Hope: “Slowly Abandoning” Or “An Anchor For The Soul”

We live in the hope that a great promise will come true, the promised of salvation. 

Rom. 8:24“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?”

Paul points out that this promised salvation has not yet materialized, but we are completely sure of it. Our great confidence is based on the One who made the promise. As Paul told Titus:

Titus 1:2,3a“in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested”

Think about those don’t have strong faith in God, who don’t know Him and don’t fully trust that He won’t lie or disappoint. Like those in the ship with the apostle Paul, in the midst of a storm, tossed to and fro for days, with no relief in site and no concept of how this could turn out well:

Acts 27:20“And since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.”

This is the world: no light, constantly being assailed and slowly abandoning all hope. 

Contrast this hope given Christians:

Heb. 6:17-19 “In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul…”

For those of faith: A trustworthy God, strong encouragement, refuge, an anchor for the soul based on hope.