Is Hope a Noun or a Verb?

Is Hope a Noun or a Verb?

For the Christian, is hope a noun or a verb? Obviously, it is both. When the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:27 about “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” he used the word as a noun. In Romans 8:24, Paul used hope as a noun and a verb: “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?”

As a noun, hope refers to the destiny to which God calls His people.

It is the goal of life itself. As a verb, hope describes the expectation of the Christian expressed through faith in God.

In Colossians 1:12 ff, the apostle reminds readers of what God has done through Jesus Christ. Jesus “reconciled all things to Himself” (v. 20). That included “you who were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds” (v. 21). Jesus did this in order to “present you before God holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (v. 22).

How did Jesus accomplish this? He “made peace through the blood of His cross” (v. 20). He did it through His “death” (v. 22). Jesus could do this because “it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him” (v. 19).

Paul expounded on that statement by saying Jesus was “the image of the invisible God” (v. 15). All things whether on heaven or on earth, whether visible or invisible, were created through Him (v. 16). What’s more, they were created for Him (v. 16).

The apostle declares that Jesus was “before all things” and that “in Him all things hold together” (v. 17).

This Jesus has “first place in everything” (v. 18). He is “firstborn from the dead” and “head of the body — the church” (v. 18).

It is in this Jesus that “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin” (v. 14). With sin forgiven, we are “delivered from the domain of darkness” (v. 13). We are transferred to the kingdom of the Son (v. 13) and “share the inheritance of the saints in light” (v. 12).

All of this — forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with God, eternal life as an inheritance because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross — is summed up in the word hope when used as a noun.

That “hope” is not an abstraction. It must be “in you.” It must be real. Only when one has believed in Christ as personal Lord and Savior can one be “complete in Christ” (v. 28).

When one believes in Christ, one has “Christ in you” and that is “the hope of glory.” It is the only hope.

That “hope of glory” is based solely on God. It is based on His character, for God is love. It is also based on His initiative, for God reached toward us, even while we were yet sinners.

It is based on God’s actions, for Jesus died that all who would believe on His name might not perish but have everlasting life. It is based on God’s gift. He offers Jesus to dwell in our hearts that we might have “hope of glory.”

In Romans 8:24, Paul uses the word hope four times in one sentence. Each reference is tinged with expectancy or anticipation.

A paraphrase might read, “Salvation brings a sense of expectancy — hope. When one anticipates something, it has not yet happened. What has already happened is no longer expected. Why would one anticipate something that has already occurred?”

In the following verse, Paul says “we hope for (expect or anticipate) what we do not see.”

Then the apostle provides insight into how a Christian expects or anticipates or “hopes” when the word is used as a verb.

Paul writes, “with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it.” Obviously, Christian hope is something that causes one to hold on despite the circumstances. One writer called this “steadfast endurance.”

There are other characteristics of Christian hope when the word is used as a verb. Romans 5:5 describes “hope that does not disappoint.” That means hope brings unshakable confidence. Romans 12:12 teaches that hope is surrounded with “rejoicing,” even if one must endure persecution.

Romans 5:1 mentions the “peace” with which the Christian anticipates “the hope of glory.” Romans 8:20­–21 teaches that because we have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ, we await His coming in “freedom.”

Each trait points back to God. He is the One who makes each possible. Indeed, God is the source and the goal of Christian hope, and that is true whether the word is used as a noun or a verb.