. It would require when instead of what: “When one sees, does he hope?”

The καί, yet, is by no means superfluous: yet, after sight has begun, along with sight, hope has no more place.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_8:24, Rom_8:25

The apostle, intending to show that the present afflictions of believers are not inconsistent with their being the children of God, and are therefore no ground of discouragement, refers not only to their comparative insignificance, but also to the necessity which there is, from the nature of the case, for these sufferings: Salvation, in its fullness, is not a present good, but a matter of hope, and of course future; and if future, it follows that we must wait for it in patient and joyful expectation. While, therefore, waiting for salvation is necessary, from the nature of the case, the nature of the blessing waited for, converts expectation into desire, and enables us patiently to endure all present evils.

For we are saved by hope, τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν. At the close of preceding verse, Paul had spoken of believers as waiting for the adoption. They thus wait, because salvation is not a present good, but a future one. We are saved in hope, i.e., in prospect. The dative (ἐλπίδι) does not in this case express the means by which anything is done, but the condition or circumstances in which it is, or the way and manner in which it occurs. It is therefore analogous to our forms of expression, we have a thing in expectation or prospect. Salvation is a blessing we have in hope, not in possession: if it be the one, it cannot be the other, since hope that is seen is not hope. It lies in the nature of hope, that its object must be future. The word hope is here used objectively for the thing hoped for, as in Col_1:5, The hope that is laid up for you in heaven; Heb_6:18; Eph_1:18, etc. The latter clause of the verse, for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for; is only a confirmation of the previous declaration, that it lies in the nature of hope to have reference to the future. This passage, says Olshausen, is specially important for determining the true nature of hope. It stands opposed to βλέπειν, seeing which supposes the object to be externally present. It is, however, no less opposed to the entire absence of its object. It is on the contrary, the inward possession of the things hoped for, so far as they are spiritual. A man can believe, and hope for eternal things, only so far as they are inwardly present to him. Therefore it is that Christian hope is something so exalted. It is the daughter of experience (Rom_5:4), and maketh not ashamed. It is the sister of faith and love. Good wishes, desires, and longings, are not hope, because they do not involve the real possession of the things longed for.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is spoken by the figure Metonymy: Hope, for that which is hoped for.

Sixthly, hope is necessarily joined with faith: seeing then that we believe those things, which we are not yet in possession of, and hope respected not the thing that is present, we must therefore hope and patiently wait for that which we believe shall come to pass.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

For we are saved by hope--rather, "For in hope we are saved"; that is, it is more a salvation in hope than as yet in actual possession.

but hope that is seen is not hope--for the very meaning of hope is, the expectation that something now future will become present.

for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?--the latter ending when the other comes.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. For we are saved by hope] We are supported and are comfortable in the expectation we have of receiving from the hand of our God all the good we need in the troubles and adversities of this life, and of having our bodies raised from corruption and death at the general resurrection.

