Albert Barnes Commentary Romans 8:24

"For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?" — Romans 8:24 (ASV)

For we are saved by hope. It cannot be said that hope is the instrument or condition of salvation. Most commentators have understood this as meaning that we have until now attained salvation only in hope; that we have arrived only at a condition in which we hope for future glory; and that we are in an attitude of waiting for the future state of adoption.

But perhaps the word saved may mean here simply that we are kept, preserved, sustained in our trials by hope. Our trials are so great that nothing but the prospect of future deliverance would uphold us, and this prospect is sufficient to enable us to bear them with patience. This is the proper meaning of the word save, and it is often used in this way in the New Testament (Matthew 16:25; Mark 3:4; Mark 8:3, 5).

The Syriac renders this, "For by hope we live." The Arabic, "We are preserved by hope." Hope in this way sustains the soul in the midst of trials and enables it to bear them without a murmur.

But hope that is seen. Hope is a complex emotion, made up of an earnest desire and an expectation of obtaining an object. It refers, therefore, to that which is at present unseen. But when the object is seen and is in our possession, it cannot be said to be an object of hope. The word hope here means the object of hope, the thing hoped for.

What a man seeth. The word seeth is used here in the sense of possessing or enjoying. What a man already possesses, he cannot be said to hope for.

Why. How. What a man actually possesses, how can he look forward to it with anticipation?