“We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope^[a] for it. ²⁵But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)” Romans 8:24-25 NLT 

Footsteps # 345 V24 has been triggered by the preceding paragraph on suffering (vs16-22). Fellow believers (heirs with Christ) will suffer with Him. Paul answers the query of why Christians have trials and afflictions in v18 and then in vs 19-22 he goes onto to explain that we (like the subhuman creation) are still experiencing the ravages of the fall and the hope of being set free. We ‘groan’ for the completion of redemption. 

Vs24 -25 carries the tension of the now and not yet; the ‘hope’ of every believer. Notice the past tense ‘were saved’ The tense of the Greek verb points back to a decisive past liberation from guilt and bondage of sin and from God’s judgment upon it. But the ‘hope’ (mentioned 5 times in the two verses,) looks to the future and a hope yet to be fulfilled, a hope whose fulfillment we haven’t experienced as yet. The apostle undoubtedly has in mind v23’s promise about the redemption of our bodies. 

Yet verse 23 has another image of hope – the “firstfruits’, referring to the harvest offering. That action consecrated the entire harvest and carried with it the thought of later fruits. Paul has shifted the idea of first fruits away from what we give to God and toward what He gives to us. Thus the apostle is saying in Romans 8 that the measure of the Holy Spirit that we already have is but a foretaste of the many other blessings that await us in the future. 

It is that idea that Paul follows up with in v24. It is not wishful thinking, it is a certainty. Someday the suffering will be over and God’s children will be “glorified with” Christ (Rom. 8:17, RSV).  

We wait patiently for a completed salvation (v17) for an end of suffering (v23), for an end of bondage and decay (v21), for the birth of the new world (v22), and for the hope that we haven’t yet seen (v25), we are waiting patiently for the advent of our Lord in the clouds of heaven. Christians know that they have a hope worth waiting for! 

Interestingly the word for patience also appears in Revelation 14:12, which is then followed by John’s picture of the Second Advent harvest. This verse tells us that God will have a people who are patiently waiting for Him to come. Several translations use the word ‘perseverance’ instead of patience. This may be a better translation in view of the fact that both passages are talking about suffering. The Greek word that Paul uses denotes positive and aggressive endurance more than it does quiet acceptance. It is the word employed to picture the attitude of a soldier who in the midst of battle does not pull back but fights on in spite of outward difficulties. Hope is the goal the hope hunters eagerly wait for. Do I have that same blessed hope?