Limitless Word
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Romans 8:24 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
  • BSB For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
  • NKJV For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
  • NASB For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
  • NLT We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

We were saved in hope, and hope by nature looks for what is not yet seen. Our salvation includes a future not yet possessed, embraced by faith.

Overview

Paul affirms that hope is integral to our salvation, directed toward a redemption not yet visible. By definition, hope concerns what is unseen, awaiting fulfillment. This patient, forward-looking hope sustains believers as they await the glory and bodily redemption already promised.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • 2 Cor 5:7(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
  • Heb 11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
  • 2 Cor 4:18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
  • 1 Pet 1:21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
  • Rom 12:12Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
  • 1 Th 5:8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
  • Rom 15:13Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
  • 1 Pet 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
  • Rom 5:2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
  • Heb 6:18–19That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
  • Col 1:27To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
  • Rom 15:4For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
  • Ps 146:5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
  • Ps 33:18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
  • Gal 5:5For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
  • Zech 9:12Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
  • 1 Jn 3:3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
  • Jer 17:7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
  • 2 Th 2:16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
  • 1 Cor 13:13And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
  • Ps 33:22Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
  • Col 1:23If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
  • Col 1:5For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
  • Titus 2:11–13For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
  • 1 Pet 1:10–11Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
  • Prov 14:32The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 8:24YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 8:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.