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1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
First, notice that the "eternal trinity of virtues" is mentioned here: faith, hope, and love. Second, notice that the word endurance (translated in the King James as "patience") should be translated either as "endurance" or "perseverance." Third, the grammatical structure of the sentence in the Greek makes Jesus the object of our faith, hope, and love—not the promises. The Person of Christ is the object of our faith, hope, and love. In other words, our faith, our trust, is in Jesus. Our love is because of Him and toward Him, and we persevere in hope toward Him. All of these spiritual qualities exist in us and are profitable for us because of a Person. This is an important distinction. Our relationship is with a Being, not a book, not words on the page—a Person. We can have enduring hope, not only because of what He has done in the past when He died for our sins as our Savior, but because of what He is doing in the present as our High Priest—and what He will do in the future because of His promises and His character.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Perseverance and Hope
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