Hope that is seen is not hope] As hope signifies the expectation of future good, so it necessarily supposes that the object of it is not seen, i.e. not enjoyed; for to see, in Scripture language, sometimes signifies to enjoy, as in Job 7:7: Mine eye shall no more SEE (margin, ENJOY) good. Job 9:25: My days flee away, and SEE no good; i.e. enjoy no prosperity. Ps 50:23: I will SHOW the salvation of God: I will give that man to enjoy my salvation who walks uprightly. Mt 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall SEE God; that is, they shall enjoy his favour and blessing. See also Joh 3:36; Heb 12:14, and 1Jo 3:2. The hope that is seen, that is, enjoyed, is no longer hope, it is fruition: and a man cannot hope for that which he has in his possession.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. For by hope, etc. Paul strengthens his exhortation by another argument; for our salvation cannot be separated from some kind of death, and this he proves by the nature of hope. Since hope extends to things not yet obtained, and represents to our minds the form of things hidden and far remote, whatever is either openly seen or really possessed, is not an object of hope. But Paul takes it as granted, and what cannot be denied, that as long as we are in the world, salvation is what is hoped for; it hence follows, that it is laid up with God far beyond what we can see. By saying, that hope is not what is seen, he uses a concise expression, but the meaning is not obscure; for he means simply to teach us, that since hope regards some future and not present good, it can never be connected with what we have in possession. If then it be grievous to any to groan, they necessarily subvert the order laid down by God, who does not call his people to victory before he exercises them in the warfare of patience. But since it has pleased God to lay up our salvation, as it were, in his closed bosom, it is expedient for us to toil on earth, to be oppressed, to mourn, to be afflicted, yea, to lie down as half-dead and to be like the dead; for they who seek a visible salvation reject it, as they renounce hope which has been appointed by God as its guardian.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(24) Why do I say that we “wait for the adoption?” Because hope in the future is of the very essence of the Christian’s life. It was by hope that he was saved. Hope, at the time when he first believed, made him realise his salvation, though it is still in the future. This is, indeed, implied in the very nature of hope. Its proper object is that which is future and unseen.

By hope.—It is usually faith rather than hope that is represented as the means or instrument of salvation. Nor can it quite rightly be said that hope is an aspect of faith, because faith and hope are expressly distinguished and placed as co-ordinate with each other in 1Co_13:13 : “and now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three.” Hope is rather a secondary cause of salvation, because it sets salvation vividly before the believer, and so makes him strive to obtain it.

It must not, however, be overlooked that the phrase translated “by hope,” may be taken, rather to mean “with” or “in hope.” It will then serve to limit the idea of salvation. We were saved, indeed, in an inchoate and imperfect manner, but our full salvation is still a subject for hope, and therefore it is not past but still in the future.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. For we are saved] Lit., and better, we were saved; at the time of our deliverance from darkness into light.

by hope] “Hope” has the article in the Gr.—If our English Version is retained, the meaning will be that our conversion was effected, in one sense, by the discovery of “the hope laid up in heaven” for the justified. But the connexion of salvation with faith is so marked and careful in N. T. doctrine that it seems far more likely that the true version (equally proper in grammar) is, we were saved in hope; i.e. when we believed we accepted a salvation whose realization was future, and could therefore be enjoyed only in the hope we felt in view of it.—“Salvation” here is used (as e.g. 1Pe_1:5,) for the crown of the saving process; final glory.

hope that is seen] i.e. “the hoped-for object, once seen, (as present,) ceases ipso facto to be hoped for.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For we are saved by hope,.... We who have received the firstfruits, who were in a lost perishing condition, and by nature no better than others, than the Gentiles, are saved by sin and wrath to come by Christ, with a spiritual and everlasting salvation. They were already saved in the preparations and purposes of God; in the covenant of grace; in the arms and hands of Christ, through his purchase; and as considered in him; and with respect to the inchoation and application of salvation, in effectual calling, and their right unto it by the righteousness of Christ; and with regard to the certainty of it, in faith and hope: the manner in which they are said to be saved, is "by", or "in hope"; not that hope is the cause of salvation, but the means by which souls are brought to the enjoyment of it; salvation, or glory, is the object of it:

but hope that is seen, is not hope; for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for? in the former clause, "hope" signifies the grace itself, but here the object of it; which is represented as unseen, not yet fully enjoyed, something future, and to be hoped for; as the resurrection of the dead, which is the object of hope, and is unseen, and even incredible to carnal reason, and is to come, and good foundation there is in divine revelation, to hope for it; and the hope of it is of great use to the saints, whilst in this world of trouble: eternal glory and happiness is also the object of the hope of believers; it is said to be the hope of their calling, which they are called by grace to; the hope of righteousness, which the righteousness of Christ is the ground and foundation of; and that blessed hope, the sum of their happiness; and hope laid up for them in heaven, where it is safe and secure; all which is unseen, and yet to come; but good reason there is to hope for it, since the Scriptures of truth so clearly express it; and the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, lay such a solid foundation for hope of it: the Alexandrian copy reads, "why doth he yet wait for?" and so the Ethiopic version, with which agrees the Syriac version, reading the whole, "for if we see it, why should we wait for it?"

