How the Word Hope is Used

You've heard of people "making something out of nothing," but have you ever heard of someone making "nothing out of something." Probably not. But it happens--even in Christian churches and even with something as precious as the Hope of the Kingdom of God.

John Piper is a fervent and eloquent Evangelical teacher based in Minnesota, USA. I met him face-to-face in 1998, and have listened to his messages online dozens of times—but on the question of the Christian Hope, he’s greatly mistaken. Let’s see if you can tell how he's mistaken. It's ever so subtle.

In an article I found on his website, he writes:

What's the difference between a Christian definition of hope and the way it is usually used?

The word "hope" in ordinary English vocabulary is generally distinguished from certainty. We would say, "I don't know what's going to happen, but I hope it happens."

When you read the word "hope" in the Bible (like in 1 Peter 1:13—"set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ"), hope is not wishful thinking. It's not "I don't know if it's going to happen, but I hope it happens." That's absolutely not what is meant by Christian hope.

Christian hope is when God has promised that something is going to happen and you put your trust in that promise. Christian hope is a confidence that something will come to pass because God has promised it will come to pass.

I found another one of Piper’s teachings on hope at this webpage (you can click) in 2017. It remains posted there now, in October 2024. It says:

… the most important feature of biblical hope is not present in any of these ordinary uses of the word hope. In fact the distinctive meaning of hope in Scripture is almost the opposite of our ordinary usage.

John Piper is not speaking as Biblically as he thinks he is. Why do we quote him, then? Because he expresses very concisely the common Evangelical interpretation of the doctrine of hope when he says “Christian hope is a confidence that something will come to pass because God has promised it will come to pass.”

You will hear this selfsame definition from multiple other Evangelical sources. I still remember the day at seminary when I heard a professor express this very thought. The problem is that it makes nothing out of something. It diminishes the Hope we have in the Gospel, the One Hope of the Kingdom.

Vagueness and Ambiguity

Now, to the Scriptures!

To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because they have no dawn (Isaiah 8:20; NASB).

Paul does not present the One Hope of Ephesians 3 the way the World speaks of hope—Mr. Piper is right about that—but Paul didn’t present hope the way the modern Evangelical Church does either! Paul made a lot out of that "something." Paul preached the Hope with crystal clarity.

Paul presents the Hope, as John Piper says, as something “God has promised will come to pass”—yes. However, Paul (unlike John Piper and most Evangelical pastors) is abundantly clear in his writing as to what is going to pass! Paul explicitly says what is coming: the Kingdom.

… the Lord himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the Dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Yes, Paul is talking about the Kingdom that will begin when Christ raptures us to the clouds. When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, that will be the start of Kingdom life for us!

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in Heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the World has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever’ (Revelation 11:15).

Since he’s so well-known and well-spoken, we highlight Mr. Piper’s definition of hope as an example of the very common Evangelical error of vagueness and ambiguity. Mr. Piper is guilty of making things “as clear as mud.”

What It Is Not vs. What It Is

You’ll observe that Mr. Piper’s definition of hope consists of two main points:

• The hope of the Bible is “absolutely not” wishful thinking.

• The hope of the Bible is “a confidence that something will come to pass because God has promised it will come to pass.”

John Piper presents himself as a pastor who actively confronts error in the Church—and we need more men like that—but he fails to confront the greatest error surrounding the Christian Hope: the fact that it’s not preached!

Read his two statements very closely and you’ll see that Mr. Piper tells us what hope is not, but he does not tell us what it is! Like many of his pastor-colleagues, he does not reveal the truth, he only exposes a lie. That's simply not enough for a preacher of the Gospel. It's insufficient.

Again and again, Bible teachers such as John Piper miss golden opportunities to proclaim the Kingdom Hope. He’s been in the ministry since 1974, and is still going strong +50 years later. But even after innumerable sermons, books, blogs, and videos, John Piper still has never gotten around to proclaiming the Kingdom.

