Dear friend,

I hope you read this.

I can’t be sure you will read it but I hope so. I’m using the word "hope" to convey a desire I have but am uncertain will be fulfilled. In the same way, I also hope for a balmy winter and for the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup this year!

Unfortunately, this is the type of hope some believers have about their salvation, the return of Christ, and going to heaven. Their hope is a kind of wishful thinking–they hope it’s true and hope it’ll happen. For other believers, their hope isn’t sure at all because they think they can lose their salvation.

I’ve got good news. When the Bible speaks of the hope of salvation it is not hope in the sense of feeling like something you wanted or long for might happen as some sort of dream-come-true. Instead, the Greek word used conveys the thought of a confident or certain expectation. It’s guaranteed–a done deal. It’s a happy certainty.

This is the kind of certainty and assurance Scripture gives about salvation. The Bible doesn’t say, “He who has the Son has a chance for life” or “He who has the Son could have life.” It says, “He who has the Son has life” (1 John 5:12 NKJV, emphasis added). Because Jesus was resurrected bodily believers will be resurrected (Romans 8:18–25). It is not something we hope might happen. It is something that definitely will happen as sure as it happened to Jesus.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll and Insight for Living Canada teach the truth about the hope of our salvation. We teach that this hope is a happy certainty for all who place their faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. It is Bible teaching you can trust. And your support helps get that wonderful truth out to those who need to hear it.

I mentioned that there are believers whose hope is a sort of wishful thinking. If you thought that was sad, there are people who have no hope of any sort whatsoever. They live in hopelessness and despair because they have not heard of the sure hope found only in Jesus Christ.

Your continued financial gifts provide the opportunity for those folks to have the kind of hope the Bible speaks of. Will you make that a continued reality through your support this month?

In these days when so much in life is uncertain it is good to have sure knowledge and because of that a certain hope. Because God’s Word is true, we have certainty about salvation and heaven. You “…heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised…” (Ephesians 1:13–14).

A guaranteed inheritance! That is wonderful news we will continue to share because of your support and that of folks like you.

I conclude with one final encouraging assurance from God’s Word, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

It may not be God’s plan for us to have a balmy winter or the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup this year, but His plan for salvation through faith in His Son is a guarantee. And that is a hope worth supporting and sharing.

Confident in Christ,

Steve Johnson

Executive Director

PS Sending your financial gift today will help us continue sharing the sure hope of salvation with those who desperately need it.