Faith And Hope: What Is The Difference?

Faith and hope are related and share a great affinity. They cannot be separated from each other. There is, however, a difference between them – let’s take a closer look.

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Faith is complete trust or confidence in something, and it involves intellectual assent to certain facts and trust in those facts. Having faith, for instance, is believing in Jesus Christ and completely trusting Him for eternal destiny. Christians give intellectual assent to the facts of Christ’s death and resurrection and then trust in His death and resurrection for their salvation. 

Hope, on the other hand, is built on faith – it is the earnest anticipation that comes with the belief in something good. It stems from faith as it confidently expects something, and it is calm in the assurance that something that has not happened yet will happen. According to Romans 8:24, “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” 

If faith is confidence or trust in something, hope is an optimistic attitude of mind based on that expectation or a certain desire. Faith says it is so now, while hope says in the future it could – or will – happen. The two are complementary, with faith being grounded in the reality of the past and hope looking to the reality of the future. Christians are deemed people of both faith and hope. 

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Ron Hindt is a Senior Pastor at Calvary Houston. From a small Bible study group, the church grew to a congregation of thousands focusing on contemporary worship and an expositional teaching of the Bible. For more on Pastor Ron, click here.

How to win others to God by becoming an effective witness

In Matthew 4:19, Jesus asked His disciples to "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." The New Testament is premised on the need to preach and spread the Word of God, encouraging Christians to pursue an evangelistic life. Even Jesus' last words, from the same book by Matthew, instructed us to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations."

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Being an effective witness for God begins by asking God to give you an evangelistic burden, to be given an opportunity to reach to them for Christ. Pray to God to win others, then make a prayer list and praying for them earnestly. Watch for these windows to share a word or two for Christ. And if the right opportunity doesn't come naturally, we must create such an opportunity for the Lord. Build bridges; when the Lord shows you those in need of Christ, seek to build a relationship with them. 

As you encounter more and more soul-searchers, display to them a consistent, Christian living. A Christian’s life is blessed with integrity and faith. Others must see in us this complete trust of God, that we apply to our own lives what we preach. While others are easy to hate and harbor grudges, the Christian witness is loving, honest, and forgiving. 

We cannot go about sharing by not learning the Gospel first and keeping it to heart. We should memorize the verses and practice saying them before we share the Good News. Finally, leave the results with God. Channel God’s love in sharing the Word and do your best, but allow him to take care of the rest. 

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Ron Hindt is the founder and Senior Pastor of Calvary Houston. He started the church in 1991 as a small home fellowship focused on contemporary worship and expositional teaching of the Bible. At present, the church serves thousands of people each week. For more on Calvary Houston, pay a visit to this webpage.