THAT WE MIGHT HAVE HOPE
Romans 15:4 NKJV
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.
The idea that we do not need the Old Testament is not well founded. Some would say we are under a new covenant in Christ, and that is correct. However, this does not mean we abandon the principles we find in the Old Testament. In 1 Corinthians 10:11, Paul writes that the things that happened in the Old Testament were for our instruction. The Old Testament gives us wonderful pictures of the nature and character of God. And the Old Testament gives us examples of Godly timeless principles that have not passed away. So, we do not abandon the Old Testament. We learn from it.
In today's verse, Paul writes that the things written before were for our learning. And there is something else that the Scriptures do for us, "...that we through the perseverance and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." There are a couple of ways we can look at this verse.
One way we can look at this verse is that we provide perseverance, and the Scriptures produce encouragement. One strong Bible translation, the New American Standard Bible, says, "...so that through perseverance and encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." I can certainly get on board with that version. Over and over in Scripture, we are directed to have and develop perseverance. Perseverance is endurance in dealing with things and circumstances. Often, the word is translated as patience, so we must dig a little to determine what the Holy Spirit says. There is patience and enduring with people, which is often translated as long-suffering. We need both and have the capacity for both. In his letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11, Paul instructs the young pastor to pursue perseverance. Peter speaks of adding and increasing in perseverance, so it's in our spiritual wheelhouse. So with perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we can have hope.
The other way to look at this verse is that the Scriptures produce perseverance and encouragement in us. By reading the stories of the men and women in the Old Testament, we are inspired by their perseverance and learn from their example. I can jump onto this wagon also. The Scriptures are inspired, and we get inspiration from reading about God's encounters with people who were just as we are. When we read of Joshua, Moses, Ruth, and David, we are inspired to not quit and encouraged to stay with the Lord and seek Him.
Either way we look at this verse, we wind up with hope. Hope being a confident, favorable expectation of good. Hope is much more than a wish. Hope is a powerful force that stems from our trust in God. So we read the Scriptures, and we learn. We learn, and we are inspired to persevere. We persevere, and we are encouraged by what we read. And from a strong, encouraged heart, we wind up with an expectation of good. We have hope.
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, for what is written in the Scriptures that we might have hope!