Hope

VIEW:33 DATA:01-04-2020
HOPE.—1. Hope and faith (the soul’s forward and upward look towards God) are imperfectly differentiated in the OT, as with men who ‘greeted the promises from afar’ (Heb_11:13-16); hope has there the greater vogue.
Amongst the several Heb. words thus rendered, (1) signifying restful hope (leaning on J″ [Note: Jahweh.] , &c [Note: circa, about.] .), oftener appears as ‘trust’ and sometimes as ‘confidence’—‘hope’ in Job_6:20, Psa_16:9, Pro_14:32, Ecc_9:4, Jer_17:7. (2) A subjective synonym (radically, the loins) is variously translated ‘hope,’ ‘confidence,’ and ‘folly’ (cf. AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] in Job_8:14; Job_31:24; also Job_4:6, Psa_49:13; Psa_78:7; Psa_85:8, Pro_3:26, Ecc_7:25). (3) RV [Note: Revised Version.] corrects the ‘hope’ (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) of Jer_17:17, Joe_3:16, into ‘refuge.’ (4) A synonym hardly distinguishable from (5) and (6), and rendered ‘hope’ or ‘wait upon,’ occurs 8 times (Psa_104:27; Psa_146:5 etc.). The two most distinctive OT words for hope are frequently rendered ‘wait (for or upon).’ Of these (5) bears a relatively passive significance (e.g. in Job_6:11; Job_14:14, Psa_33:18-22; Psa_42:5, Lam_3:24). (6) The term oftenest recurring, denoting practical, even strenuous, anticipation (rendered ‘expectation’ in Psa_9:18; Psa_62:5), has a root-meaning not far removed from that of the Heb. verb for ‘believe’; Gen_49:18, Rth_1:12, Job_14:7, Psa_25:5; Psa_25:21, Eze_37:11, Hos_2:16 afford good examples.
It is to the OT rather than the NT that one must look for definite representations of the earthly hopes belonging to God’s Kingdom, the social regeneration and national well-being that come in its train (see, e.g., Isa_9:6 f., Isa_11:1-9; 11:55, 60 f., Psa_72:1-20; Psa_96:1-13; Psa_97:1-12; Psa_98:1-9, etc.); broadly interpreted, these promises are of permanent validity (see Mat_6:10; Mat_6:33; Mat_13:33, 1Ti_4:8 etc.). Hope plays an increasing part in the later OT books; it advances in distinctness, grandeur, and spirituality with the course of revelation. The Holy One of Israel made Himself ‘the God of hope’ for mankind (Rom_15:13; cf. Jer_14:8; Jer_17:13 with Isa_42:4; Isa_51:4 ff., isa 51:60). When the national hopes foundered, OT faith anchored itself to two objects: (a) the Messianic Kingdom (see Kingdom of God); and (b), esp. in the latest times, the resurrection of the dead (Isa_25:8; Isa_26:19, Dan_12:2; probably Job_19:25 ff., Psa_16:8-11; Psa_17:15)—the latter conceived as necessary to the former, since otherwise those who had suffered most for God’s Kingdom would miss it (cf. Heb_11:35, 1Th_4:15 ff.). The OT heritage is developed in extravagant forms by Jewish Apocalyptic literature, which was the product of a powerful ferment in the Judaism of New Test, times. Philo Judæus, who represents philosophic Judaism at the farthest remove from popular Messianic enthusiasm, nevertheless makes hope (followed by repentance and righteousness) the leader in his triad of the elementary religious virtues (cf. 1Co_13:13), while faith leads the second and highest triad.
