All of God’s promises have conditions

The next thing to keep in mind is that all the promises in the Bible have preconditions for their fulfillment.

Do you want to find rest? Come to Christ.

Are you Joshua and do you want to conquer the land? Be strong, be courageous, and live the Word of God.

Do you want poisonous snakes not to affect you? Believe in Christ, but do not play with them because this promise also had its context.

Elijah was only sent to one widow. He could have tried to be more merciful and go house to house claiming the same miracle, but it was only going to take place in the house of that particular widow.

Only one widow, only on that occasion.

Because a promise from God is not a blank check for us to use whenever we want and for whatever we want. Or to put it another way, God’s power is so incredible that it cannot be used in any way or for any interest. It can only be used within God’s will and plan.

For God is not a servant on whom we impose our will. God is the Lord of the Universe, and of our lives.

If we want to count on his power and protection we must live according to his rules and within that plan.

All of God’s promises are personal

God promised David an everlasting kingship, yet right now, and for many centuries, there has been no king in Israel.

Moreover, David’s descendants thought they could do whatever they wanted because they had that promise, but already in the second generation their successors lost most of the kingdom and barely ruled over their part of the kingdom for a few hundred years more.

The promise of an everlasting kingdom was given by God to David, not to Rehoboam or any of his successors. Logically, it would seem that this promise implied that his descendants would retain power. But God has his ways.

He did not choose the royal dynastic line, but fulfilled it through another of his sons, one who, curiously enough, had the same name as the prophet who rebuked him for his sin against Uriah and Bathsheba: Nathan.

The promise of the eternal kingdom was for David, and for no one else. Therefore, pretending to appropriate a promise given by God to another person, without God having confirmed it to you, will have no effect.

Remember the promise to Joshua: “I have given you, as I said to Moses, every place…”. The promise was originally given to Moses, but God reconfirmed it to Joshua.

But if God has confirmed it to you, and you keep your part of the promise, have no fear, for though everything is against you, God will keep his word.

All of God’s promises are fulfilled

For all God’s promises are fulfilled. There is no power in the Universe that can prevent God from fulfilling a commitment made to someone.

He is the mighty giant who goes before opening His way for us, He is the one who opens and none closes, He is our healer and our defender.

However, this does not mean that everything will be hunky-dory and that nothing will go wrong, at least by human standards.

Let us remember that Elijah had to be in hiding for months, that David had to go into exile along with his men, and that all their families were kidnapped while they were covertly trying to defend Israel, or that Jesus was unjustly arrested, scourged and crucified.

And if we turn to Hebrews chapter 11 we will see that many others suffered and died and, apparently, their hope was not fulfilled. Even, as those in the mission field remind us, in recent years there have been, and are, more martyrs for the faith than there have been in previous generations.

Because for those who have no hope, the only promises that are worthwhile are those that happen here and now, but those who have their eyes fixed on Christ know that some may not be fulfilled here and now.

But there are some that will always be fulfilled:

• “No one shall snatch them out of my hand.”
• “I will be with you to the end.”
• “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
• “I go therefore to prepare a place for you.”
• “All of you are clean.”

And nothing and no one can prevent them from becoming a reality in our lives “if we are faithful to the end”.

Conclusion

Throughout our lives we will face many situations that we would like God to fix immediately. Therefore, it is human for us to search the Bible for promises that may fit our situation in order to claim them from God.

But let us remember that:

• Not all are generally applicable.
• Those that apply to your life will be fulfilled in God’s time.

Because everything God does, He does so that we can develop the plan He has prepared for each one of us.

A plan that will take us to the highest that no human being can aspire to: to one day be in his presence for all eternity.

Cover image by Ben White on Unsplash

La entrada God’s Promises: Introduction (and 2) se publicó primero en David Gómez.

But God has left us many more promises in the Bible, the question is whether all of them are for us, literally, or if they have another purpose.

Because there are Christians who appropriate all the promises, regardless of context or conditions, and start demanding their fulfillment from God.

And it makes me very sad.

Because they pretend to go through life wanting to succeed in everything they undertake, not to have the slightest incident and have all their adversaries disappear in the blink of an eye.

Para ello toman la Palabra de Dios y buscan versículos con promesas como las siguientes:

• I have delivered to you, as I said to Moses, every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread (Joshua 1:3).
• No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not leave you, nor forsake you (Joshua 1:5).
• Theangel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, And defends them (Psalm 34:7).
• No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you shall condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the inheritance of the servants of the LORD, and their salvation shall come from me, says the LORD (Isaiah 54:17).
• Noneof the diseases that I sent upon the Egyptians will I send upon you; for I am the LORD your healer (Exodus 15:26).

We could go on listing God’s promises in the Bible that speak to us about all these issues. Now, are all promises always binding on every believer? Well, yes and no.

All of God’s promises are within a context

The first thing to keep in mind is that all promises are in context. This means that some of these promises were specific to a particular time or person, while other promises may be general.

And we must not confuse them.

There are general promises, such as “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), which are applicable to all human beings at all times. It is an open-ended and unlimited promise.

But when God told Joshua that “I have delivered to you, as I said to Moses, every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon”, we are dealing with a promise for a specific time and place. It is inapplicable to any other time and place.

For this reason, it is useless to walk the streets and mountains demanding the fulfillment of this promise. And I have seen a lot of this, of course to no avail.

For if God does not reveal His express desire for these specific promises to come true for you, it simply will not be.

But if God promises something specific for you, or expresses the relevance of such a promise for our time and place, then it will happen.

Another much misused promise is also in this passage from Joshua:

• Only be strong and of good courage, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee; turn not aside from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:7-8).

According to the Jews themselves, if you were doing well in life, it was because you were fulfilling God’s law, and if you were doing badly, it was because you were a scoundrel. The same applies today to the misnamed prosperity theology.

According to this, as long as you are a “holy man” or a “holy woman” you can undertake any business or activity and you will be a successful businessman or businesswoman, even if you do not have the slightest idea of what you have in your hands.

But if economic success were proof of the spirituality of the believers, then Jesus was the most unworthy sinner, because he had nowhere to lay his head; when he organized an evangelistic campaign he did not even have enough to pay for the catering, and that he used a given perfume, instead of selling it to get cash, was seen by the treasurer as a waste.

No.

This promise, like others such as “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4), are promises with a context.

In Joshua’s case the promise referred to his calling to be Moses’ successor in the task of conquering the Promised Land. It had no other scope. In fact, some of the peace agreements he signed on his own were ruinous.

In the case of the Psalm, David is speaking for someone who is anxious to achieve economic prosperity, and admonishes him by telling him to be patient, to seek God’s will for his life, to walk within that will, to spend time in God’s presence.

And what happens when you live in God’s will? For your desires will not have a selfish or material content.

Can you imagine Peter, John and James on the mount of transfiguration, looking at Jesus, Moses and Elijah and thinking: “What a glorious moment! By the way Jesus, let’s see if you can help me negotiate with a supplier to get a better price”?

When you are delighting in God the material passes to second place and, in its place, you will seek the spiritual, what is good and necessary for the Gospel or for the brethren, you will seek to fulfill the will of God and, if you are faithful, God will make those desires be fulfilled.

To be continued… (see the second part)

Cover image by Eran Menashri

La entrada God’s Promises: Introduction (1) se publicó primero en David Gómez.