Now,
I still use the world’s meaning of hope of optimism, wish, and expectancy undergirded
with uncertainty. For example, “It’s calling for rain in Gatlinburg tomorrow,
but we are hoping we will catch a break, and it holds off until we leave.” “I
hope they can make it tonight?” “I hope we will meet again.
We
cannot predict the future so this is a legitimate usage of the word hope in
daily living. Since we have no control of the matter, we can only hope our
wishes become a reality (be careful what you wish for, right?). Now, when we
refer to the hope found in the Scriptures as the same hope we use in normal conversations, that
is a horse of a different color. We are placing a negative nuance on the
biblical meaning of hope; we are redefining its meaning and replacing its
biblical meaning with our own understanding.
That
may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Actually, there is no comparison
between the meaning of hope as used by the parlance of the world and the meaning of hope found
in the New Testament. They are not in the same sphere. Church history has
always been plagued with people dragging carnal thinking into the congregation and
corrupting the meaning of terminology like hope, love, forgiveness, judgment,
holiness, etc. Watch out for reconstructionists of the Bible, intentional or
unintentional!
Eisegesis
of the Scriptures is the arrogant and sinful insertion of something that is not
there nor intended. People are reading into Scripture their own understanding of terminology
rather than extracting the meaning intended by the Holy Spirit. It’s nothing
new and will be with us to the very end of the age; people are lifting things out of context all the time.
I
googled “hope quotations” the other day. I was surprised to see a lot of
cynical, pessimistic, and negative thoughts about hope. Does the idea of hope
come across to you at times as some cruel jester mocking your actions or as a
thief that deceived you into hoping for the best, but it turned out to be the worst
possible scenario? And all of that emotional energy invested in hope died instantaneously
when that which was hoped for was dashed upon the rocks, and bitterness came in
with the tide, and you sat there gazing out over the ocean of disbelief. Hope
was seen as a hit or miss proposition.
What
is the mantra today – hope for the best; prepare for the worse. Pragmatically
speaking, this is a great strategy in emergency management in dealing with
natural disasters, but it is nothing like the meaning of hope in Scripture. Ever
hear someone say, “Think the worse and you won’t be disappointed! Why not just
prepare for the worst and be done with hope altogether with that attitude!
Nothing
nips at the heels of hope like disappointment. We have all dealt with that
hound from hell, and it will continue to growl and chase after us until we are out
of here. It has been said that our disappointments are God’s appointments. Do you
believe that (cf. Rom 8:28; Heb 13:5)? Wouldn’t you rather go down hoping than
giving up? My Dad once told me, “You are not down until you quit getting up; you
always-get-back-up. It’s the way of our family.” It was his way of saying, “Don’t
quit.”
Maybe hope is better defined in our lives by what we
do when hope seems lost, and we are plunged into a perplexing paradox by God
(cf. Heb 11:39, NASB)? When we are presented with the choice to see hope as either
uncertain or certain? It’s called the practical outworking of our faith (cf.
Heb 11:1f).
I
randomly picked out some quotations concerning the word hope that caught my attention
for one reason or another; there’s no rhyme nor reason in my selection. They
are listed here as examples in how different people perceive hope to be. I am
sure I missed some quotations that may have provided a different angle of
nuance, but there were literally hundreds of quotations on hope to pick from! One other
thing, I do not know the context in which these quotes were made. So, take that
for what it’s worth.
v “Hope in reality is the
worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.” Friedrich
Nietzsche
v Russian proverb – “Hope
is the last to die.”
v Hindu proverb – “There
is no disease like hope.”
v “Maybe all one can do
is hope to end up with the right regrets.” Arthur Miller
v “Hope is a good
breakfast, but it is a bad supper.” Francis Bacon
v “Every night when I go
to bed, I hope that I may never wake again, and every morning renews my grief.”
Franz Schubert
v “History is nothing but
gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.” Gore Vidal
v “Hope is nature’s veil
for hiding truth’s nakedness.” Alfred Nobel
v “He that lives upon
hope will die fasting.” Benjamin Franklin
v “Youth is easily
deceived because it is quick to hope.” Aristotle
v “Hope is tomorrow’s
veneer over today’s disappointment.” Evan Esar
v “I hope for nothing. I
fear nothing. I am free.” Nikos Kazantzakis
v “Change is not a destination,
just as hope is not a strategy.” Rudy Giuliani
v “Tomorrow hopes we have
learned something from yesterday.” John Wayne
v “Let your hopes, not
your hurts, shape your future,” Robert H. Schuller
v “My dream is of a place
and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of
earth.” Abraham Lincoln
v “God grant me the
courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is
hopeless.” Chester W. Nimitz
v “Hope is the struggle
of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her
eternity.” Herman Melville
v “My-mother-in-law said,
‘One day I will dance on your grave.’ I said, ‘I hope you do; I will be buried
at sea.’” Les Dawson
Hope
can be portrayed as humorous, aspiring, and downright dark, but I am reminded as
a believer that the best definition of hope is found in Scripture. I am so
thankful there is an alternative to the world’s uncertainty of hope.
