How are hope and faith related?

Hello Jules

In a nutshell hope is seeing things clearly and faith is what we do now that we see things clearly.

A good verse for seeing these two words together is Hebrews 11:1

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we do not see.

This what the ancients were commended for."

I. Definition of Faith and Hope

A. hope :

The Greek word translated hope is (elpis.) The simple meaning of which is, "favorable and confident expectation." Hope is the happy anticipation of good.

B. Faith:

The Greek word translated faith is (pistis). It's simple definition is: "trust, the conviction of the truth of anything, firm persuasion."

So what does that mean in practical terms?Let's use an example to make sense of that definition.

Suppose you need a job. You respond to one add in the paper and you go for an interview. What do you see when you get to the business and meet the boss for the interview? The building is what you see first and it is a dilapidated thing with peeling paint everywhere, weedy flower beds, and a window with a hole in it .

You open the door and enter. Sitting behind a cluttered desk piled high with papers, Styrofoam cups, and unpaid bills sits a dishevelled man with a lit cigarette dangling to the side of his mouth and a three days growth of beard. He is the owner.

You don't have a good feeling about this but you are there and you sit down for the interview. An hour later you leave with a job offer and a promise to pay you eight hundred dollars a week with full medical benefits. You have no confidence that the business has the ability to pay you that so you decline and go to the next interview.

When you get to the next business you find the complete opposite. The building sparkles with fresh paint and flowers, the parking lot has been freshly painted and several nice cars are parked outside.

Entering in you see an orderly and busy workplace and you are ushered into the managers office by a business-like secretary. This is a subsidiary of the IBM corporation. An hour later the job is offered and you accept. Why?

Because you saw clearly that you could trust this place to fulfill its promises (Hope). based on seeing this you you accepted the job (Faith). Then what does faith do? Faith causes you to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday without daily compensation on the promise that on Friday you would be paid all at once for all five days.

So at this point we see that hope is seeing things clearly and faith is what we do now that we see things clearly

II. Application

All of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a wonderful application of the dynamic between faith and hope. My personal favorite is verse six.

"And without faith it is impossible to please GOD,

because anyone who comes to HIM

must believe that HE exists

and that HE rewards those who diligently seek HIM."

A. Three things

1. It is impossible to please GOD without living a faith life.

2. That "faith living" springs from seeing clearly, vividly, in 30 font letters, and blaring trumpets that GOD really does exist.

3. It is in our best interests to seek HIM

B. I was an atheist

I remember so well the day I realized that GOD really did exist after all. It came as a shock.I am a very logical and sequential thinker so the next thought came to me right away. It went like this:

"Oh GOD really does exist....that changes everything!"

That is what the faith-hope dynamic does to people if they are treating the reality of GOD honestly. Because hope is seeing clearly that GOD exists and faith is picking up the ball and running with it.

Don

Hebrews 11:6