the focus of all waiting

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

Galatians 5:5

The hope the apostle Paul is waiting for in this passage is a gospel hope. It is a future experience of complete righteousness found only in Christ. We “eagerly wait” for this hope as Christians with him. What could he possibly mean? What is this hope for which we must eagerly wait?

Paul has been addressing the awful false gospel of legalistic religious “salvation” which the Galatian church had drifted towards. They had begun with “Christ alone” but had been led astray into a false gospel that taught “Christ” + “good works” + “keeping the Law” = salvation. This sort of heretical equation places hope on human efforts. It misses grace altogether. In fact, Paul says it leads people to “fall” from grace (Galatians 5:4). And when you lose grace, you lose the righteousness of Christ. When Christ’s righteous work is not the saving power, you lose the future hope because you are leaning on a righteousness that your sinful self can never achieve. Legalism is powerless to save. All true hope is found solely in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

We can wait for many things in life: God’s provision of a job for our needs… Our kids to grow up well and successful… a relationship of love and mutual nurture with a life partner… contentment in service to Jesus in a church of loving people. All of those, though very important things, are not the main hope for which our focused waiting is directed. As a Christian, my eager hope, the focus of all for which I wait, the future that I must anticipate… all of those are only fulfilled in the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ my Lord!  Jesus is my hope. I wait for His will and work. I wait for His return. I wait for my redemption to be complete in Him for eternity. I wait for Him to set this world right in His kingdom as He presently aligns my heart to His priorities, and as His future reign reorders a new heavens and a new earth… the home of righteousness.