Hope
in the Bible is incomparable to how the world looks at hope. Contrary to world
opinion, hope is not an opiate for the believer. It liberates because it is
based upon a fact of faith. Some would chuckle over that last statement, seeing
faith as uncertain as hope! It is the real deal because its object is the real deal, God (1 Pet 1:21).
Those who continue to be confused about eternal security or to promulgate that
a person who has been genuinely born again can lose his or her salvation
contradicts the concept of a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ (1 Pet 1:3).
Our
hope is as certain as the resurrection of our Lord. If Christ has not risen,
then our whole construct surrounding faith is gone, and so is our hope of life
after death. Paul said as much (1 Cor 15:13-14, 17). This is why the physical
resurrection of Jesus Christ is considered one of the essentials of the faith;
one cannot be saved and deny the resurrection. Actually, hope in the
resurrection and Christ’s return lead to godly living (1 Jn 3:2-3).
Hope
is the antithesis of how hope is understood today, for elpis has no nuance of uncertainty; it
always means a positive expectation of obtaining, certainty, anticipation which
is why we should not be quick to inject today’s meaning of hope into the
translation of elpis as hope in the
NT. Who would not take joy or pleasure in its biblical meaning? Elpis is not optimistic versus
pessimistic. Its stability is solid because hope is based upon certainty, not a feeling. It is not a case of semantics because there is a qualitative difference between certainty versus uncertainty.
Elpis [noun] or elpizo [verb, trans. hope, trust] is not
the same as I hope it rains, or I hope I can go to Israel, or I hope that he beats
cancer, or I hope to see you again, or I hope I am saved. I don’t know if this
qualifies etymologically, but assurance and confidence may be a worthy synonym to elpis, freedom from uncertainty or
doubt. It is the byproduct of salvation. Before Christ, we were without hope in
the world; after Christ, we have unshakeable hope!
It
is interesting to note that the noun elpis is not found in the Gospels, but Luke mentioned it (x8) in Acts; Paul
used the bulk (or 78%) of the occurrences of elpis (assuming he wrote Hebrews): (x42). Peter referred to it (x3) and
John (x1). Keep in mind, neither of these authors made a personal decision on how
many times elpis was to be employed in
their writing. This was all superintended by the Holy Spirit during the
miraculous process of inspiration.
The
noun elpsis is translated hope (x53), faith (x1, Heb 10:23, KJV; hope, Heb 10:23, NJKV). The
verb elpidzo occurs (x5) in the Gospels. Luke uses it (x2) in Acts. Pauline
usage (including Hebrews) appears (x20). In the general epistles (x4). Elpidzo is translated trust (x18), hope, hoped, hoping (x13).
It
is contradictory to embrace the biblical meaning of hope while maintaining a
theological belief that disavows the eternal security of the believer in Jesus Christ
(cf. 1 Thes 5:8; Titus 1:2; 3:7). Introduce me to one who does not believe in
eternal security, and I will show you someone who does not have hope in life after
death; he or she can only say, “I hope so” with uncertainty or “I hope my good
outweighs my bad works.”
Such ambiguities impugn the very nature of God concerning the hope of our salvation! Redemption is certain or it is not; it is unmerited or it is not. Biblical salvation is certain and unmerited because it is based on the person and work of Jesus Christ, our living hope, not a dead hope so or a good outweighing bad system of self-effort.
Such ambiguities impugn the very nature of God concerning the hope of our salvation! Redemption is certain or it is not; it is unmerited or it is not. Biblical salvation is certain and unmerited because it is based on the person and work of Jesus Christ, our living hope, not a dead hope so or a good outweighing bad system of self-effort.
When
you ask people, “If you should die today, would you go to heaven?” A common response I get is “I hope so.” Such an answer has always bothered me for
salvation is never portrayed as conditional, and the very usage of “hope” in the
context of that answer is worldly in nature; this is what I have been speaking
about, dragging the meaning of words from the world into the realm of faith. The words
of the Apostle John come to mind,
And
this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in
His Son (1
Jn 5:11).
He
who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have
life (1 Jn
5:12).
These
things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that
you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to
believe in the name of the Son of God (1 Jn 5:13).
Do
you read of any worldly hope in those statements of John? It has the earmarks
of certainty, assurance, expectation, anticipation, not the worldly view of “I hope
so.” How about “I know so?” It is just that simple. To say that he who has the
Son has life as long as he is faithful is a blatant case of eisegesis, and
adding an element of merit to grace (unmerited, undeserved, unwarranted favor)
in salvation (cf. the warning of Gal 1:8-9). Twisting the texts of Scripture to
alter its original meaning is the signature of a false teacher.
Which
would you choose?
To
them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col 1:27, emphasis mine)?
Or, would you prefer,
That
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world (Eph 2:12, emphasis mine)?
Two
major distinguishing facts between the saved and the lost are these. (1)
Only those spiritually regenerated have the Person of the Holy Spirit, and (2) Only those who
are born again have Christ within them, the hope of glory.
Hope
in the New Testament is an anticipated fact! If your faith is running in an “I
hope so” mode, your Christianity is merely theoretical, not actual. For hope is
to faith as breath is to life. Take either away and there is no existence. What
does your hope say about you? <><
%20MG%20t-bkgrd%2060x44.png){kind=small}
%20sunflower%20makeover%2045x63.png){kind=small}
