No More Faith, No More Hope

I look forward to the day when I no longer have faith or hope. One of my favorite Christian artists is Andrew Peterson. He is an immensely talented individual as a musician, song writer, and author. His tshoughts are deep but he writes in a very transparent manner. I was recently listening to some of his music and a song I had heard many times struck me in a new way. He was singing “No More Faith.” 

The lyrics, in part read:

“I say faith is a burden, it’s a weight to bear.

It’s brave and bittersweet.

And hope is hard to hold to.”

Unless you really listen to all of the lyrics, it is easy to dismiss this song in a negative manner. After all, what Christian would sing about “no more faith?” I recently wrote a blog, “Complete Understanding,” in which I posited that on this earth we long to understand everything completely, but that cannot happen. If we understand everything, there is no room in our lives for faith. We wouldn’t need it. 

But this is not a negative song. The remaining part of the chorus reads:

“Lord I believe, only help my unbelief.

Till there’s no more faith and no more hope,

I’ll see your face and Lord I’ll know

There’s no more faith, there’s no more hope.

I’ll sing your praise and let them go cause only love

Only Your love remains.”

His plea is a confession of weakness of the human condition, and being honest with God. I believe in Jesus Christ, but I have these lingering doubts. Help me see Your truth, give me the faith I need to carry on. 

But then comes the clincher. “Till there’s no more faith and no more hope.” No faith, no hope? 

‘When will this be Lord? I love you and want to follow you until my last days.” Faith and hope are human conditions. So faith is a burden we will shed when our time on earth is finished. It is a burden in that we don’t really get it all figured out. Hope is frequently something we cling to to help us make it through. We will no longer struggle to hold on to our hope. We have faith because we don’t have complete understanding. We have hope because we see a better world for us in eternity, but we don’t have it yet. When our earthly journey is completed and we stand before Almighty God, we have no need for faith. We have no need for hope. Our faith and hope have been fulfilled. 

This is what Paul was talking about in I Corinthians 13. Paul extols the virtues of love and concludes the chapter with these words (vv. 12-13 NASB) “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Here on earth we see God as a reflection in a dirty mirror. That is only temporary. One day we will see him face to face and we will have complete understanding. Our faith has been fulfilled. Our hope has been fulfilled. There is nothing more to hope for. That isn’t sad, it is glorious. 

Faith and hope will pass away when we see Jesus. Only love remains.