Articles
Our Threefold Hope
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
Hope relates to the future. It is the ability to reach forward with our minds and latch on to something good. That future good thing, in turn, richly enhances the present. Hope is one of our great blessings in Christ. It cheers and sustains. This verse identifies three essentials of the Christian’s hope.
A Fixed Hope
Earthly hopes often waver. At different stages a little boy hopes to be a fireman or a ballplayer or the president or something else. Success comes when we lock in on something and work toward it.
Christians have one grand hope: to be with the Lord. “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4). Our one hope (Ephesians 4:4) is heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4). Let us hold to it without wavering. Do not be distracted by earthly things. They disappoint and will not last.
A Grounded Hope
Do you want to go to heaven? Of course you do. Do you expect to go there? If so, what is the basis of your expectation? Too many people rely on little more than a feeling they have about it or the fact that they live a good moral life. Perhaps some preacher told you that you are going to heaven. How does he know?
The only valid basis of expectation is the promise of God. Paul wrote of “the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word . . .” (Titus 1:2-3). God’s word on a thing ends all doubt. Those who comply with the conditions He sets forth—faith in Christ, repentance, baptism into Christ, faithfulness to Him, etc.—can have every confidence about their heavenly home. On the other hand, those who do not comply have God’s sure word on a far different eternal destiny (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
A Held Hope
Our text exhorts us to “hold fast” the confession of our hope; literally, be glued to it. Satan wants you to let go. What can you do to maintain your grip? Think about God and heaven. (Assembling with other Christians to sing and pray helps here [v. 25]). Fill your life with spiritual things, giving the devil no place (Ephesians 4:27). Mostly, you must remember God who promised. You may not always understand the circumstances between here and there, but remember that God neither requires what we cannot do nor offers what we cannot obtain.
Interestingly, when we take hold of hope, hope takes hold of us. It is an anchor for the soul (Hebrews 6:19), mooring us throughout life’s ebbs and flows.