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

24 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?

Ver. 24. For we are saved by hope] Hope is the daughter of faith, but such as is a staff to her aged mother.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For we are saved by hope - It cannot be said that hope is the instrument or condition of salvation. Most commentators have understood this as meaning that we have as yet attained salvation only in hope; that we have arrived only to a condition in which we hope for future glory; and that we are in an attitude of waiting for the future state of adoption. But perhaps the word “saved” may mean here simply, we are kept, preserved, sustained in our trials, by hope. Our trials are so great that nothing but the prospect of future deliverance would uphold us; and the prospect is sufficient to enable us to bear them with patience. This is the proper meaning of the word “save”; and it is often thus used in the New Testament; see Mat 8:25; Mat 16:25; Mar 3:4; Mar 8:35. The Syriac renders this, “For by hope we live.” The Arabic, “We are preserved by hope.” Hope thus sustains the soul in the midst of trims, and enables it to bear them without a complaint.

But hope that is seen - Hope is a complex emotion, made up of an earnest desire, and an expectation of obtaining an object. It has reference, therefore, to what is at present unseen. But when the object is seen, and is in our possession, it cannot be said to be an object of hope. The Word hope here means the object of hope, the thing hoped for.

What a man seeth - The word “seeth” is used here in the sense of possessing, or enjoying. What a man already possesses, he cannot be said to hope for.

Why - How. What a man actually possesses, how can he look forward to it with anticipation?

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For we are saved by hope, as it is the will of God we should be, waiting and hoping with patience for the things which we have not seen, which neither the eye hath seen, nor the ear hath heard, &c. (1 Corinthians ii. 9.) --- And the spirit also helpeth our infirmity...asketh for us with unspeakable groanings.[4] If we understand this according to the common exposition, of the divine spirit of the Holy Ghost, the sense is, says St. Augustine, that the Holy Ghost maketh us ask: but we may understand the spirit of God and his grace, diffused in our souls, and in particular that gift of the Holy Ghost, called the spirit of prayer, given to the new Christians, which taught them what to ask, and how to pray. See St. John Chrysostom. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Though we certianly believe there is such a redemption or salvation belonging to us, according to the promise of God, yet for the present we have no possession of it; all the salvation we have at present is in

hope, which, according to the nature of it, is of things not yet enjoyed, for vision or possession puts an end to hope; no man hopes for what he sees and enjoys.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. For—The apostle now shows the reason why, according to the law and plan of our probation, this glorious consummation is placed in the distance beyond this scene of groaning and corruption.

We are saved by hope—Our salvation takes place only on condition of our expectation, and hope looks faithfully forward and upward. Such are our probationary requisites, and these in their very nature require distance and an unseen future. (See note on Joh_16:7-15.)

For hope—The hope-object that is seen, by being present and possessed, is not a hope-object, and so precludes the exertion of hope.

Why—Or rather, how. Hope, and sight or fruition, are incompatible.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 24, 25. For by (or, in) hope we were saved; not are saved, as in the Authorized Version. The aorist eswyhmen , like elabete in ver. 15, points to the time of conversion. The dative elpidi , which has no preposition before it, seems here, to have a modal rather than medial sense; for faith, not hope, is that whereby we are ever said to be saved. The meaning is that when the state of salvation was entered upon, hope was an essential element in its appropriation. A condition, not of attainment, but of hope, is therefore the normal condition of the regenerate now; and so, after shortly pointing out the very meaning of hope, the apostle enforces his previous conclusion, that they must be content at present to wait with patience. 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.

Now comes in a further thought, and a very interesting one.

