The English word hope means something that we desire to happen, but that is uncertain. I hope to complete one marathon per year until I am ninety. I hope I do not get cancer. I hope Djokovic wins a twenty-fifth major.

In the Greek NT, the noun elpis and verb elpizō are typically translated as hope and I hope, respectively.

They sometimes carry the same meaning as the English word hope. But they often have a radically different meaning. This can be confusing if the English reader is not aware that hope in the NT often does not mean something that is uncertain and that we only desire to happen.

Here are a few NT examples of elpis and elpizō being used the way we commonly use the English word hope:

• “I hope to see you on my journey” (Rom 15:24).
• “For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits” (1 Cor 16:7).
• “Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me” (Phil 2:23).
• “These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly” (1 Tim 3:14).

Another frequent NT meaning, however, is something that is certain, but the timing of which is uncertain.

The Rapture and our transformation at that time are certain. The Lord will return and catch us up to meet Him in the air (1 Thess 4:16-17). At that time, we will be changed (1 Cor 15:51-54). However, the Rapture and our transformation have been imminent since the first century. Every generation of believers has had the hope that the Rapture and our glorification would occur in their lifetime. Verses that speak of the hope of the Rapture/His coming/our glorification include:

• Rom 8:24-25, “For we were saved in this hope [the redemption of our body and the millennial kingdom, v 23], 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.”ⁱ
• 1 Thess 4:13, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope [i.e., no hope of their resurrection and glorification].”
• 1 Thessalonians 5:8, “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation [i.e., the expectation that we will soon be raptured and glorified; see 1 Thess 5:9-10].”
• Titus 2:13, “…looking for the blessed hope of His appearing.”
• 1 Pet 1:13, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (i.e., rest in your expectation that any day now, you will be glorified when Jesus returns).
• 1 John 3:3, “And everyone who has this hope in Him [i.e., the expectation that soon we will be made like Him, 1 John 3:2] purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Maybe you have heard of hope-so assurance of salvation. Well, if by assurance of salvation, you mean assurance that it’s certain that you will be with the Lord forever––but that when it starts is uncertain––that is sound doctrine. Right now, we are “absent from the Lord” (2 Cor 5:6). So, while we have know-so assurance that we have everlasting life and will never perish (1 John 5:13), we should indeed hope that Christ will soon return and we will then (after seven years that will seem like seven minutes) take part in His glorious, righteous, peaceful, and just kingdom.

Another meaning of elpis and elpizo is trust. See John 5:45; 2 Cor 1:13; 5:11; 13:6; 1 Tim 4:10; 6:17.

I hope––that is, I trust––that you will study the NT uses of hope so that you can see for yourself how important it is that our hearts are set on Christ’s soon return and our glorification that will occur at that time.

Keep grace in focus.

ⁱ Note well: The issue here is hope, not faith. We can and should believe what we see. But we cannot hope for what we see because in that case, our expectation has already been realized.