What Is Biblical Hope?
In Scripture, hope is normally an eager, confident, and justifiable expectation of receiving good from God. Since it is a relational term, those who haven’t entered a relationship with God through Jesus Christ cannot have biblical hope (Eph 2:12). It includes thought, emotion (such as eagerness), and choice (deciding to wait for Him instead of despairing). We don’t understand when or how the Lord will fulfill His good plans for us, so the posture of hope is one of dependent humility – there is no sense of entitlement.
Faith, hope, and love work together (1 Cor 13:13). They strengthen each other (1 Thess 1:3). While faith refers to the past and the present (Rom 10:9; Mk 11:24), hope refers to the future (Rom 8:23-25). For example, we hope for the second coming of Christ (Tit 2:13), the liberation of creation from the decaying effects of sin (Rom 8:20, 24), and fully entering into our glorious inheritance (1 Pet 1:3-4).
Hope results in joy and well-founded optimism (Rom 12:12, Barclay), courage in the face of death (2 Cor 5:6-8), strength in trials (Rom 8:18-23), gratitude (Lam 3:21-23), and motivation to lead a godly life (Tit 2:11-14). False alternatives to hope, which will not yield such results, include trying to control the future, depression, fear, giving up, and merely wishing for something. We are confident He will bring us to our good future (Jer 29:11) as we habitually give the Holy Spirit control of our lives (Eph 5:18).
So how do we develop greater hope? We study the Bible and respond in the obedience of true faith (Rom 15:4 cf. 1:5). We focus on Him (Ps 62:5-6) and His perspective on matters. In addition, we do our reasonable best on small tasks (Mt 25:21) and pray for stronger hope (Rom 15:13 cf. 1 Jn 5:14-15).
Loving trust is more important than mere head knowledge.