Searching for Hope Amplified [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven Colossians 1:3-10 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you. for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] love which you have for all the saints (God's people); because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] which has come to you. indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God's power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it]. You learned it from [our representative] Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf and he also has told us of your love [well-grounded and nurtured] in the [Holy] Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking [specifically] that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [with insight into His purposes], and in understanding [of spiritual things], so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts]; Such hope [in God's promises] never disappoints us Romans 4:9-18 Is this blessing only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say, "FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." How then was it credited [to him]? Was it after he had been circumcised, or before? Not after, but while [he was] uncircumcised. He received the sign of circumcision, a seal or conformation of the righteousness which he had by faith while [he was still] uncircumcised--this was so that he would be the [spiritual] father of all who believe without being circumcised--so that righteousness would be credited to them, and [that he would be] the [spiritual] father of those circumcised who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had before he was circumcised. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through [observing the requirements of] the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. If those who are [followers] of the Law are [the true] heirs [of Abraham], then faith [lending to salvation] is of no effect and void, and the promise [of God] is nullified. For the Law results in [God's] wrath [against sin], but where there is no law, there is no violation [of it either]. Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham] -- not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all-- (as it is written [in Scripture], "I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS") in the sight of Him in whom he believed, that is, God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised [by God]; "SO [numberless] SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE." Romans 4:23-25 Now not for his sake alone was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also--to whom righteousness will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead-- who was betrayed and crucified because of our sins, and was raised [from the dead] because of our justification [our acquittal--absolving us of all sin before God].