Vers. 24, 25. When we entered on our state of salvation as Christians, it was in hope; our essential condition became then one of hope, which is incompatible with present attainment of our hope; we must, therefore, needs endure and waif, bearing these present trials.

Vers. 24, 25. "Saved by hope.

Hope is an emotion compounded of expectation and desire. We may expect what we dread, we may desire what we are sure is beyond our reach; in either case hope is impossible. Faith is in the unseen present; hope is of the unseen future. As a feeling, and consequently as a motive power, hope is taken up, heightened, and hallowed by religion. In the New Testament, great stress is laid upon, and great virtue is attributed to, hope; it ranks with faith and love.

I THE OBJECTS OF THE CHRISTIAN"S HOPE.

1. God himself; his favour and fellowship. "Hope thou in God" is the admonition given, to which the suitable response is, "My hope is in thee." Hope in God is distinguished from hope in man, in being always secure.

2. Especially God in Christ, who is spoken of as the "Lord Jesus Christ, our Hope." We are enjoined to "hope in Christ;" and his character and promises justify compliance with such injunction.

3. To particularize, the object of hope is stated to be Christ"s future appearance; the Christian looks for "the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ." Has not our Lord expressly said, "I will come again"? Now, "he that hath this hope, purifieth himself.

4. The Christian"s hope extends both to the future of this life and to immortal blessedness. This earthly existence is brightened by the prospects opened up to us of Divine aid and guidance, protection and comfort; and such hope is fitted to strengthen and to cheer. Whilst Christianity is especially distinct and emphatic in its revelation of the glories of the future state; telling of the "hope of eternal life," "the hope laid up in heaven," and imparting a "living hope of an inheritance.

II THE GROUNDS OF THE CHRISTIAN"S HOPE.

1. The promise of God. Here is a sure and stable foundation which it would be folly and sin to distrust. "I hope," is the godly man"s exclamation, "in thy Word." His is the "hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began." In giving us his revelation, the design of infinite love was that we, "through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

2. The teaching of the Holy Spirit. He is the Inspirer of all good. affections and desires; one purpose of his bestowal upon Christians being that they "might abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

3. Our experience of the Lord"s faithfulness. "Experience worketh hope." It is not a matter of conjecture on the part of Christ"s people whether or not the promises of God will be fulfilled; they have already been fulfilled in such measure as to justify our hope concerning the future. Ours is a hope which "maketh not ashamed," which will not disappoint those who cleave to it.

III THE FRUITS OF THE CHRISTIAN"S HOPE.

1. Calmness and confidence of disposition. In this, hope is as "an anchor unto the soul;" for whilst fear disturbs, hope pacifies.

2. Cheerfulness and joy. They are bright and glad who have something to which they can look forward, even when the present is cheerless and discouraging. Such is the case with Christians, who "rejoice in hope." "Happy is he whose hope is in the Lord his God.

3. Spirituality and purity of heart and life. The purifying power of hope is especially described by St. John; it is by its influence that Christians are meetened for their inheritance.

4. Patience and endurance. In this respect hope is as a helmet to the soul. "If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." The Thessalonians were commended by St. Paul for their "patience of hope.

5. Salvation. This is the ultimate aim, issue, and end. The hope of the Christian shall at last be realized, when he shall be delivered from the bondage of the body, the harassing of temptation, the wounds of sorrow, the pressure of sin.

Vers. 24, 25. Hopeful patience.

The Christian, like the rest of the creation, waifs for full redemption, but consciously and aspiringly. He is an heir who has not yet entered into the possession of his inheritance. He is saved from the guilt of sin, and is being released from its power. His sun is veiled under morning clouds, and he shall soon rejoice in cloudless splendour. A state of hope is the condition in which and the instrument by which he works out his complete salvation.

