“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” (1st Thess. 4:13)
If your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is as the Lord of your life, in every aspect of your life, then perhaps a better word for hope would be assurance. Unquestioning in every word of the Scriptures, believing in and holding fast to every promise, never doubting even once that what He has said about your life will come to pass.
From the promise of eternal life, to the persecutions that will arrive in this life, from pleasures forevermore, to the fact that He will never leave you or forsake you. Not just hope, but calm, reassuring promises that will come to pass.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1) All your sins already nailed to the cross, hid in Christ forever.
The wicked have hope, but not like this, theirs is based in superstition, in imaginary concepts of the mind, on luck, chance and coincidence. Those trapped by works-based religious organizations have their hope founded in those works, a never-ending battle to be good enough, to perform well enough, a hope based in self with no promise on their last day that they have accomplished what was needed to be done to appease God towards their favor.
Romanists have termed that assurance that we know as the sin of presumption, and it is one of their greatest strongholds, the supplicant must always be in a position of supplication, adhering to all the traditions laid before them. Those who believe in an easy grace fair no better than those, they hope they said the words properly that they were told to repeat, that they assumed the proper position of their heart all those Sunday mornings. There is no true hope in them, only a hope that will never know assurance. Those that profess the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior but still feel a need to adhere and obey the Law, generally those parts that are the least inconvenient for them, are no better, for they also believe that some form of work must be accomplished. I have met people who have been baptized several times, and “just to be sure” is the reason they give.
Any faith that does not rest in the sufficiency of the sacrifice of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul will never know the assurance of salvation, they will always be searching for something to give them a more secure feeling of hope, and they will need to continue that search throughout the entirety of their lives.
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” (Job 19:25)
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2nd Tim. 4:8)
That is not hoping for, that is the knowledge of assurance.
Perhaps because of our sinful nature, that old man inside of us that we battle so often, this assurance is not known by many who are indeed saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps it is our adversary at times whispering in our ear telling us, “You are not good enough for God, you have not done enough, you will never see His Kingdom.” Far too many do not understand that the price was paid in full, that there is nothing you can add to the cross, and so they continue to hope.
“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Eph. 1:6) What more assurance do you need than that?
