The Meaning of Hope and Faith

Eight New Testament passages mention both faith and hope. And no wonder, since both are essential for a Christian.

Paul even lists faith and hope along with love as three things, the “choicest graces,” that remain (1 Corinthians 13:13, Amplified Bible).

Faith meaning

In the New Testament the English word faith is used to translate the Greek word pistis. The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words says, “‘Faith’ means trust, confidence, assurance, and belief” (p. 1315).

The Bible also describes pistis in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

The New Bible Dictionary notes, “Faith implies complete reliance on God and full obedience to God” (1982, p. 368).

Hope meaning

The Greek noun translated “hope” is elpis, and it means “desire for future good, accompanied by faith in its realization. The object both of faith and hope is unseen” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament, p. 572).

Today, hope is often described as fleeting and illusory, but biblical hope is different. It is anchored in our living, loving God, so it is real and lasting. Without God, there really is no hope (Ephesians 2:12).

Biblical hope doesn’t depend on our circumstances or chance.

Christian faith is not complete without hope, and Christian hope is not complete without faith. The New Bible Dictionary highlights the example of Abraham and Sarah. They had tried for decades to have a child, and yet when Sarah was 90 years old, well past childbearing age, God again promised them a son.

“There was . . . nothing in the situation in which Abraham found himself to justify his hope that Sarah would give birth to a son, but because he believed in God, he could ‘in hope’ believe ‘against hope’ (Rom. 4:18).

“Biblical hope is inseparable therefore from faith in God . . .

“The heroes of faith in Heb. 11 are also beacons of hope” (1982, p. 489).

Relationship between faith and hope

The concepts of faith and hope are often mentioned together in the Bible, and for good reason. They are so interrelated—Christian faith is not complete without hope, and Christian hope is not complete without faith.

Faith gives reality to the things we hope for (Hebrews 11:1)—the wonderful promises of God.

Both faith and hope are part of the armor God gives to protect us:

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:16-17).

In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul adds that the helmet is “the hope of salvation.” What could be more hopeful than God’s plan to save us and make us His children? (Study these parts of the armor of God further in our articles “What Is the Shield of Faith?” and “What Is the Helmet of Salvation?”)

Hope helps us endure, patiently and eagerly waiting with faith:

• “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3, emphasis added throughout).
• “For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Galatians 5:5).

Why faith is necessary

As Paul and Silas explained to the Philippian jailer they had saved from suicide, faith is essential in the process of salvation (Acts 16:31).

And without faith, it is not possible to please God:

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Study more about faith in our online article “What Is Faith?”

Why hope is important

Without the hope of salvation and eternal life, our lives would be meaningless and hopeless. Without hope, we become discouraged, aimless, rudderless and anchorless. But God gives us a sure hope to motivate us:

“That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:18-19).

To survive the storms of life, we need that refuge and that anchor. We need that motivation and power. That godly “hope does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5).

Study more about hope in our article “The Power of Hope.”

Faith, hope and love

In the famous Love Chapter, the apostle Paul linked these two gifts along with love:

“And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13, Amplified Bible).

These three lasting pillars of the Christian life work together.

In his study Bible, William Barclay summed this up:

“Great as faith and hope are, love is still greater. Faith without love is cold, and hope without love is grim. Love is the fire which kindles faith and it is the light which turns hope into certainty.”

Study further in our article “The Love Chapter.”

 

Sidebar: Seeing the Unseen

The New Testament records a number of amazing miracles where God gave blind people their sight.

But even more amazing is the miracle of God giving us spiritual sight.

The Christian life exists on two levels. A Christian must navigate the physical challenges of this life. But there is more happening on the spiritual level. To follow Christ, a believer must fight unseen enemies and must sometimes make choices that don’t make sense to physical eyes.

This requires spiritual vision. It takes walking by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

And it takes hoping for things that cannot yet be seen by the human eye.

“For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:24-25).

God’s plan and love for us give us great hope! Once God calls us, He doesn’t give up on us, and He can work in every situation we face, even when we can’t see it.

Paul went on to write, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (verse 28; see “What Does Romans 8:28 Mean?”).

Faith and hope are both part of the gift of spiritual vision—the vision that will help us reach the promised inheritance, the city “whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).