2. To both factors of ‘the hope of Israel,’ separately or together, St. Paul appealed in addressing his compatriots (Act_13:32; Act_23:6 ff., Act_26:6 ff., Act_26:22 ff., Act_28:20). It was ‘a lamp shining in a dark place’ (2Pe_1:19): hope at the Christian era was flickering low in the Gentile world (see Eph_2:12, 1Th_4:13, 1Co_15:32 ff.—amply confirmed by classical literature). ‘By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ humanity was ‘begotten again unto a living hope’ (1Pe_1:3; cf. Act_2:22-36, 1Co_15:12-26, Rev_1:17 f.): the Israelite hope was verified, and the Christian hope founded, by the return of Jesus from the grave. The Greek word for ‘hope’ (elpis, noun; elpizô, verb) primarily meant expectation of good or evil—commonly, in effect, the former; but ‘in later Greek, at the time when hope made its presence so powerfully felt in the Christian sphere, elpis elsewhere came to be increasingly used with the sense of anxiety or fear, of which there is not a single example in the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] or NT’ (Cremer); ‘evil hopes’ in the Gr. of Isa_28:11 is ironical, similarly in Wis_13:10. The RV [Note: Revised Version.] rightly substitutes ‘hope’ for ‘trust’ in the 18 places where AV [Note: Authorized Version.] rendered elpizô by the latter; for the NT clearly differentiates ‘faith’ and ‘hope,’ referring the latter to the future good of Christ’s Kingdom longingly expected, while the former is directed to God’s past deeds of salvation and His present grace in Christ. ‘Hope’ is used by metonymy for the matter of hope, the thing hoped for, in Gal_5:5, Col_1:5, Tit_2:13, Heb_6:18. It is sometimes replaced by ‘patience’ (or ‘endurance’), its expression in outward bearing (cf. 1Th_1:3 and 2Th_1:3 f.); and (as in the OT) the verbs ‘hope’ and ‘wait’ or ‘look for’ or ‘expect’ are interchangeable (see Rom_8:19-25, 1Co_1:7, Gal_5:5, Heb_10:13). St. Paul uses a graphic and intense synonym for hope. lit. ‘watching with outstretched head,’ in Rom_8:19, Php_1:20.
elpis appears first with its full Christian meaning in the NT Epp.; for it dates from our Lord’s resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Rom_15:13). Its object is, in general, ‘the glory of God’ (Rom_5:2, 1Th_2:12), i.e. the glorious manifestation of His completed redemption and the ‘coming’ of His ‘kingdom in power,’ which is to be realized, particularly, in the acknowledged lordship of Jesus (1Co_15:24-28, Php_2:9 ff., Rev_17:14 etc.), bringing about the glorification of His saints, shared by material nature (Rom_8:17; Rom_8:25, 2Th_1:10 f., 1Co_15:35 ff.). This will begin with the resurrection of the dead (1Th_4:16, 1Co_15:12-23, Joh_5:28 f.) and the transformation of the earthly body (1Co_15:50 ff., 2Co_5:1 ff., Php_3:21), ushering in for ‘those who are Christ’s’ the state of ‘incorruption’ which constitutes their ‘eternal life’ enjoyed in the vision of God and the full communion of the Lord Jesus (Luk_20:35 f., 1Co_15:54 ff., Mat_5:8, Joh_14:2 f., Joh_17:24, 1Jn_3:2, Rev_7:14-17 etc.). Its goal is in heaven; and all the proximate and earthly aims of Christianity, whether in the way of personal attainment or of social betterment, are steps in the progress towards the final ‘deliverance from the bondage of corruption’ and ‘the revealing of the sons of God’—the great day of the Lord. Its ground lies in the ‘promise(s) of God’ (Tit_1:2, Heb_6:13-18, 2Pe_3:13, 1Jn_2:25), esp. the definite promise of the triumphant return of Jesus ensuring the consummation of the Messianic Kingdom (Mat_24:30 f., Act_1:11; Act_3:18-21, 1Co_15:24-28, Rev_11:15-18 etc.); and its guarantee is twofold, being given objectively in the resurrection and ascension of our Lord (Act_17:31, Rom_1:4, Eph_1:18-23, Col_1:18, Heb_6:20, 1Pe_1:21 etc.), and subjectively in ‘the earnest of the Spirit within’ Christian ‘hearts’ (2Co_1:20 ff., Rom_8:16 f., Eph_1:13 f.). Its subjects are ‘the men of faith’ (Rom_5:1-5; Rom_15:13 etc.): it is ‘the hope of our calling’ (Eph_4:4, 1Th_2:12, Rev_19:9), ‘the hope of the gospel’ (Col_1:23)—that which the gospel conveys, and ‘the hope of righteousness’ (Gal_5:5)—that which the righteousness of faith entertains; it belongs only to the Christianly pure, and is purifying in effect (1Jn_3:2 f.; cf. Psa_24:3-6, Mat_5:8, Rev_22:14 f.). Finally, it is a collective hope, the heritage of ‘the body of Christ,’ dear to Christian brethren because of their affection for each other (1Th_4:13-18, 2Th_2:1, Eph_5:27, Rev_19:8 f., Rev_21:1-7 etc.); and is cherished esp. by ministers of Christ for those in their charge (2Co_1:7-10, 1Th_2:19 f., Col_1:28; Col_3:4, Php_2:16 etc.), as it animated the Chief Shepherd (Joh_10:27 ff; Joh_12:26; Joh_14:2 ff; Joh_17:2 etc.). ‘In Christ Jesus’ hope is bound up as intimately with love as with faith; these are the triad of essential graces (1Co_13:13, 1Th_1:3, 2Th_1:3 f., Eph_4:1-4, Heb_10:22 ff.).
