We have hope that one day God will restore everything to the way He first designed it, a time when the world is redeemed as well, and no longer resists the will of God. It is in hope that we look forward to this event, because it has yet to happen, and so we are determined to wait with excitement for this restoration to happen.
In this passage, Paul is confirming that it is with hope that Christians, along with creation, eagerly await the time that our bodies are redeemed (verse 23). In hope we have been saved. When we see the word “saved” we should ask “What is being delivered from what?” In this passage, believers are being delivered from the corruption of the Fall, but the deliverance hasn’t happened in its entirety—yet. When we believe, we receive Spiritual deliverance in the sight of God, and we can experience this deliverance through a walk of faith daily, in opposition to the world. But our hope looks forward to a time when our bodies and the entire earth will be redeemed as well, and no longer resists the will of God.
This hope is not seen, for hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes what he already sees? If you know the outcome of a sports game you can’t hope that one team beats the other because you’ve already seen the outcome, you already know who will win and who will lose. Hope is not something that you can have if you already see the outcome. So, we as believers are waiting eagerly in perseverance, for Jesus’s return, and His restoration of creation as though we see it. We hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Therefore, we should steadfastly walk in the Spirit and redeem the earth, in part, until He restores it completely (verses 15-19).
This notion of walking in perseverance in the hope which we cannot see, is restated by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8:
“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
As believers, we should live by faith, persevering, and walking with the Spirit, while we wait (in hope) to be at home with God. Paul discusses this desire to be set apart from our sinful bodies at length in Chapter 7.
Biblical Text
24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
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