Romans 8:25

8:18-25 The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time! Indeed the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the period when the children of God shall be manifested in the glory prepared for them. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which has come upon the creature by the fall of man. There is an enmity of one creature to another. And they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin. Yet this deplorable state of the creation is in hope. God will deliver it from thus being held in bondage to man's depravity. The miseries of the human race, through their own and each other's wickedness, declare that the world is not always to continue as it is. Our having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, quickens our desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations. Sin has been, and is, the guilty cause of all the suffering that exists in the creation of God. It has brought on the woes of earth; it has kindled the flames of hell. As to man, not a tear has been shed, not a groan has been uttered, not a pang has been felt, in body or mind, that has not come from sin. This is not all; sin is to be looked at as it affects the glory of God. Of this how fearfully regardless are the bulk of mankind!

Believers have been brought into a state of safety; but their comfort consists rather in hope than in enjoyment. From this hope they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding satisfaction in the things of time and sense. We need patience, our way is rough and long; but He that shall come, will come, though he seems to tarry.

But if we hope for that we see not,.... Whether it be the hour of death, or the second coming of Christ, or the resurrection of the dead, and eternal glory; all which are unseen by us, and to be hoped for: then do we with patience wait for it; as that which is certain and real, as something valuable, which will be satisfying, and be received with the utmost joy. This supposes, that the persons who wait for it believe it, and their interest in it, at least hope they have one; that they have a valuable esteem and affection for it; that they are not in a state of perfection and happiness; and that they sit loose by the things of this world, and are ready to part with the one, and grasp the other: the manner of their waiting is "with patience"; a grace, of which God is the efficient, Christ is the exemplar, and the word the means; and which is of great use under afflictions from the hand of God, under the reproaches and persecutions of men, under desertions and want of answers in prayer, under the temptations of Satan, and in the expectation of the heavenly glory.

q.d. If we indeed hope for redemption and salvation, which is out of sight, then it is meet that we do with patience digest and bear all our present evils and sufferings; true hope is accompanied always with a patient waiting for the things hoped for; therefore you read of the patience of hope, 1 Thessalonians 1:3 : see Hebrews 6:12 10:36 .

25 . But if we hope , &c.] The emphasis here is double; ( a ) on the fact that we do hope for a given thing; i.e. look for it with a reason for so doing; ( b ) on the fact that it is (by its nature as an object of hope) out of sight . Of this general statement, the particular case is the Hope of Glory; and the inference is that we must be at once patient and intent (see next note) in waiting for it. But this particular application is left to be understood. wait ] Same word as Romans 8:19 , where see note.

But if we hope ... - The effect here stated is one which exists everywhere. Where there is a strong desire for an object, and a corresponding expectation of obtaining it - which constitutes true hope - then we can wait for it with patience. Where there is a strong desire without a corresponding expectation of obtaining it, there is impatience. As the Christian has a strong desire of future glory, and as he has an expectation of obtaining it just in proportion to that desire, it follows that he may bear trials and persecutions patiently in the hope of his future deliverance. Compared with our future glory, our present sufferings are light, and but for a moment; 2 Corinthians 4:17 . In the hope of that blessed eternity which is before him, the Christian can endure the severest trial, and bear the intensest pain without a complaint.

Romans 8:25 . Διʼ ὑπομ .] With patience , perseveringly. Hebrews 12:1 ; Kühner, II. 1, p. 418. The indicative ἀπεκδεχ ., which is not, with Estius, Koppe, Köllner, and others, to be taken as exspectare debemus , does not announce the virtuous operation (Grotius), but simply the situation , which the circumstance that we hope without seeing involves. The ethical position assigned to us is, that we patiently wait for the object of our hope.

The nature of hope consists in a sure expectation. Hope is not the equivalent of possession; whatever one possesses, one cannot hope for. ―Hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for‖ (Romans 8:25). Hope expects and anticipates that which has not been observed as yet, is not yet present, but which is yet to come. ―But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it‖ (Romans 8:25). The apostle therefore conjoins expecting and hoping—the latter explaining the former. ―According to my earnest expectation and my hope...‖ (Philippians 1:20).