Elpis

Romans 15:4
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

I think the Bible is under-understood by people. Oh sure, it’s a great history of Israel and is full of stories of God’s miracles as He rescued His people from oppression time and time again. Oh yes, it’s full of tales of valiant men who defeated foes with little more than slings and stones; pitchers and trumpets. Oh, it’s full of lessons about morality, finances, marriage, and parenting. But it’s so much more.

I love the Bible, but not just because it’s full of these stories and not just because it’s full of practical life lessons. I don’t love the Bible because it dictates to me how to live my life, or how to be a good person. No, I love the Bible because it’s full of Jesus. Everyday I open it up I gather a deeper understanding of who my (“claimin’ it”) Savior is and how He feels about me. The same opportunities are there for everyone who opens its pages.

I’m not implying that life lessons from the Bible aren’t useful; what I am suggesting is that we are to be learning much more from our Bibles than how to manage money, improve our marriage, or raise our kids. Here Paul tells us that the Bible was written for our learning that we might have hope. Hope isn’t some blind desire for happiness, as the world would have us think (“I hope I win the lottery!” “I hope I don’t fail this test!”). It is a root to nourish our faith. The word ‘hope’ in the Greek text is ‘elpis’ (pronounced el-peez’), meaning a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.

This ‘hope’ only comes “...through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures...”. It’s only through the Word of God that we have can have hope. So what is the “patience and comfort of the Scriptures”? It’s Jesus Christ. When Christ is drawn out of the Scriptures we have hope. When practical lessons are drawn out of the scriptures we have a to-do list. When Jesus is drawn out of the scriptures we have an it’s-done list. Healing, forgiveness, blessings, honor, righteousness, and peace were all imparted to us through the grace of God by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Jesus is patient, that though we continue to sin (even as devout believers), He still loves us. There’s comfort in knowing that, through His blood, God no longer sees our sins, but only Christ’s righteousness covering us. So let’s start teaching Jesus from all the scriptures. Let’s find Him in Deuteronomy. Let’s seek Him out in 2 Chronicles. He’s not just in the Gospels; He’s all over the Bible! It’s not the fix-it lessons that bring us hope. It’s the Jesus lessons and the understanding of who He is that give us a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.