The whole future of the Christian life, for man and society, is lodged with ‘Christ Jesus our hope’ (1Ti_1:1, Col_1:27); NT expectation focussed itself on His Parousia—‘the blessed hope’ (Tit_2:13). Maranatha (‘our Lord cometh’ was a watchword of the Pauline Churches (1Co_16:22; cf. 1Co_1:7 f.). ‘The hope laid up for’ them ‘in the heavens’ formed the treasure of the first believers (Col_1:5; Col_3:1-4 etc.); to ‘wait for’ the risen Jesus, coming as God’s son ‘from heaven’ (1Th_1:9 f.), was half their religion. ‘By this hope’ were they ‘saved,’ being enabled in its strength to bear joyfully the ills of life and the universal contempt and persecution of the world around them, which stimulated instead of quenching their courage (Rom_5:2-5; Rom_8:18-25, 2Co_4:13; 2Co_5:8, Php_1:20 f., Heb_10:32-36, Rev_7:13-17). According to the fine figure of Heb_6:18 ff., hope was their ‘anchor of the soul,’ grappled to the throne of the living, glorified Jesus ‘within the veil.’
G. G. Findlay.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


Hope is a characteristic of genuine faith in God. Such hope is different from the hope that people in general might speak of. It is not a mere wish for something, but a strong confidence that is placed in God. It is the assured belief that God will do what he has promised (Psa_42:5; Psa_71:5; Rom_4:18; Heb_11:1). Hope, according to its Christian meaning, is inseparable from faith (Rom_5:1-5; Gal_5:5; Heb_6:11-12; 1Pe_1:21). Those without God have no faith and therefore have no hope (Eph_2:12; 1Th_4:13; cf. Col_1:23).
The great hope for Christians is the return of Jesus Christ, when they will experience the fulness of their salvation and enter with Christ into the glory of the new age (1Co_15:19-23; Eph_1:18; Col_1:27; 1Th_5:8; 1Pe_1:13). For Christians, then, to have the hope of Christ’s return means to look forward to it eagerly; and the basis for such hope is Christ’s atoning death and glorious resurrection. Christ’s entrance into glory guarantees the entrance of believers into glory (Col_1:5; Heb_6:19; 1Pe_1:18-21).
By its very nature, hope means that the thing hoped for has not yet arrived. Christ has not yet returned. Believers must therefore have patience as they wait for the day of their final salvation (Rom_8:23-25; Heb_11:1; Heb_11:39-40).
This patience contains no element of doubt, for Christian hope is the anticipation of something that is certain. God confirms the hope of salvation by giving believers the Holy Spirit. They have a living guarantee within them until the day their hope is fulfilled. The Spirit is God’s mark of permanent ownership upon them (2Co_1:22; Eph_1:13-14; Eph_4:30; see ASSURANCE).
Until Christ returns, the world will continue to be a place of imperfection and suffering. Christians must therefore persevere and be patient through all the difficulties they meet (Rom_5:3-5; Rom_12:12). Their hope in Christ means that their endurance will be characterized not by grudging tolerance, but by positive enjoyment of all that life offers. Hope gives their lives purpose and stability (Rom_15:13; Col_3:1-4; 1Th_1:3; 2Th_2:16-17; Tit_2:11-14; see JOY; PATIENCE). At the same time they will work hard at keeping themselves free from sin; for their day of salvation is also their day of reckoning (1Jn_3:2-3; cf. Mat_24:45-46; 2Co_5:10).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.