I HOPE IS EXERCISED ON THE UNSEEN. What we see is here before us; what we hope for is still in the future the invisible womb of time. Faith and hope are inseparable companions; where the former is, the latter is nigh. Hope is faith in the attitude of looking towards better things to come. It vividly pictures the approaching glory, and is "the present enjoyment of future good." Christian hope is not a mirage that mocks the heart, but is surely grounded on the work of Christ, who has revealed the character of God and his far-reaching purpose of love. Many a man depending on high expectations has found them baseless; the legacy is absent, the coveted post is given to another. When the sceptic talks of a bird in the hand being preferable to two in the bush, we reply that by the very nature of the case Christian anticipation is precluded from being satisfied with the temporal. "We look for new heavens and a new earth.

II HOPE DRIVES OUT DESPAIR, THE FOE OF PATIENCE. Where despondency grows, there activity ceases. What means that sudden splash, that piercing cry, except that life has been quenched because the light of hope had vanished first? The gospel, by its promise of a free pardon for the penitent sinner, rolls away the burden from the back, enables the criminal to take heart of grace, and to exchange the dungeon of dreary fate for the glad sunlight of a new lease of endeavour after righteousness. There is a danger of succumbing to the weariness of the long Christian journey, but hope grasps the future and draws us thereto. Hopeful, in the "Pilgrim"s Progress," had much ado to keep his brother"s head above the water; but he comforted him saying, "Brother, I see the gate, and men standing by to receive us." "Hope, like the glimmering taper"s light, Adorns and cheers the way; And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray.

We are not as shipwrecked mariners, uncertain if any vessel shall pass near enough to succour us; we know that, if we wait patiently, "he that cometh will come, and will not tarry.

III HOPE FITS THE SOUL FOR ITS FUTURE ARENA OF GLORY. For every state certain qualifications are requisite, if we would play a proper part therein. Dr. Johnson would like due notice of Burke"s visits, that he might prepare himself for the lofty conversation certain to ensue. The young lady prepares herself for the engagements of society, and to acquit herself gracefully on her presentation at court. It is the hope of after-practice that inspires the labour of the student barristers and doctors. The necessary waiting is a beneficial discipline testing perseverance and fidelity. The disciple of Christ can abstain from worldly indulgences because of more cherished longings. He will not barter away his birthright even though faint with hunger. "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself." Hope is the great engine of progress and reformation. Israel under Ezra could ratify a covenant of amendment, because "there was hope for Israel concerning this thing. S.R.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For we are saved by hope - Our salvation is now only in hope. We do not yet possess this full salvation.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

We are saved by hope; that is, we are at present supported by hope, our present expectation of our future glorious condition beareth up our spirit under its sufferings, and carrieth us joyfully through all difficulties; or,

We are saved by hope, that is, all the salvation which we have at present is in hope, not in hand; in expectation, not in possession;

heaven in hope, is more worth than the whole world in hand; and seeing there is a certainty of hope, there is a certainty of salvation: We are saved by hope.

Observe next, The nature of hope declared: ’Tis an expectation of good things promised but not enjoyed; vision and fruition put an end to hope; none hopes for that he already enjoys: Hope is conversant about things unseen as well as faith: Faith is the evidence of things not seen, and hope is the expectation of those things: The object of hope is a future good, a possible good, a promised good, a good promised by God, and believed by us.

Observe, lastly, The necessary adjunct, and the inseparable companion of hope, and that is patience, and waiting for the good hoped for: If we hope, &c. then do we with patience wait, &c.

Learn hence, That they only hope for eternal life aright, who continue in the pursuit of it with patience and perseverance; there must be found with us a waiting patience, a working patience, a bearing and forbearing patience, with a persevering continuance in well-doing, if we hope for glory and immortality, and eternal life.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. “For we are saved by hope.” He here means the salvation of the body from mortality. Hope spies out and appropriates in anticipation. Therefore, while shut up in these tenements of clay, we lay hold of the glorious hope of the transfiguration, thus rising superior to our pains, toils and persecutions, and virtually living in the glorious heavenly future, rather than the suffering and sorrowing present.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. For we were saved by hope. Were saved when we became Christians, not that we had received all the fruits of salvation, but were enabled to hope for all, even for the redemption of the body. In hope would be a better rendering than by hope. Hope grasped the full salvation, though not yet attained. We do not hope for what we have, or see.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

24. γὰρ. These clauses explain the στενάζομεν … ἀπεκδεχόμενοι.

τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι. “Hope gives a definite shape to the absolute confidence of faith. Faith reposes completely on the love of GOD. Hope vividly anticipates that GOD will fulfil His promise in a particular way” Westcott, Heb 10:23; cf. Hort, 1 Pet. p. 86; cf. Gal 5:5; Eph 1:18; Eph 4:4; Col 1:27; 1Th 5:8. For the connexion with ἐσώθημεν, 1Pe 1:3 (with Hort’s note (p. 34), “The new order of things is represented as in a manner all one great, all-pervading hope”).

The article = this hope, namely of the redemption of the body; cf. Rom 7:25. The dative can hardly mean ‘by this hope’ but ‘in this hope’; cf. S. H. Salvation, as ἀπολύρωσις and υἱοθεσία, is a process, and it begins with faith, on man’s part, and is carried on in an atmosphere or condition of hope, the hope of complete redemption.

ἐλπὶς δὲ. Hope implies a fulfilment still future, and that demands the expectancy of a steady endurance.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν. The older commentators for the most part (not however Luther Beng. Fri.) took the dat. here as dative of the instrument, ‘by hope were we saved.’ Most moderns (including Gif. Go. Oltr. Mou. Lid.) take it as dat. modi, ‘in hope were we saved;’ the main ground being that it is more in accordance with the teaching of St. Paul to say that we were saved by faith, or from another point of view—looking at salvation from the side of God—by grace (both terms are found in Eph 2:8) than by hope. This seems preferable. Some have held that Hope is here only an aspect of Faith: and it is quite true that the definition of Faith in Heb 11:1 (ἔστι δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων ἒλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων), makes it practically equivalent to Hope. But that is just one of the points of distinction between Ep. to Heb. and St. Paul. In Heb. Faith is used somewhat vaguely of belief in God and in the fulfilment of His promises. In St. Paul it is far more often Faith in Christ, the first act of accepting Christianity (see p. 33 above). This belongs essentially to the past, and to the present as growing directly out of the past; but when St. Paul comes to speak of the future he uses another term, ἐλπίς. No doubt when we come to trace this to its origin it has its root in the strong conviction of the Messiahship of Jesus and its consequences; but the two terms are not therefore identical, and it is best to keep them distinct.

Some recent Germans (Holsten, Weiss, Lips.) take the dat. as dativus commodi, ‘for hope were we saved.’ But this is less natural. To obtain this sense we should have to personify Hope more strongly than the context will bear. Besides Hope is an attribute or characteristic of the Christian life, but not its end.

ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη: ἐλπίς here = ‘the thing hoped for,’ just as κτίσις = ‘the thing created’; a very common usage.

ὃ γὰρ βλέπει, τίς ἐλπίζει; This terse reading is found only in B 47 marg., which adds τὸ παλαιὸν οὕτως ἔχει: it is adopted by RV. text, WH. text. Text. Recept. has [ὅ γὰρ βλέπει τις] τί καὶ [ἐλπίζει], of which τί alone is found in Western authorities (D F G, Vulg. Pesh. al.), and καί alone in א* 47*. Both RV. and WH. give a place in the margin to τί καὶ ἐλπίζει and τίς καὶ ὑπομένει [ὑπομένει with א* A 47 marg.].

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By hope [τη ελπιδι] . Better in hope. We are saved by faith. See on 1Pe 1:3.

Hope - not hope. Here the word is used of the object of hope. See Col 1:5; 1Ti 1:1; Heb 6:18.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.