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53 results for “Hope”
Clear searchNot escape from the body, but its redemption
The Hope of the Resurrection Not escape from the body, but its redemption Many people imagine the Christian hope as an endless disembodied existence: the soul released from the body, leaving the…
Read article →Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation
Is the Beatific Vision the Whole Christian Hope? Seeing God, bodily resurrection, and life in the renewed creation The beatific vision is the Christian teaching that the redeemed will see God and find their perfect happiness in Him.…
Read article →Michael J. Vlach · Biblical theology · 2023
…of one coherent purpose. Vlach is especially helpful in resisting the idea that Christian hope means escape from the physical world. He traces God's work from creation to restoration and shows why bodily resurrection, the renewal of the earth, Christ's reign, and life in God's pr…
View recommendation →Brian E. Daley · Historical theology · 1991
I recommend The Hope of the Early Church because it showed me how varied early Christian thinking about death and the world to come really was. Daley traces the development of the intermediate state, apokat…
View recommendation →Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world
…ish Messiah has often been presented with little connection to the people, covenants, and hopes into which He was born. That history cannot be denied. It can, however, obscure the world of the New Testament itself. The New Testament is the story of Israel's God fulfilling Israel'…
Read article →Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ
…eady given. What Scripture allows us to affirm We do not need NDEs to establish Christian hope, but neither need we retreat into a materialism which Scripture denies. Death does not end personal existence. The believer who departs is with Christ, which Paul calls "far better" (Ph…
Read article →Dave Hunt · Devotional theology and biblical exhortation · 2000
…pel, faith, love for God, discipleship, doctrine, the Church, and the believer's heavenly hope, but the recurring appeal is intensely practical: take God at His word and let that truth govern the whole life. The book's breadth makes it especially useful for readers who need to re…
View recommendation →Signs, expectancy, and the event the Church is told to await
…Testament repeatedly directs believers towards Christ Himself: "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." —Titus 2:13 "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Chri…
Read article →The event is explicit; the real dispute is its timing
…hrist's return, resurrection, transformation, and catching up as parts of the same future hope. Nor is pretribulationism a condition of salvation. Christians who confess the bodily resurrection and return of Christ may disagree over the sequence while belonging to the same Lord.…
Read article →Faith, assurance, and the unseen reality of God
…These questions bring us to a remarkable statement: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” — Hebrews 11:1, KJV There is something profound here. Things still hoped for have a present substance. Things still unseen carry conviction. Fait…
Read article →An unrequited love for the historic Church
…ough they possessed the same apostolic authority. The Historic Structure and the Historic Hope This tension becomes particularly visible when early Christian testimony is used apologetically. Catholic and Orthodox apologists frequently appeal to ante-Nicene evidence for bishops,…
Read article →Two accounts of judgement, mercy, and the sinner's hope before God
The Scales and the Cross Two accounts of judgement, mercy, and the sinner's hope before God How will I stand before God? The question reaches deeper than religious labels. We know that our actions matter, that evil deserves judgement, and that our own record is not…
Read article →E. W. Bullinger · Sermons · 1892
…pectation, careful textual observation, and practical urgency: prophecy is meant to shape hope, watchfulness, and faithful living. Bullinger writes within a distinctive dispensational framework and readers need not accept every sequence, distinction, or prophetic conclusion in or…
View recommendation →Marvin W. Meyer · Historical sourcebook · 1987
…Meyer lets their surviving texts show what their adherents practised, sought, feared, and hoped for. For the Christian reader, that background makes the setting of Acts and Paul's letters more tangible and helps us appreciate the world into which the gospel came. It is a genuinel…
View recommendation →John Bunyan · Christian allegory · 1678
…tions. Bunyan makes conviction, temptation, discouragement, fellowship, perseverance, and hope into places and people that stay in the mind. It rewards rereading because different stages of Christian's journey become more recognisable as our own pilgrimage continues. Read it as a…
View recommendation →Christ the promised Seed, Gentile inheritance, and Paul's final blessing
…believing Jew and a believing Gentile possess the same righteousness, Spirit, access, and hope in Christ. God may still keep particular promises to the nation from which Messiah came without creating a second gospel or a superior way of salvation. What is the rule in Galatians 6?…
Read article →The olive tree, the natural branches, and the limits of the metaphor
…metaphor can no longer make Paul's argument. There can be no warning to wild branches, no hope for natural branches, and no meaning to "their own olive tree" if every branch has become identical in every relevant respect. Unity of salvation does not require identity of covenant r…
Read article →Unity in Christ and distinction in God's purpose
…nction that the Church appears detached from Israel's Scriptures, Messiah, covenants, and hope. The biblical answer requires both unity and distinction, each defined by the texts which teach it. The Church is one new man in Christ Gentiles were once "aliens from the commonwealth…
Read article →How the Law reaches its goal and appointed end in Christ
…, pursue righteousness, and display religious zeal while still stumbling over Christ. The hope of the passage is that the word of faith is near and its promise is open to all: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." —Romans 10:13 Righteousness is not…
Read article →Responding to five common criticisms without defending what Scripture does not require