hōp:
1. In the Old Testament
In the Revised Version (British and American) the New Testament ?hope? represents the noun ἐλπίς, elpı́s (52 t), and the verb ἐλπίζω, elpı́zō (31 t). King James Version, however, renders the noun in Heb_10:23 by ?faith,? and for the verb gives ?trust? in 18 cases (apparently without much system, e.g. in Phil 2 compare Phi_2:19 and Phi_2:23; see TRUST), while in Luk_6:35 it translates ἀπελπίζω, apelpı́zō, by ?hoping for nothing again? (the Revised Version (British and American) ?never despairing?). But in the Old Testament there is no Hebrew word that has the exact force of ?expectation of some good thing,? so that in the King James Version ?hope? (noun and vb.) stands for some 15 Hebrew words, nearly all of which in other places are given other translation (e.g. מבטח, mibhṭāḥ, is rendered ?hope? in Jer_17:17, ?trust? in Psa_40:4, ?confidence? in Psa_65:5). the Revised Version (British and American) has attempted to be more systematic and has, for the most part, kept ?hope? for the noun תּקוה, tiḳwāh, and the verb יחל, yāḥal, but complete consistency was not possible (e.g. Pro_10:28; Pro_11:23; Pro_23:18). This lack of a specific word for hope has nothing to do with any undervaluation of the virtue among the Hebrews. For the religion of the Old Testament is of all things a religion of hope, centered in God, from whom all deliverance and blessings are confidently expected (Jer_17:17; Joe_3:16; Psa_31:24; Psa_33:18, Psa_33:22; Psa_39:7, etc.). The varieties of this hope arc countless (see ISRAEL, RELIGION OF; SALVATION, etc.), but the form most perfected and with fundamental significance for the New Testament is the firm trust that at a time appointed God, in person or through His representative (see MESSIAH), will establish a kingdom of righteousness.
2. In the New Testament
(1) The proclamation of this coming kingdom of God was the central element in the teaching of Jesus, and the message of its near advent (Mar_1:15, etc.), with the certainty of admission to it for those who accepted His teaching (Luk_12:32, etc.), is the substance of His teaching as to hope. This teaching, though, is delivered in the language of One to whom the realities of the next world and of the future are perfectly familiar; the tone is not that of prediction so much as it is that of the statement of obvious facts. In other words, ?hope? to Christ is ?certainty,? and the word ?hope? is never on His lips (Luk_6:34 and Joh_5:45 are naturally not exceptions). For the details see KINGDOM OF GOD; FAITH; FORGIVENESS, etc. And however far He may have taught that the kingdom was present in His lifetime, none the less the full consummation of that kingdom, with Himself as Messiah, was made by Him a matter of the future (see ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT; PAROUSIA).
(2) Hence, after the ascension the early church was left with an eschatological expectation that was primarily and almost technically the ?hope? of the New Testament - ?looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ? (Tit_2:13), ?unto a living hope ...., unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,... reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time? (1 Pet 13-5; compare Rom_5:2; Rom_8:20-24; 2Co_3:12; Eph_1:18-21; Col_1:5, Col_1:23, Col_1:17; Tit_1:2; Tit_3:7; 1Jo_3:2, 1Jo_3:3). The foundations of this hope were many: (a) Primarily, of course, the promises of the Old Testament, which were the basis of Christ's teaching. Such are often quoted at length (Act_2:16, etc.), while they underlie countless other passages. These promises are the ?anchor of hope? that holds the soul fast (Heb_6:18-20). In part, then, the earliest Christian expectations coincided with the Jewish, and the ?hope of Israel? (Act_28:20; compare Act_26:6, Act_26:7; Eph_2:12, and especially Rom_11:25-32) was a common ground on which Jew and Christian might meet. Still, through the confidence of forgiveness and purification given in the atonement (Heb_9:14, etc.), the Christian felt himself to have a ?better hope? (Heb_7:19), which the Jew could not know. (b) Specifically Christian, however, was the pledge given in the resurrection of Christ. This sealed His Messiahship and proved His lordship (Rom_1:4; Eph_1:18-20; 1Pe_3:21, etc.), so sending forth His followers with the certainty of victory. In addition, Christ's resurrection was felt to be the first step in the general resurrection, and hence, a proof that the consummation of all things had begun (1Co_15:23; compare Act_23:6; Act_24:15; Act_26:6, Act_26:7; 1Th_4:13, 1Th_4:14, etc.). (c) But more than all, devotion to Christ produced a religious experience that gave certainty to hope. ?Hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us? (Rom_5:5; compare Rom_8:16, Rom_8:17; 2Co_1:22; 2Co_5:5; Eph_1:14, etc., and see HOLY SPIRIT). Even visible miracles were wrought by the Spirit that were signs of the end (Act_2:17) as well as of the individual's certainty of partaking in the final happiness (Act_10:47; Act_19:6, etc.).
