Good Hope
Among the many gifts given to those beloved by the Lord is the gift of “good hope.”
In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians he was giving thanks to God for the brothers because God had chosen them for salvation. They believed in the truth and they had the Spirit working sanctification in them. This is God’s calling, accomplished through the gospel, “so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 bibref2thessalonians2 bibref2thessalonians2v13 bibref2thessalonians2v14 bibref2thessalonians2v15). The end of the gospel is glory for all the brothers.
And as Paul moved into his first benediction of the letter, he built his blessing on an already given benefit. They had been given grace. In Ephesians we know that His grace makes us His workmanship of good works (Ephesians 2:10 bibrefephesians2 bibrefephesians2v10). Here, grace is the sphere of “eternal comfort and good hope.”
The Lord Jesus and God our Father “loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace” (2 Thessalonians 2:16 bibref2thessalonians2 bibref2thessalonians2v16). What is the good hope?
It’s the only place in his writings that Paul qualifies hope this way. He’s about ready to refer to “every good work and word.” But what motivates those goods are the good hope.
It’s not a bad hope (the opposite of good), or an anxious hope (the opposite of comfort), or an earned hope (the opposite of grace), or a temporary hope (the opposite of eternal). It’s not a man-made hope (the opposite of a given by Jesus and the Father).
You have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3 bibref1peter1 bibref1peter1v3). It is good and for your growth in the glory of Christ.