…centre of every divine purpose and the only ground of redemption. Prophecy should produce hope, holiness, and confidence in God's character—not speculation for its own sake. Dispensationalism is not the gospel, and no interpretive system is inspired. It is a framework to be teste…
Read article →El, the Exodus, and the God Who Came from Sinai
…, conquest and future deliverance are woven into one divine-warrior vision. The prophet’s hope is that the God who came then will come again. “Coming from” a location does not mean originating there. Isaiah sees the divine judge coming from Edom and Bozrah after executing judgmen…
Read article →What 'yea and Amen' in Christ means for Israel and the covenants
…y millennial duration. The heavenly dimensions of the believer's inheritance enlarge this hope rather than contradict it. A worldwide kingdom can include Israel's promised land, and the renewed creation can contain the particular fulfilments through which God's faithfulness is pu…
Read article →Why apantēsis does not settle the timing of the rapture
…pears in glory. "Meet the Lord in the air" is entirely compatible with the pretribulation hope. The noun apantēsis does not carry enough chronological freight to overturn it. References for further review Matthew 25:1-13 John 14:1-3 Acts 28:15-16 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 1 Thessalo…
Read article →Abraham, Lot, divine wrath, and a pattern that must be used carefully
…a complete proof. It is one strand in a larger biblical cord. The Judge will do right The hope of deliverance finally rests not in our ability to map every detail but in the character of God. He knows how to distinguish persecution from His wrath, His children from the objects of…
Read article →The gathering of the elect, one taken and one left, and Paul's revealed mystery
…he public arrival of the Son of man. Its gathering naturally fulfils Israel's regathering hope. It never describes the dead in Christ rising or living believers being changed and caught up. Nor do "one taken and one left" provide an alternative rapture account. Luke locates those…
Read article →Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy
…, establishes the permanent exclusion of Israel. The Gospels begin with Israel's covenant hope The announcement of Jesus' birth is unmistakably messianic and national: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne…
Read article →Why Israel's failure cannot make the word of God fail
…e Church; Gentiles are incorporated; and the one people united to Christ inherit Israel's hope. God has not broken His word but disclosed the deeper identity of its recipients. This view rightly insists that descent without faith does not inherit salvation and that believing Gent…
Read article →History, heresy, and the temptation of private Christianity
…ressing personal conversion, assurance of salvation, the authority of Scripture, heavenly hope, doctrinal precision, non-sacramental worship, premillennialism, or distrust of corrupt institutions. If all these things are Gnostic, then parts of the New Testament begin to look susp…
Read article →A history of interpretation, polemic, and forgotten tension
…nunciation beyond practices to Jewish people and portrayed their rejection as effectively hopeless. "The synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it also is a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts." —John Chrysostom, Against the Jews, Homily I This is not the tone of…
Read article →Jesus and the fountain of living water
…re is a thirst deeper than the body's need. It is the ache of the soul when the things we hoped would satisfy us have not done so. Success can distract it. Pleasure can briefly numb it. Religion can cover it with activity. None of these can give life. On the last and greatest day…
Read article →The LORD, Zion, and the meaning of Beulah in Isaiah 62:4–5
…teousness will encompass a renewed creation. These truths enlarge the horizon of biblical hope. Yet enlargement is not erasure. A promise may expand beyond its original geographical centre without failing to include that centre. The blessing of all nations does not require the di…
Read article →Divine judgement, the character of God, and the promise of escape
…rs for desiring it; He commanded watchfulness and prayer in relation to it. The Christian hope is not a desire to avoid faithfulness. Believers should be prepared to suffer, serve, lose possessions, and die rather than deny Christ. The pretribulation claim is not that the Church…
Read article →Testing Islam's evidence for divine revelation
…beginnings. Christians should concede that without reluctance. We do not need a late and hopelessly lost Qur'an in order to reject Islam. But preservation and inspiration answer different questions: Preservation asks: do we substantially possess what the original community trans…
Read article →The question reaches beyond prophecy to the faithfulness of God
…hem to bear witness to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:7-8). Worldwide mission and Israel's hope are not enemies. Acts begins with both held together: the nations must hear the risen Messiah, while the times of Israel's restoration remain in the Father's authority. The question thi…
Read article →Two failures, two responses, and the difference between remorse and repentance
…ed what it wants from us, it leaves us with wounds it cannot heal. Judas: Remorse Without Hope The Sin of Judas Judas went to the chief priests and asked: “What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?” —Matthew 26:15 They agreed to pay him thirty pieces of silver. From…
Read article →What God's faithfulness to Israel means for everyone who trusts His promises
…erform, confidence becomes impossible. Faith would rest not upon revelation, but upon our hope that the words will retain their recognisable meaning when fulfilment comes. The future of Israel is therefore not a specialised controversy at the edge of Christian doctrine. It tests…
Read article →The peace Christ gives in a troubled world
…s to Him. We may be confused without being abandoned. We may weep without having lost our hope. There is no virtue in pretending to be unaffected. Some burdens require prayer, patient fellowship, practical help, medical treatment or wise counsel. Seeking such help is not necessar…
Read article →Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ
…e Earth's Great Sabbath Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ The Christian hope for creation rests neither in human effort nor in escape from the material world. The creation groans for the return of its rightful King, the revelation of the sons of God, and the rig…
Read article →The near was real. The far is still coming.
