The hope of God's calling.
It is impossible to appreciate the hope till we understand the true nature of the calling to which it is so beautifully attached.
I. THE CALLING IS THE EFFECTUAL CALL OF GOD BY THE SPIRIT.
1. It is posited securely between predestination on one side and justification on the other; for "whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified" (Romans 8:30).
2. It is a call to peace: "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body" (Colossians 3:15).
3. It is a call to blessing: "Knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing" (1 Peter 3:9). 4. It is a call to eternal glory: "The God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus" (1 Peter 5:10). It may, therefore, be well described as a high or heavenly calling (Philippians 3:14; Hebrews 3:1). New hope is lodged in the heart of this calling.
II. THE NATURE OF THE HOPE. It must be regarded both subjectively and objectively, that is, both as a hope allied to joy—" rejoicing in hope" (Romans 12:12), as "a living hope" (1 Peter 1:3), as a hope full of consolation (Hebrews 6:18), as a hope "that maketh not ashamed" (Romans 5:5), and as a hope connected with certain deep and strong foundations. These are described in the Epistle to the Hebrews—the Epistle of the better hope—as "the two immutable things," the oath and the promise of God, terminating or converging upon our great High Priest of the Melchisedec order, who is, by virtue of his atoning work, the real "Hope of glory" made known to sinners (Colossians 1:27). We cannot know this hope, either subjectively or objectively, without the aid of the Holy Spirit; and therefore the apostle prays," The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:13). The apostle, therefore, prays here that the Ephesian Christians may have an abounding assurance of their interest in Christ based on the best possible grounds.
1. Every believer is called to have an assurance of his personal interest in Christ. A whole Epistle has been written to help toward this assurance: "These things have I written to you that believe on the Name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).
2. It is implied that believers may not fully know "the hope of their calling." Yet they may still be true believers. Faith and assurance are not to be confounded. The hope in question is held by an anchor that cannot be dragged from its sure holding-ground (Hebrews 6:18, Hebrews 6:19).
"Hope of all passions most befriends us here;
Passions of prouder name befriend us less;
Joy has her tears and Transport has her death.
Hope like a cordial, innocent, though strong,
Man's heart at once inspirits and serenes."
—T.C.