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Answer
There are two types of hope—worldly or temporal hope and the hope of believers. In a general sense, hope is a mental focus or feeling of anticipation regarding a future outcome, either of something we desire to happen or wish to be true or something we hope does not happen or is not true. Secular hope is a subjective expectation; it may be well-founded or misguided, as it does not take into account God’s will. We hope for things we desire (I hope I secure the job; I hope she agrees to marry me). We hope for positive outcomes (I hope my child returns home safely; I hope I remain healthy). However, worldly hope is not a virtue, as it typically involves some level of uncertainty, doubt, and personal bias and can often be misdirected and driven by selfish motives (Proverbs 10:28;1 Timothy 6:17).
The biblical definition of hope is “the sure and confident expectation of receiving what God has promised us in the future.” The believer’s hope is not a faint or vague wish but “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” «which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; », (Hebrews 6:19). In Scripture, hope is a virtuous quality because it harbors no doubt, always relying on God’s faithfulness and presence regardless of the circumstances, whether favorable or unfavorable «For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: Thou art my trust from my youth. », (Psalm 71:5).
The apostle Paul includes hope among the three essential Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love «And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.», (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love is the greatest because God values it most «And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.», (1 Corinthians 13:13) and because it is eternal «Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. », (1 Corinthians 13:8). Neither faith nor hope will be needed in heaven; we won’t have to trust an unseen God or anticipate His appearance because we will see Him and be with Him in the perfection of His presence forever.
Hope and faith are closely tied because both operate based on trusting God and living according to what is unseen. The author of Hebrews explains that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” «Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. », (Hebrews 11:1, ESV). Regarding hope, Paul reasons, “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” «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? », (Romans 8:24). Like faith, hope is built on our unwavering confidence in God’s goodness and power to do what He says He will do because of His unfailing love for us (Psalm 33:18;Psalm 146:5). Such confidence declares about our Savior, “No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame” «Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. », (Psalm 25:3). Biblical hope, like faith, takes custody of God’s good promises yet to come here and now.
Christians use hope in both senses. A pastor may say, “I hope today’s sermon blesses you.” The apostle Paul writes, “I hope to see you” «whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. », (Romans 15:24) and “I hope to come to you soon” «These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: », (1 Timothy 3:14) in his letters to fellow believers. But the believer’s hope is much more than wishful thinking. The apostle Peter explains that God “has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” «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 by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, », (1 Peter 1:3). We have the “hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” «in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; », (Titus 1:2). We don’t merely wish we’ll go to heaven when we die; the Bible says we can know it with all certainty: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” «These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the na
Some of the Son of God.” , (1 John 5:13).
Paul’s hope was so secure in his eternal future that he was willing to suffer and die for it: “I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 23:6; see also Acts 26:6). Paul said that without faith and hope in God’s promise of resurrection life, Christians “are more to be pitied than anyone in the world” «If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. », (1 Corinthians 15:19, NLT).
The biblical definition of hope includes not only the act of confident expectation but also the object of it—“Christ Jesus our hope” «Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; », (1 Timothy 1:1). The psalmist writes, “For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth” «For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: Thou art my trust from my youth. », (Psalm 71:5). Jesus Christ is the “hope of Israel” (Jeremiah 14:8; Acts 28:20) and of all nations and peoples (Isaiah 42:4; Matthew 12:21; Romans 15:12-13; 1 Timothy 4:10).
Having only temporal hope in people and things of this life is, in reality, to live in a state of hopelessness, “without hope and without God in the world.” «that at that time ye 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: », (Ephesians 2:12). By contrast, the believer’s hope cannot be frustrated or hindered by anything in this life. We know what we have safely “stored up for [us] in heaven” «for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; », (Colossians 1:5), where our treasures are kept secure (Matthew 6:19-20).
