38. We Tend to Confuse Faith with Hope

We often get hope confused with faith in our thinking. Hope is different. Hope is first born in our heart when a promise is given. Hope is a desire with some expectation of fulfillment. We only hope for what we want. Anticipating something you have absolutely no desire for would be senseless! And so would expecting that which has no chance of ever happening.

Hope is the great motivator; no accomplishment—or even action—in life is possible without it first being there. Hope first comes alive through the promise of the Gospel. Then God gives us the gift of faith by which we act on that hope.

We receive His promise through faith. Justification and redemption are ours solely by the grace of God as we act on His promise by receiving Christ. But ultimately it is proven faith, validated by a lifestyle of obedience, through which we obtain the fullness of that promise.

From Free from the Power of Sin: the Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

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