Hope, Not Just FROM Bad, but FOR Good
“Salvation is never just salvation from. It is always also salvation for.”
– John Ortberg
Just as with salvation, so it is with hope.
Hope isn’t just a desire to escape something bad. It’s also something good to look forward to.
This excerpt from Ortberg’s Eternity Is Now in Session explains more on salvation:
“Soter (‘savior’) was a common term in the classical world. It was often used for a military figure or healer or king who bore the hopes of the people. Lots of people had that title. But not in the New Testament. It is used eight times of God and sixteen times of Jesus and of nobody else.
This is because, as much as we look for deliverance from our outward circumstances, the main task of salvation is an inside job. We must be saved from what’s going on inside. And so far as I know, no other candidate for soter ever said, ‘Abide in me.'”
Just as with salvation, hope is an inside job as well. When I grow hopeless, it may appear to be prompted by outward circumstances, but it is actually a lack of trust from the inside out. Hope requires allowing my inner self to abide in Christ.
As I am transformed on the inside, my outside reflects it onto whatever situations arise.
More from Ortberg:
“Our greatest freedom is the freedom to direct what we think of. To be constantly mindful of God is salvation from worry, fear, and regret.“
And, I’ll add, to hope in God is also freedom from worry, fear, and regret.
And freedom for peace, courage, and joy.
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What is salvation to you? What is hopefulness? Please share in the comments.
This is Day 12 of Practicing Hope.
Loved this: “Just as with salvation, hope is an inside job as well”. So true. We each have everything we need for hope inside of us all the time.
As I read his opening statement something hit me. Wrong or right. Salvation from. Salvation to. Salvation for.
So much of the Christian life really is “an inside job,” and we work pretty hard at trying to bypass this truth.
For me, true hope rises when I let go of my expectations and choose to trust God with the outcome. Sometimes I do this well, other times not so well. This was a thought-provoking post, Lisa. 🙂
I like this emphasis on hoping *for* and not just against something.
Excellent insights. I agree that “salvation is an inside job”!
This, right here, Lisa –>’When I grow hopeless, it may appear to be prompted by outward circumstances, but it is actually a lack of trust from the inside out. Hope requires allowing my inner self to abide in Christ.’
I want to tuck this simple yet profound truth somewhere deep and keep it always …
This, right here, Lisa –> ‘When I grow hopeless, it may appear to be prompted by outward circumstances, but it is actually a lack of trust from the inside out. Hope requires allowing my inner self to abide in Christ.’
I want to tuck this simple yet profound truth somewhere deep and keep it always …
This seems to point to that free will again. What power the gift of choice is!
I like the concept of “from” and “for”. That’ll preach!
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