John Piper’s ministry style is all-too-familiar. He represents the popular trend among Evangelical pastors. We refuse to be part of such a trend. We declare the Kingdom of God as the One Hope. The return of Jesus in the clouds in particular is the Blessed Hope.

… the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the Blessed Hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:10-13).

Hope Can Mean Wishful Thinking

Now consider something else: In spite of Mr. Piper’s confident assertion, the Bible does indeed use the word hope in the sense of wishful thinking. And if the Bible uses hope to refer to “something not certain but desired,” why can’t Christians use it that way? The apostles used it that way quite often.

As proof, we invite you to scan through some of the 21 New Testament passages below. You don't need to read each one of them, but if you do, you'll find that each passage demonstrates that the word hope can indeed mean wishful thinking. With these, you’ll see that John Piper is mistaken that the biblical use of the word hope refers only to the sure promises of God.

… if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back (Luke 6:34; NKJV).

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved (Acts 27:20).

I hope to see you while passing through [Rome] and to have you assist me on my journey there [Spain]... (Romans 15:24)

For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits (1 Corinthians 16:7).

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you (Philippians 2:19).

Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me (Philippians 2:23; NKJV).

These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly… (1 Timothy 3:14; NKJV)

At the same time also, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope [trust] that through your prayers I will be restored to you (Philemon 1:22; LEB).

I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face… (2 John 1:12)

… I hope to see you right away, and to speak face to face (3 John 1:14; LEB).

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort (2 Corinthians 1:7).

I hope that,  as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us (just as we will boast of you) in the day of the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:13-14).

What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience (2 Corinthians 5:11).

… not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God (2 Corinthians 8:5; NKJV).

Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand (2 Corinthians 10:15).

And I hope [trust] that you will recognize that we are not unqualified (2 Corinthians 13:6)!

I eagerly expect and hope [trust] that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death (Philippians 1:20).

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort (Luke 23:8).

When her [the slave girl prophetess] owners realized that their hope of making money was gone… (Acts 16:19)

Meanwhile he [Felix, the governor] also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him (Acts 24:26; NKJV). 

… the one who plows ought to plow in hope and the one who threshes ought to do so in hope of a share (1 Corinthians 9:10; LEB).

What is that Something?

We’ve just proven that John Piper (and many Evangelicals who side with him) are mistaken when they say that the biblical use of the word hope is exclusively the sure promises of God. It's used for many other kinds of hope.

But there is a special Hope, the One Hope, the Blessed Hope. That's one use of the word hope you need to be clear on. It refers to the coming of Jesus in glory to initiate our Kingdom life.

The biggest error with the Evangelical interpretation of hope is much worse than saying that the Biblical word hope is only for the promises of God. It's that Evangelical pastors make no mention of the Kingdom of God when they define the Biblical expression the Hope.

They do not make it clear that the fundamental promise of God is the Kingdom!

For example, John Piper vaguely states that the Christian hope is summed up like this: “God has promised that something is going to happen.” Well, here’s a question for Pastor Piper: What is that something? Will he not do his congregation and those who listen to him the favor of defining the Christian Hope?

We’ve already said it, and we’ll repeat it again: The One Hope is the Kingdom of God, the World to Come, the Government of Christ on Earth. How is it that such an intelligent pastor, one who dedicates his life to teaching the Scriptures, could be incapable of stating this?

How is it that John Piper (and the majority of Evangelical pastors with him) should come so short of saying outright what the Christian Hope is? Have they not heard that the Good News is the Good News of the Kingdom?

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness (Matthew 9:35).

… when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women (Acts 8:12).

… he [Paul] stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance (Acts 28:30-31; LEB).

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the Good News of the Kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it (Luke 16:16).

Our conclusion is this: Today’s pastors are tragically deficient in their proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom. How can they not say anything about everything? How can they say nothing about something—something this central and this great?

We've all seen people make “something out of nothing”--and we've put up with them. But it's an abomination for preachers to make nothing out of something--something as great as the One Hope of the Kingdom of God.