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?
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?
- KJV 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?
- 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?
- 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 5:7for we walk by faith, not by sight.
- Heb 11:1Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
- 2 Cor 4:18while we don’t look 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 through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
- Rom 12:12rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;
- 1 Th 5:8But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
- Rom 15:13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Pet 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- Rom 5:2through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
- Heb 6:18–19that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
- Col 1:27to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory;
- Rom 15:4For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
- Ps 146:5Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Yahweh, his God:
- Ps 33:18Behold, Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness;
- Gal 5:5For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.
- Zech 9:12Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.
- 1 Jn 3:3Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
- Jer 17:7“Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh.
- 2 Th 2:16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
- 1 Cor 13:13But now faith, hope, and love remain — these three. The greatest of these is love.
- Ps 33:22Let your loving kindness be on us, Yahweh, since we have hoped in you.
- Col 1:23if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
- Col 1:5because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News,
- Titus 2:11–13For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
- 1 Pet 1:10–11Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
- Prov 14:32The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.