(3) Yet, certain though the hope might be, it was not yet attained, and the interim was an opportunity to develop faith, ?the substance of the things hoped for? (Heb_11:1). Indeed, hope is simply faith directed toward the future, and no sharp distinction between faith and hope is attainable. It is easy enough to see how the King James Version felt ?confession of our faith? clearer than ?confession of our hope? in Heb_10:23, although the rendition of elpis by ?faith? was arbitrary. So in Rom_8:20-24, ?hope? is scarcely more than ?faith? in this specialized aspect. In particular, in Rom_8:24 we have as the most natural translation (compare Eph_2:5, Eph_2:8), ?By hope we were saved? (so the King James Version, the English Revised Version, the American Revised Version margin), only a pedantic insistence on words can find in this any departure from the strictest Pauline theology (compare the essential outlook on the future of the classic example of ?saving faith? in Rom_4:18-22, especially Rom_4:18). Still, the combination is unusual, and the Greek may be rendered equally well ?For hope we were saved? (?in hope? of the American Standard Revised Version is not so good); i.e. our salvation, in so far as it is past, is but to prepare us for what is to come (compare Eph_4:4; 1Pe_1:3). But this postponement of the full attainment, through developing faith, gives stedfastness (Rom_8:25; compare 1Th_1:3; 1Th_5:8; Heb_3:6; Heb_6:11), which could be gained in no other way. On the other hand this stedfastness, produced by hope, reacts again on hope and increases it (Rom_5:4; Rom_15:4). and so on. But no attempt is made in the New Testament to give a catalogue of the ?fruits of hope,? and, indeed, such lists are inevitably artificial.
(4) One passage that deserves special attention is 1Co_13:13, ?Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three.? ?Abideth? is in contrast to ?shall be done away? in 1Co_13:8, 1Co_13:9, and the time of the abiding is consequently after the Parousia; i.e. while many gifts are for the present world only, faith, hope and love are eternal and endure in the next world. 1Co_13:1-13 is evidently a very carefully written section, and the permanence of faith and hope cannot be set down to any mere carelessness on Paul's part, but the meaning is not very clear. Probably he felt that the triad of virtues was so essentially a part of the Christian's character that the existence of the individual without them was unthinkable, without trying to define what the object of faith and hope would be in the glorified state. If any answer is to be given, it must be found in the doctrine that even in heaven life will not be static but will have opportunities of unlimited growth. Never will the finite soul be able to dispense entirely with faith, while at each stage the growth into the next can be anticipated through hope.
3. Practical
Only adventist bodies can use all the New Testament promises literally, and the translation of the eschatological language into modern practical terms is not always easy. The simplest method is that already well developed in the Fourth Gospel, where the phrase ?kingdom of God? is usually replaced by the words ?eternal life,? i.e. for a temporal relation between this world and the next is substituted a local, so that the accent is laid on the hope that awaits the individual beyond the grave. On the other hand, the cataclysmic imagery of the New Testament may be interpreted in evolutionary form. God, by sending into the world the supernatural power seen in the Christian church, is working for the race as well as for the individual, and has for His whole creation, as well as for individual souls, a goal in store. The individual has for his support the motives of the early church and, in particular, learns through the cross that even his own sins shall not disappoint him of his hope. But both of the above interpretations are needed if religion is fairly to represent the spirit of the New Testament. A pure individualism that looks only beyond the grave for its hope empties the phrase ?kingdom of God? of its meaning and tends inevitably to asceticism. And, in contrast, the religion of Jesus cannot be reduced to a mere hope of ethical advance for the present world. A Christianity that loses a transcendent, eschatological hope ceases to be Christianity.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Hope
(ἐλπίς), a term used in Scripture generally to denote the desire and expectation of some good (1Co_9:10); specially to denote the assured expectation of salvation, and of all minor blessings included in salvation, for this life and the life to come, through the merits of Christ.
(1.) It is one of the three great elements of Christian life and character (1Co_13:13). Faith is the root, love the fruit-bearing stem, and hope the heaven-reaching crown of the tree of Christian life. Faith appropriates the grace of God in the facts of salvation; love is the animating spirit of our present Christian life; while hope takes hold of the future as belonging to the Lord, and to those who are his. The kingdom of God, past, present, and future, is thus reflected in faith, love, and hope. Hope is joined to faith and love because spiritual life, though present, is yet not accomplished. It stands in opposition to seeing or possessing (Rom_8:24 sq.; 1Jn_3:2 sq.); but it is not the mere wish or aspiration for liberation and light which is common to all creation (Rom_8:19-22), nor the mere reception of the doctrine of a future life, which may be found even among the heathen philosophers. It is, beyond these, the assurance that the spiritual life, which dwells in us here, will be prolonged into eternity. Hence, in the scriptures of the N.T., Christians are said to have hope rather than hopes (Rom_15:4; Rom_15:13; Heb_3:6; Heb_6:11; Heb_6:18). The Holy Spirit imparted to believers is the ground and support of their hope (1Pe_1:3; Act_23:6; 2Co_5:5; Rom_8:11; Rom_15:13; Gal_5:5). Hence the notion of hope appeared first in the disciples in its full force and true nature, after the resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Ghost. In the test we do not find it with its significance (see Heb_7:19).
