Faith, Hope & Love

God works three principal graces in our lives: faith, hope, and love. This is a familiar threesome in Paul's writings, e.g. 1Co 13:13; 1Th 1:3; Col 1:4-5. In the letter to the Thessalonians (1Th 1:3) it is "hope" that is emphasised, where Paul teaches the truth of the second coming. "Love" is clearly the point of emphasis in 1Co 13:13. "Faith" has the prime place in Colossians. These 3 qualities are the evidences of a work of God within a person, and more than these may not be required to assess whether a person is a true child of God.

None of these 3 characteristics are natural or capable of being developed by us. Some people might have the temperament that enables them to believe, some are marked out by having a loving nature, while others are known to have a hopeful or optimistic outlook. But the terms used by Paul are describing the spiritual man not the natural.

The Greek word for “hope” has nothing to do with such a phrase as “I hope so.” When we say that we have no assurance of fulfilment e.g. “I hope it will not rain today.” There is no guarantee of that, and so we carry an umbrella. The New Testament word for “hope” means something that is certain because it does not depend on us. It depends on the word and work of Christ. It is a confident assurance and expectancy of the greater blessings in store for believers in the life of the world to come.

People ask what is the difference between "faith" and "hope"? The following is a  helpful answer, taken from “Hope Laid up for you in Heaven” by W H G Thomas:~

Faith accepts, hope expects; faith appropriates, hope anticipates; faith receives, hope realises; faith is always and only concerned with the past and present, hope is always and only concerned with the future. We know that faith comes by hearing; we shall find that hope comes by experience. Faith is concerned with a Person who promises, hope with the thing promised; and faith is the root of which hope is a fruit.

Faith rests on the past, love works in the present, and hope presses toward the future; or, faith looks backward and upward, love looks upward and outward, and hope looks upward and forward.

Hope for the Christian is the anchor of the soul. The future is as certain as the promises of God. Our hope rests in the truth of the gospel.

One last note. There will come a day when faith and hope are no longer required, because the Believer will be in the presence of the Lord. Then there will only be love. Heaven will be wonderful - everyone will love each other, and that will be quite an improvement on what we experience often on earth.