I Hope, I Think, I Know

Three little words that tell you where you stand

Listen carefully to how Christians talk about their faith and you'll hear one of three little phrases: "I hope," "I think," or "I know." Ask someone if they're saved and they say, "Well, I hope so." Ask what the Bible teaches on a matter and they say, "I think it says something like…" Ask another what God has called them to do in the church, and they answer without a flicker of doubt, "I know." Those three words aren't just turns of phrase. They're a map. They tell you where a believer is standing in his walk, how well he knows the Word of God, and whether he has the drive to fulfil his calling in the body of Christ. And here's the good news: nobody has to stay where they started. God never meant His children to live on "I hope." He meant us to grow, step by step, until we can say with Paul, "I know."

I hope — standing on uncertain ground

Let's be clear about one thing first. Bible hope is no weak thing. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast [Hebrews 6:19 KJV]. That hope is a sure expectation built on what God has promised. But that isn't what most people mean when they say "I hope." They mean the same thing they mean about the weather or the football — "it'll be alright in the end." It's a guess with its fingers crossed. And a great many sincere believers live right there. They hope they're saved. They hope God hears them when they pray. They hope they're in the right place, doing the right thing. Sunday comes and goes, and they go home no more certain than when they arrived.

What does that do to a walk? It makes it unsteady. James puts it plainly: For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed [James 1:6 KJV], and A double minded man is unstable in all his ways [James 1:8 KJV]. You can't build a life on a wave. You can't serve with confidence when you're not even sure you belong. That's why so many churchgoers feel lost in the very churches they attend. Nobody ever showed them they were meant to move on.

I think — the mind being renewed

The second stage is a good stage. Something has started to change. The believer has picked up the Bible for himself, and the questions have begun. "I think this is what it means… I think this is where God wants me." There's still doubt here, still second-guessing, but there's movement — and movement is life. This is where the renewing of the mind happens: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God [Romans 12:2 KJV]. Notice that word prove. God doesn't want you guessing at His will. He wants you to prove it — to test it, to see it, to know it.

How does "I think" become "I know"? There's no shortcut. It comes through the Word, and only the Word. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God [Romans 10:17 KJV]. The Bereans didn't take anyone's word for it; they searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so [Acts 17:11 KJV]. That's the work in front of every believer standing at "I think." Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth [2 Timothy 2:15 KJV]. Read it. Study it. Rightly divide it. Learn what's written to you as a son of God under the Headship of Jesus Christ, and what's written for your learning. Thinking is where the work is done. But it was never meant to be where you stop.

I know — settled, steady and sent

Now listen to the language of the New Testament. It's full of "we know." John wrote his first letter for this very reason: These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life [1 John 5:13 KJV]. Not hope. Not think. Know. And Paul, sitting in chains near the end of his race, wrote, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day [2 Timothy 1:12 KJV]. That's a man who left guesswork behind a long time before.

When a believer comes to know, everything changes. The walk steadies, because his feet are on the Rock rather than on a feeling. Life steadies, because the storms no longer decide what he believes. And — this is the part so often missed — the drive comes. Knowing is what gets you out of the pew and into your place in the body of Christ. Paul ties it together: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord [1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV]. Did you see it? They abound in the work because they know. A Christian stuck at "I hope" waits to feel sure before he serves. A Christian who knows gets on with it. He knows who he is in Christ, he knows what's been given to him, and he knows the church needs what God has put in his hands.

That's walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God [Colossians 1:10 KJV]. So where are you standing today? Hope, think, or know? Wherever it is, don't stay there. Open the Word, and keep walking until "I hope" becomes "I know."

Key Takeaways:

• Your words show where you stand — hope, think or know — and a double minded man is unstable in all his ways — [James 1:8 KJV]
• Bible hope is a sure anchor, not a guess with its fingers crossed — [Hebrews 6:19 KJV]
• Thinking is the mind being renewed, so that you may prove God's will — not the place to stop — [Romans 12:2 KJV]
• Faith grows through the Word, searched daily and rightly divided — [Romans 10:17 KJV], [Acts 17:11 KJV], [2 Timothy 2:15 KJV]
• God wants you to know you have eternal life, not guess — [1 John 5:13 KJV]
• Knowing settles a man in Whom he has believed, whatever the circumstances — [2 Timothy 1:12 KJV]
• Knowing gives the drive to serve in the body of Christ — [1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV]

Where to go from here:

Read 2 Timothy 1:1-14 slowly this week and mark every place Paul speaks with certainty. Then take one "I hope" from your own walk to the Word, and stay with it until it becomes "I know." Start small and start today.

📽️ Watch this teaching 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5SJW8NXcA8&list=PLhtPbQ4aPQH5L9BycdIkD1Cmh288M1oaK&index

🧭 Start Here — Who We Are in Christ! — the teachings to read first 👉 https://back-to-basics-christian-living.ghost.io/start-here/

🎥 The playlist to watch alongside them 👉 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEPKdqB9RuLI

➡️ Next — Friday: Part 1 — Repentance — The Word That Empties Pews

Begin there — who we are in Christ, in order. Then, Monday to Thursday, each day has its own job: Monday, Something to Think About? — a question for the church and for us in it; Tuesday and Thursday, Messages from the Outpost — house fellowship teaching round the table; Wednesday, Write this Down — one truth to keep for the walk. Fridays bring a series, at present The Unpreached Bible, and one email on Sunday, The Christian Compass, closes the week and opens the next.

🙏 Write and tell us what God has done 👉 backtobasicschristianliving@gmail.com, and let us know if we're free to share it in The Christian Compass on Sundays, to encourage someone else. And if this helped you, send it to one person who needs it this week.

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