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NASB | Romans 8:24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 8:24 For in this hope we were saved [by faith]. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? |
Bible Question: Romans 8:24 says "For in HOPE we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?" Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the assurance of things HOPED for, the conviction of things not seen" 1 Corinthians 13:13 says "But now abide faith, HOPE, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." We hear tons about love and faith, but what about hope? Hope is one of three things that will abide in 1 Cor. 13:13, so it must have some value. In Hebrews 11:1 faith is the assurance (NASB); substance (KJV); title-deed, confirmation (TAB), of things hoped for. If we turn this scripture around a little bit it seems that faith has no substance (I like KJV), without there being things hoped for. Hope seems to be something very important, but we/I dismiss it almost as if it's invisable, of no value. So then why is hope one of the three things that abide (1cor. 13:13 KJV)? What about Romans 8:24? For in hope we have been saved, hope in what? Hope in something we can not see. What is this thing we can not see? Is it our salvation; or how the Father sees us, not in our own righteousnss which is as filthy rags, but clothed in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, the list I think may be different for each of us. The reason I am bringing this up, is that I recently heard a teaching on hope from a minister of a faith ministry, and the importance of hope in the Word of God, was a revelation to me! As I was listening to this teaching, a question came to me, and he asked on the tape the same question, just after I thought it. Could this put more light on the scripture that says, My people perish without a vision. I didn't have time to look that one up so grab a concordance. Could this verse be looked at as the people not having thing to hope for, perhaps from ignorance of the Word of God, have nothing for faith to be the substance of? Am I stretching it, going off the deep end, or are some of you as excited about hope in this light as I am? |
Bible Answer: I am of the opinion that hope is the forgotten virtue. I believe that is becaue of all the emphasis on faith alone. And what do need of hope has someone who feels they have absolute assurance of salvation? Sometimes the virtue of charity is also forgotten for the same reason. Here is what I was taught about hope: 2657. "The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us-to pray in hope. Conversely, the prayer of the Church and personal prayer nourish hope in us. The psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God: 'I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.'[Ps 40:2] As St. Paul prayed: 'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.'[Rom 15:13.]" 1813. "The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.[Cf. 1 Cor 13:13.] " 1817. "Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. 'Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.'[Heb 10:23.] 'The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.'[Titus 3:6-.]" 1818. "The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity. " 1819. "Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the sacrifice.[Cf. Gen 17:4-8; Gen 22:1-18.] 'Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations.'[Rom 4:18.]" 1820. "Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the 'hope that does not disappoint.'[Rom 5:5.] Hope is the 'sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.'[Heb 6:19-20.] Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: 'Let us . . . put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.'[1 Thess 5:8.] It affords us joy even under trial: 'Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation.'[Rom 12:12.] Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire." 1821. "We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will.[Cf. Rom 8:28-30; Mt 7:21.] In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere 'to the end'[Mt 10:22; cf. Council of Trent DS 1541.] and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for 'all men to be saved.'[1 Tim 2:4.] She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven: Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end.[St. Teresa of Avila, Excl. 15:3.]" The Catechism of the Catholic Church Emmaus |