In Bible study, the law of first mention is an important Bible study principle. In the way we are studying the word, the very first time hope is mentioned is Acts 23:6. “But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!” At that time, Paul the Apostle affirmed our hope, our confident conviction, is based on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Adding to this we should say that our hope is founded on God; the fact that God cannot lie. We read about this in Titus 1:2 & Hebrews 6:18. “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” (Titus 1:1-2). “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:17-18). Since God cannot lie, we know what He says in His Word is absolutely true. Therefore we “lay hold” of the hope that we have.

In Romans 4:16-18, we have a remarkable illustration of hope. Even though humanly and biologically speaking, there was every reason to believe that Abraham and Sarah could not have children, Abraham believed he would be the father of the nation of Israel because God promised him it would happen. Even though it did not seem possible when analyzed according to normal biological processes, Abraham believed. “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” Just as Abraham believed God because God cannot lie, we can also “lay hold upon” or “take hold of” hope in a very real and practical sense.

Tomorrow, we are Saved by Hope.