Biblical Faith and Biblical Hope

In Scripture, faith has a close relationship with hope, but they are not the same. Many books have been written about faith but you cannot find many about hope.

The purpose of this message is to reveal the importance of biblical hope. But, faith and hope go together so closely that we cannot consider "hope" alone without mentioning "faith" also.

Ask any Bible teacher to define what faith is, you are likely to get this answer:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV).

By using a combination of various versions of the Bible this verse might also be translated:

"Now faith is the assurance or confidence of the things we do not see yet, but hoped for because we have the conviction their reality".

In other words, our faith perceives something as real fact what is not revealed to our senses.

In my opinion, anyone who does not understand the difference between the functions of the Spirit of man and the functions of his Soul will have great difficulty in understanding the differences between biblical faith and biblical hope. Because of this, I suggest my readers should refer to my previous postings, "The Three Types of Man" (28 Feb. 2005) and "Christian's New Heart" (10 March 2005) before they continue to read this.

There are two main ways in which faith differs from hope:

1. Hope is anchored in the realm of the mind, but faith is anchored in the realm of the spirit (heart) of a Christian. When we are led by the Spirit of God, our spirit tells us (in exercising our faith) something which we hoped for as real fact, before this thing is revealed to our senses. Notice that our five senses are part of the function of our soul.

2. Hope is directed toward the future, but faith is extablished in the present. Hope is an attitude of expectancy concerning things that are yet to be, but faith is a substance (a confidence, something real and definite within our heart and spirit) that we possess here and now.

Paul gave a strikingly clear explanation of the above with his description of the spiritual armour required by the Christian solder:

"But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation" (1 Thess. 5:8, emphasis added).

Notice that faith, together with love (agape and supernatural) is found in the region of the breast (heart). But hope is pictured as a helmet, in the region of the head or mind. Thus, hope is a mental attitude of expectancy concerning the future; faith is a condition of the heart, producing within us here and now something so real that it can be described by the word "substance" hoped for according to Heb. 11:1.

The Importance of Biblical Hope

Paul said, "For we are saved by hope ....." (Romans 8:24, KJV).

In other words, what Paul meant is, no hope no salvation! Hope is an essential part of our salvation experience.

This is made clear when Paul described the condition of the unsaved:

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12, NIV, emphasis added).

In other words, being without Christ, without hope, and without God is the condition of the lost.

For Christian the picture is just the reverse. If we have Christ, then we have hope and we have God.

Paul put it beautifully concerning the mystery of the Gospel of salvation:

"To them Cod has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27, NIV, emphasis added).

In other words, if Christ is in you, you have hope. If you do not have hope, it is just as if Christ is not in you but separated from you. You may not be a lost soul, but you are not living in the full experience of salvation. Hope in your mind is an essential part of your salvation experience. It helps you to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12).

Hope in life gives us the patience and strength to endure hardship, calamities and all the other pressure and stress that come against us in life (especially so in this "endtime" hours). It does not give us a bypass around them, but gives us the strength to go through them.

Hope as our Refuge

The writer of Hebrews gives two beautiful pictures of hope, one of which is believer's refuge in time of trouble:

"Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged" (Hebrews 6:17,18, NIV, emphasis added).

Our confidence in God may be based on two absolutely sure and unchanging things - God's Word confirmed by His oath. Hope is offered as our refuge on the horns of the Old Testament altar - a person who flees to the altar in time of trouble will be saved.

Hope as our Anchor

The other picture of hope is found in the next two verses:

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered ou our behalf" (Hebrews 6:19,20, emphasis added).

Notice that, hope as an anchor is eternal hope. It reaches out of time into eternity, into the very presence of God. In this world, we are like a little vessel on the sea; everything around us is temporary, impermanent, unreliable and changeable. There is nothing (in human wisdom) to give us real security and stability. If we are to have total and permanent security, we need an anchor that reaches out of time into eternity and fastens in our God - the Rock of Ages.

Finally, in Hebrews we read the following:

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23, NKJV).

God is faithful!