12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Let's go over this basic outline that we developed in Part One once again.
The three pillars of Christian virtue, derived from the Holy Spirit that brings such fruit into and through our lives are faith, hope and love ("charity" in KJV).
This is a three part series in which we will examine each of these three primary virtues: faith, hope and love. We will first review all three words and their meanings in general, and then each article will treat them individually.
Let's examine what these words mean in the original Greek:
Faith - (Greek word is pistis), means - "persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:—assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity."
See also Vine's Expository Notes on faith.
Hope - (Greek word is elpis) means - from a primary ἔλπω élpō to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence:—faith, hope.
See also Vine's Expository Notes on hope.
Love - (Greek word is agape) means - affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love, a purely Biblical and ecclesiastical word. The attitude expressed by God towards His Son, the human race in general, and particularly to believers on the LORD Jesus Christ. His expressed desire is for this same attitude to be expressed by believers among themselves. An exercise of Divine will in deliberate choice made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself.
See also Vine's Expository Notes on love.
To examine the Christian virtues in greater detail, including these three, check out this link from Bible.org.
LET'S HOPE FOR THE BEST
The Christian hope is worlds apart from the idea the world has about hope.
"I hope I get that job."
"I hope I win Power Ball this month!"
Or even more significantly:
"I hope I go to heaven when I die."
As seen above, our hope as believers in Jesus Christ is a confidence in God and His Word - it is a conviction that directs our hearts in expectation of what the LORD promised us in the Scriptures.
The hope of the (believing) Jews is the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel (ACTS 1:6; 15:16; ROM 11:26).
What is the hope of the Christian?
It is the BLESSED hope that this world is not the only life we will experience, what with it's ruinous and destructive curse of sin that lays heavily upon it, wreaking God's creation and order with its terrible corruption.
TITUS 2:12-14
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (1 TIM 1:1).
And let us not forget, the hope of His return brings a purity to our lives as we look for Him in the clouds (1 JOHN 3:3).
We look for a kingdom yet to come, whose founder and builder is God Himself:
HEBREWS 12:23-24,28
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
The life and the kingdom we as saints will enjoy is based upon the arrival of the King Himself Who shall inaugurate His reign on Earth once He returns here (HOS 5:15) with His church (MATT 24:30-31; 1 THESS 3:13; JUDE 1:14).
Contrary to what we often get accused of by nay-sayers, skeptics and unbelievers (even in the professing church!), this is not some pie-in-the-sky-in-the-great-by-and-by sort of wishful thinking. The LORD Jesus emphatically taught us that He is going to return (JOHN 14:1-3) and this is declared plainly in the Old Testament as well (ISAIAH 40:5,9; DAN 2:34-35; HOS 5:15).
We are doing an exhaustive series, treating the biblical subject of the Millennial Reign of Christ, where we are examining Old and New Testament Scriptures that point to the physical, literal return of Jesus Christ upon the Earth. This is indeed "the blessed hope" in which the LORD will break reign of the Antichrist and Satan, bring peace and rest, healing and life to this (at that point in time) ravaged world.
We saints long - and even groan (ROM 8:22-23) to be released from this sphere of sin that lays its curse on every facet of this world. We anticipate joyously for the arrival of the LORD Who will complete His work of salvation in His bride, beautifying her with glorification (ROM 8:30), utterly liberated from the sin nature, from physical infirmities, from the burdens and sorrows that souls are prone to in this life.
We await with expectant confidence for that time when the LORD will make all things new!
But our hope covers far more than our blessed and expectant future - we employ the use of biblical hope in each and every day of our lives!
PSALM 16:9
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
PSALM 31:24
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
The hope in God, expressed from the Psalms
We also have the hope of the resurrection! The very foundation and heart of the Christian faith (ACTS 23:6; 24:15;1 COR 15:1-8)! And the hope of the Gospel - without which there can BE no hope of the resurrection (COL 1:23; 1 PET 1:3,21).
When things seem impossible and desperate, when "all hope is gone" we, like Abraham hold fast our hope in GOD!
ROMANS 4:17-21
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Hope is the fruit of enduring trials - trials grows patience (or endurance)in us as we wait upon God; in the waiting, we see the LORD move and operate through the trial, and this experience strengthens our faith, and because of these experiences which bring about wisdom - we develop this confidence towards God in the midst of our suffering. We acknowledge that just as the LORD brought us through trials before, He will do so again, proving His faithfulness!
ROMANS 5:3-5
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed [does not disappoint]; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
We hope for the coming transformation of our carnal, sinful bodies when the LORD comes to take His bride, the church, away to heaven! This is not a hope that observes the observable, but by faithful waiting expects to one day, witness this marvel!
ROMANS 8:23-25
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
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?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it (COL 1:5,27).
Just as we gain hope by our experiences with the LORD in our trials, we also gain hope by learning of what transpired before, as recorded in Holy Scripture; Jesus Christ the same yesterday (in biblical times), today (in the midst of your life) and forever (eternally faithful throughout the entirety of heaven's reign):
ROMANS 15:4
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Just as faith operates by love (GAL 5:6), love also hopes all things (1 COR 13:7).
We as Christians are not wandering aimlessly, having no certain purpose or goal, lacking vision and direction. We know by faith that the LORD has ordained our lives in fulfilling good works which He has in mind for each of us (EPH 2:10), and we have that confidence, and expectation for His calling on our lives, as well as the rewards for faithful service in completing these good works by His Holy Spirit:
EPHESIANS 1:18
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
The very fact that we have believed the Gospel by faith will bring that steadfast hope and assurance of the precious possession of eternal life through Jesus our LORD!
TITUS 3:7
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (1 JOHN 5:13).
The LORD God gave every reason for us to remain steadfast in our hope because He made a promise and also pronounced an oath - and so our hope is the greatest, weightiest anchor ever!
HEBREWS 6:13-20
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
As we live (still, at least for now!) in this fallen world, let's be prepared by both our conduct and our words to provide the reason for the hope we have - in the midst of this hopeless and forlorn world - in Christ and His Holy Word!
1 PETER 3:15
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
For more on this, consider this article from CHRISTIAN CRIER - What Is The Biblical or Christian Definition of Hope?
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