Hope maketh not ashamed

Ver. 5 And hope maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad 

in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which Is given unto us. 

Hope maketh not ashamed. This may import, either that hope will not 
be disappointed, or that hope will not allow us to be ashamed of its 
object. Various passages speak of the believer as not being put to shame 
in the day of retribution ; and the expression here is generally interpreted 
to signify that hope will not be disappointed, but will receive the object 
of its anticipation. This is an important truth ; yet the Apostle may 
rather be understood as speaking of the usual effect of hope as exempli 
fied in the life of a Christian ; and that it is not the future effect of hope 
in believers, but its present effect, as it is the present effect of the other 
particulars mentioned, to which he refers. Besides, the primary significa 
tion of the word in the original is, not to disappoint, but to shame, put to 
shame, or make ashamed. Paul here evidently speaks of hope as a 
general principle, which, in every instance, and on all subjects, has this 
effect ascribed to it. It is its nature, with regard to everything which is 
its object, to destroy shame, and excite to an open avowal, and even 
glorying in it, though it may be a thing of which others may be 
ashamed, and which is ridiculed in the world. The experience of every 
Christian confirms this view. When is he inclined to be ashamed of the 
Gospel ? Not when his hopes are high, his faith unwavering, and his 
impressions of future glory strong. It is when His hopes fade and grow 
weak. Just in proportion as his hope is strong, will he make an open 
and a bold profession of the truth. Here, then, by a well-known figure, 
the assertion before us appears to import that, so far from being ashamed, 
believers glory and exult. Hope causes Christians, instead of being 
ashamed of Christ and His word (which without hope they would be), 
to glory and proclaim their prospects before the world, Gal. vi. 14; 
1 Pet. i. 6-8, v. 1 ; 1 John iii. 2. They glory in the cross of Christ 
through hope. This shows the great importance of keeping our hope 
unclouded. If we suffer it to flag or grow faint, we shall be ashamed of 
it before men, to which, from the enmity of the world against the Gospel, 
there is much temptation. Accordingly, our blessed Lord, who knew 
what was in man, has in the most solemn and awful manner warned 
His disciples against it ; and the Apostle Peter enjoins on believers to 
add to their faith virtue courage to profess it. 

Because. This casual particle may be understood to intimate the 
reason why hope makes not ashamed, or to give an additional reason 
why Christians are not ashamed. Agreeably to the latter interpreta 
tion, hope is one reason, and then another is subjoined ; and certainly 
the love of God is a strong reason to prevent us from being ashamed of 
the Gospel. Love of God. This phrase in itself is ambiguous, and, 
according to the connection or other circumstances, it may be under 
stood, in its different occurrences, to refer either to God s love to us, or 
to our love to God, two things which are entirely distinct. God s love 
to us is in Himself ; but the love He pours into our hearts may signify 
either a sense of His love to us, or, as Augustine explains it, our love to 
Him. The use of language admits of the first of these meanings, which 
appears to be the true one ; and it is certain that it contributes more to 
our consolation to have our minds fixed upon God s love to us, than upon 
our love to God ; while our hope does not depend on our love to God, 
but on our sense of His love to us. The connection, too, leads us to 
understand the phrase in the sense of God s love to us. 1 It connects 
with what follows, where the Apostle proceeds to prove God s love to His 
people from the wonderful manner in which, as is said in the 8th verse, 
He commendeth His love towards us in the way He has acted in the gift 
of His Son, notwithstanding our unworthiness and enmity against Him. 
In the same way it is said, John iii. 16, God so loved the world, that 
He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life. It coincides, too, with such 
declarations as, In this was manifested the love of God towards us, be 
cause that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might 
live through Him. We have known and believed the love of God to 

1 Some prefer explaining this expression, the love of God, as Gods love to us 
rather than our love to God, because, they observe, while our love is variable, and 
liable to fail, God s love is unchangeable. But as our love to God is produced and 
maintained in us by the Holy Spirit, and is the effect of Gods love to us, it can no 
more fail than Gods love to us.