Thus hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential, indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity (1Pe_3:15; Heb_10:23). In it the whole glory of the Christian vocation is centered (Eph_1:18; Eph_4:4); it is the real object of the propagation of evangelical faith (Tit_1:2; Col_1:5; Col_1:23), for the most precious possessions of the Christian, the σωτηρία ἀπολύτρωσις, υἱοθεσία, δικαιοσύνη, are, in their fulfillment, the object of his hope (1Th_5:8 sq.; Rom_8:23; comp. Ezekiel 1:14; 4:30; Gal_5:5; 2Ti_4:8). Unbelievers are expressly designated as those who are without hope (Eph_2:12; 1Th_4:13), because they are without God in the world, for God is a God of hope (Rom_15:13; 1Pe_1:21).
But the actual object of hope is Christ, who is himself called ἡ ἐλπίς, not only because in him we place all our dependence (the general sense of ἐλπίς), but especially because it is in his second coming that the Christian's hope of glory shall be fulfilled (1Ti_1:1; Col_1:27; Tit_2:13). The fruit of hope is that through it we are enabled patiently and' steadfastly to bear the difficulties and trials of our present existence, and thus the ὑπομονὴ is a constant accompaniment of the ἐλπίς, (1Th_1:3; Rom_8:25), and even is sometimes put in its place with faith and love (Tit_2:2; compare 2Ti_3:10; 1Ti_6:11). As it is the source of the believer's patience in suffering, so it is also the cause of his fidelity and firmness in action, since he knows that his labor “is not in vain in the Lord” (1Co_15:58). Christianity is the religion of hope, and it is an essential point of its absolute character, for whatever is everlasting and eternal is absolute. To the Christian, as such, it is therefore not time, but eternity; not the present, but the future life, which is the object of his efforts and hope. See Herzog, Real- Encyklop, 6, 195; Krehl, N.T. Handwörterbuch, p. 372.
(2.) “One scriptural mark,” says Wesley, “of those who are born of God, is hope. Thus St. Peter, speaking to all the children of God who were then scattered abroad, saith, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope' (1Pe_1:3) — ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν a lively or living hope, saith the apostle, because there is also a dead hope as well as a dead faith; a hope which is not from God, but from the enemy of God and man, as evidently appears by its fruits, for as it is the offspring of pride, so it is the parent of every evil word and work; whereas, every man that hath in him the living hope is ‘holy as he that calleth him is holy' — every man that can truly say to his brethren in Christ, ‘Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and we shall see him as he is,' ‘purifieth himself even as he is pure.' This hope (termed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb_10:22, πληροφορία πίστεως, and elsewhere πληροφορία ἐλπίδος, Heb_6:11; in our translation, ‘the full assurance of faith, and the full assurance of hope,' expressions the best which our language could afford, although far weaker than those in the original), as described in Scripture, implies, first, the testimony of our own spirit or conscience that we walk ‘in simplicity and godly sincerity;' but, secondly and chiefly, the testimony of the Spirit of God ‘bearing witness with' or to ‘our spirit that we are the children of God,' ‘and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” The passage, “Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts” (Psa_21:9), suggests that hope is an inbred sentiment. Considered as such, it implies (a) a future state of existence; (b) that progress in blessedness is the law of our being; (c) that the Christian life is adapted to our constitution. See, besides the works above cited, Homilist, 5, 116; Jay, Sermons, vol. 2; Tyerman, Essay on Christian Hope (London 1816, 8vo); Craig, Christian Hope (London 1820, 18mo); Garbett, Sermons, 1, 489; Wesley, Sermons, 1, 157; Liddon, Our Lord's Divinity (Bampton Lecture), p. 72, 75; Martensen, Dogmatics, p. 450 sq.; Pye Smith, Christian Theology, p. 622 sq.; Pearson, On the Creed, 1, 24, 401, 460, 501; Fletcher, Works (see Index, vol. 4); Jahrb. deutsch. Theol. 10:694; Bates, Works (see Index in vol. 4); Harless, Systen of Ethics (Clark's Theol. Libr.), p. 174 sq.; Nitzsch, System d. christl. Lehrb, § 209 sq.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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