…es the transformed wilderness. The landscape bears witness to the glory of the LORD. This hope addresses frightened people before it describes their future surroundings. Weak hands are to be strengthened. Feeble knees are to be made firm. Fearful hearts are to hear: “Be strong, f…
Read article →Regathering, national rebirth, and the spiritual renewal still to come
…sappear into the nations among which they lived. Their Scriptures, worship, identity, and hope of return endured. On 14 May 1948, Jewish sovereignty was re-established in the ancestral land through the declaration of the State of Israel. That event does not by itself settle every…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
…Christ’s finished sacrifice. Islam calls people to submission, repentance, good works and hope in divine mercy without that atoning ground. These are not different accents within one faith. They are contradictory claims. Respect for Muslims cannot require us to pretend otherwise.…
Read article →One Messiah, one gospel, and God's continuing purpose for Israel
…ve Abrahamic blessing, the promised Spirit, adoption, forgiveness, resurrection life, and hope in the renewed creation. We are not distant observers of Israel's story but participants in the salvation which came through Israel's Messiah. Israel also experienced genuine covenant j…
Read article →The glory philosophy could not contain
…d the philosopher’s version of incarnation becomes impossible to hide—and where Christian hope breaks into triumph. Amelius imagines bodily dissolution followed by restoration to deity. The New Testament proclaims bodily resurrection. After rising, Christ says: “Behold my hands a…
Read article →Four popular claims tested in context
…ant's gentleness, brings God's revelation to the Gentiles and becomes the object of their hope. The passage's character, mission and inspired interpretation converge upon Him. Kedar is genuinely present in Isaiah 42. Muhammad is not. John 14–16: is Muhammad the Comforter? On the…
Read article →The wicked husbandmen, the fruit-bearing nation, and what Jesus said afterwards
…t the apostles and believing remnant of Israel, not a Gentile body detached from Israel's hope. Gentiles are subsequently incorporated through Israel's Messiah and apostolic witness. The fruit-bearing people may therefore be understood as Messiah's faithful community, beginning w…
Read article →The Gospel, Human Perception, and the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit
…ilures of communication. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Romans 10:14–17. But the hope of evangelism reaches beyond our ability to construct an impressive explanation. God can shine into the heart. The Spirit can disclose the significance of truth that has been heard many…
Read article →Election within Abraham's family, the believing remnant, and the future of the nation
…pares the reader morally to receive Paul's conclusion. Gentiles must hear Israel's future hope without pride, appropriation, or contempt. The complete movement can therefore be followed like this: | Passage | Function in the argument | |---|---| | Romans 8:28-39 | God's purpose,…
Read article →Defining the position before testing it
…hians 1:20). The Church also shares blessings once associated with Israel's covenants and hope. Gentile believers who were "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise" have been "made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:12-13). In on…
Read article →Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints
…; that where I am, there ye may be also.” —John 14:3 The rapture is not fundamentally the hope of avoiding something. It is the hope of being gathered to Someone. Brown’s argument therefore confuses two different propositions: Christians are promised final rest and vindication fr…
Read article →Trusting God when voices seek to weaken our confidence
…nstruction never to answer objections. Christians are called to be ready to explain their hope with gentleness and respect. There are occasions for careful argument, public testimony, and patient conversation. But this passage reminds us that answering is not always required. A t…
Read article →Earth-dwellers, heaven-dwellers, and the literary structure of the Apocalypse
…th-dweller" is a moral and eschatological identity: those whose allegiance, security, and hope belong to the rebellious world-order. The book deliberately sets another company over against them. Worship rises in heaven. The souls of martyrs appeal from heaven. An innumerable rede…
Read article →A sign of Israel's renewal, not Israel's disappearance
…ngdom divided and the northern tribes were scattered, Scripture continued to preserve the hope of all Israel. The prophets anticipated Judah and Israel being gathered under one King: "And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be…
Read article →The positive argument of the whole series, brought together
…, the abomination, or a numbered sequence of judgements. Believers look for "that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). Their citizenship is in heaven, "from whence also we look for the Saviour" (Philippians 3:20). James says the coming of the Lord draws near and the Judge stands before th…
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