Perhaps some might say, “Oh I have many hopes”, which may be true of “earthly hopes”, but it is not true of “heavenly hopes”. The word “hope” is an interesting word, at least as it is used in the Bible. It means: “To anticipate, usually with pleasure; an expectation or confidence”. It is also translated: “faith” in Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering”. So, our word hope is not: “maybe so, maybe not so”, rather it is an earnest expectation! So, those who are truly children of God by faith in Jesus Christ do have a what is stated in Ephesians 4:4: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” So, all believers in Christ have the same hope. Notice that it is called “one hope of your calling”. The idea of “calling” is that of the Spirit of God having convicted us, thus called us, to salvation. Since we who are believers have responded to that call, we now have “one hope” of that calling by the Spirit of God, as He called us to salvation! (By the way, please do not call the Spirit of God an “It”, for He is a person, just as the Father and Son, and should be referred to as such! I Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. So, the Spirit of God is as much a member of the Godhead as is the Father or the Son!
I am writing about “hope”, of course, but the Spirit of God is the member of the Trinity Who made us aware of our sins, convicted us of those sins and came to dwell in us when we placed our faith in Jesus Christ. So, the Spirit of God in us continually reminds us of that “One Hope” that we have of being with Christ at some point in the future. So, it is not a “maybe so, guess so, or perhaps so” experience, rather it is an assured “Hope”, produced by the Spirit of God in us at the point of salvation. I marvel at the people who get all bent out of shape, because some of us do not think exactly as they concerning the presence of the Spirit of God in every believer. Again I say that the confusion is likely over the “filling of the Spirit” in our lives, not just His presence. My hope, therefore, is based on the work of Christ on the cross: His death, His resurrection, His ascension and His intercession for me before the Father. All of this is involved in my “hope” through the Spirit’s presence in me. All who are saved have the Spirit of God in them, because that is the only way “Christ can dwell in us”, but all are not filled with the Spirit, which is a continual thing as we yield to Him. I am so glad to be a part of the one “Hope” and the one “Body” of Christ. We who are believers may need to stop fighting one another long enough to listen to one another, but especially to what the Bible says about all of us and the one, common, eternal “Hope” we have in Christ! By J. Briggs King, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921