Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory! God has a glory, but a Christian can also have glory. What is the glory for a child of God? We have the hope of glory. Do we hope that we are saved? You should know that you are saved! The Bible flat-out states in no uncertain terms that you can know that you are saved and that it's irrevocable in Acts 16:31. But, the hope of glory has to do with the hope of ruling and reigning in the coming Kingdom. It’s the hope of ruling in the millennial age! We need to be seeking first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness!
Vol. 4: Analytical lexicon of the Greek New Testament, from Baker's Greek New Testament library, by Friberg, Friberg, and Miller, Louw and Nida’s Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (Vol. 1, Page 295), from the United Bible societies, Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, Moulton’s Analytical Greek Lexicon, The Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament by Greene, and the Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich’s A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (also known as the BDAG for short), all of which are considered standards in the field of Greek Lexicons, define the verb form as “to look forward to something, with implication of confidence about something coming to pass, to hope, or to hope for; to look forward to something in view of the measures one takes to ensure fulfillment; expect”. The noun form is defined as, “the looking forward to something with some reason for confidence respecting fulfillment, hope, expectation, that which is the basis for hoping, foundation of hope, that for which one hopes, something hoped for”. (These definitions are actually from the BDAG, which is the best Greek lexicon but is quite expensive, but all the definitions are along these lines; I have the full list quoted above, if you want them later.)
Hope means to look forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial; to hope, to hope for, hope. Some examples can be found in Luke 24:21, which says, “and we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to redeem Israel”; 1 Timothy 4:10, which says, “because we have placed our hope in the living God”; Acts 23:6 in which Paul says, “I am on trial (here) because I hope that the dead will rise to life”; Romans 15:4: “in order that through patience and encouragement given by the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Hope means to expect, with the implication of some benefit; to expect, to hope. In Luke 6:34-35, we find "And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again." An example using “that which is hoped for” can be found in Romans 8:24, which says, “when what is hoped for is seen, there is no longer any need to hope”. The word can be used to reference that which constitutes the cause or reason for hoping; the basis for hope, the reason for hope. 1 Thessalonians 2:19 says, “for who is the basis for our hope or joy?” This expression in 1 Thessalonians 2.19 may be rendered as, “for who is the one who causes us to hope and to have joy [to be happy]?”
Something that you hope for is by no means certain, but we are told explicitly that our salvation is certain, no matter what, if we believe on the Lord Jesus. Our hope is that of receiving rewards and honor and glory and praise on that great and dreadful day, which is by no means certain. That's what we are working for, not our salvation, and That's what our hope is.
If you only hope you're saved, based on whether you've been faithful enough, you're depending upon yourself for your salvation. If you have to overcome and endure to the end to be saved, then his work on the cross was not enough; he needs a little help.
We can know we are saved, but we can only hope for glory.
