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Shirley H
Supporter
To have hope is to live in constant expectation of an unseen reality. As believers, Christians, we are saved by faith. We hope and pray for Jesus, Our Lord and Our Saviour to return soon! But, our hope is that at the return of Christ, in all His glory, we receive our complete deliverance from our sinful nature. Lord Jesus, please come soon, very soon...
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Romans 8:24 means that hope is always about something we do not yet have. If we already see or possess something, we no longer need to hope for it. The very nature of hope is to wait for a future reality that has not yet arrived. Paul says we are saved "in hope," meaning that our salvation is not fully complete in this present moment. We have been given the guarantee of it, but we are still waiting for the final part, which is the full redemption of our bodies and the complete restoration of our relationship with God. Hope is closely tied to faith, but it is faith focused on the future. The early church lived with this eager expectation of Christ's return and the inheritance reserved for them in heaven. This is why hope is listed alongside faith and love as a core part of Christian character. It is not wishful thinking but a confident trust that God will finish what he started. Our present sufferings and struggles are like birth pangs. They are difficult, but they are leading to something greater. Just as a pregnant mother waits with growing expectation, we are enlarged and shaped by our waiting. We do not see what is being formed in us, but the longer we wait, the more our expectancy and joy increase. This patient endurance is not pointless; it is grounded in the certainty that what God has promised will come to pass. Until that day, we live by hope, not by sight, and we eagerly await the fullness of our salvation. Sources: Easton, Burton Scott. "Hope." In The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (ISBE). Easton, M.G. "Hope." In Easton's Bible Dictionary (EBD). Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Vol. 2. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997. Runge, Steven E. High Definition Commentary: Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014. Vincent, Marvin Richardson. Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887. Chat.deepseek.com [DeepSeek. (2025)]
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