The Promises of God

"...But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

The Bible is full of the promises of God to provide for and take care of His people. Some estimates have put the number of promises in the neighborhood of 3,000 or more. Regardless, God's promises are what bring Christians hope and stability in times of trouble. As one Christian author puts it, "From Genesis to Revelation we read of normal people that received the promises of God. These promises are sealed by the highest authority, God's word. In Hebrews 6:13 it says, "For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself."
When God makes a promise to his people, it will come to pass. What is a promise? A promise is a covenant or declaration that one will do exactly what they say or something will happen just as pledged." A promise is only as good as the one who makes it. Unfortunately, when we as humans make promises to each other there is always a risk associated with that promise because we are flawed human beings. There is not a person alive who hasn't had a promise broken or who hasn't broken a promise they have made to someone. How many times have you even made a promise knowing you were going to break it? You only made the promise to put off the consequences of telling somebody "No" when they asked you for something. These personal experiences have conditioned us to superimpose our experiences onto God and His promises. After all, what are some of the promises of God that we are most familiar with from the Bible? There is Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Then there is Malachi 3:10 that reads, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."" Lastly, we have 2 Chronicles 7:14 where God promises that "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Now, we could go into whether or not these promises were made to Christians or if we can meet the conditions these promises hinged on in order for God to fulfill them. Regardless, they are promises God has made and many Christians claim to find hope and comfort in them. However, if we are honest, many of these same people do not experience the realization of these promises in their life. Despite holding on to these promises, their lives don't seem to resemble what God has promised. They are suffering and struggling through life and are not sure what to believe.

If this is your experience, there is hope for you. God has promised many things in the Bible. However, there are some promises that we often skip over or ignore completely because they are not the kind of promises that we want to cling to or trust God for in our lives. Promises like 1 Peter 4:12-13 that says, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."  Then there is this reminder from Paul in Philippians 1:29. "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him." Lastly, there are the words of Jesus Christ who said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33)." The broken promises we experience often lead to our suffering. If they do not, suffering will find us soon enough from the world we live in. However, rather than look at our sufferings as evidence that God's promises are somehow not for us, let us look at them as proof that they are for us. God promised we would suffer whether because of our faith as a Christian or simply from living in a fallen, sinful world. What did Jesus say about these times? He said for us to have peace in the midst of them because He has overcome the world. "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:5)." It is because of your faith in Jesus Christ that you have overcome the world because He has overcome the world through His death and resurrection. Therefore, when you experience suffering do not get down on yourself as if it is a sign of your failure in the eyes of God and that His promises are not for you. Look at it as an opportunity to discover more about your God and who you are in Him because His promises have come true in your life. As was said earlier, a promise is only as good as the one making it. When we rest in the promises of God never lose sight of the God who made those promises. He is the ultimate promise we have had fulfilled through our faith. While it is great to experience the positive promises of God instead of the ones pertaining to suffering, the one constant is our God. He is the one that promised, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)." It doesn't matter what promises of God you are experiencing, what matters is that the God who made those promises has given Himself to you through your faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sinning After Salvation

"All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." John 6:37-40

"If you keep sinning after you've been saved are you still saved? Jesus promises in John 6:37-40 to not lose one single believer but do believers continue to sin after they've been saved? Like, for example, say you're caught in the same set of sins are you still saved? Even if you cannot stop doing those same sins over and over again? Like, say you like to use Christ's name in vain a lot or if you swear a lot or if you're stuck in one particular sin is that person still given to Jesus by God the Father and eternally secure?" This is the opening comment on a public, Christian, forum by someone who believes that a person can lose their salvation. One thing I have noticed is how people will often quote scriptures that answer the questions they are asking but choose to ignore the answer or are just blind to the answer sitting in plain sight. The commenter quotes John 6:37-40 as their proof text to ask their question. The passage clearly shows Jesus saying, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away." If that is not enough Jesus continues on by saying, "I shall lose none of all those he has given me." For good measure, Jesus concludes that everyone who believes in Him, "shall have eternal life." This should be the end of the story, right? Wrong. The commenter clearly doesn't understand the implications of the death of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, why ask if believers continue to sin after being saved? Obviously, Christians still sin after being saved. We will continue to sin until the day we die and leave this earth. Granted, as one grows in their understanding of the Lord and who they are through faith in Jesus Christ, sin should diminish in their life, but this is only as a byproduct of trusting in and depending on God. But, a person will never get to that point if they don't first settle the sin issue in their mind. There are multiple scriptures that clearly state the sin issue is over between God and man. A few are 2 Corinthians 5:19, which states, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them." Hebrews 10:17 reads, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." Romans 4:8 says, "Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them." In just three verses what does God's word say about our sins? That God is "not counting" them against us, that He remembers our sin "no more," and that He will "never count" them against us. Therefore, we have New Covenant proof confirming the promise Jesus made in the Gospel of John. Jesus never drives us away, doesn't lose any of us, and says we have eternal life because God is no longer remembering our sins and is not counting them against us. Therefore, if we keep on sinning after we are saved, we are still saved because there is no sin being held against us that would cause us to lose eternal life.

Unfortunately, it is simple to see this truth, but not easy for others to believe it. There are some who assume that because people are still sinning then they must not be saved because to them only "true" Christians do not sin. This makes me wonder if they believe they are not sinning? But, I digress. What they will often bring up to support this idea is Hebrews 10:26-27. There we read, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." What happens is that they see phrases like "deliberately keep on sinning," "expectation of judgment," and "consume the enemies of God," and falsely attribute these statements to Christians who sin, or more specifically, continue to engage in a specific sin. When, in fact, these statements are pointing directly at the ones making the accusation. Earlier in Hebrews 10, it says, "But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool ... And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary (Hebrews 10:12-13, 18)." The deliberate sin mentioned in Hebrews 10:26 is those who do not believe that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was once and for all. It is not talking about those who still sin, but those who still believe sin separates us from God. Furthermore, for those who don't believe the sin issue is over they are the ones who must perform sacrifices for sin that God does not require or accept as sufficient. Therefore, they are, in essence, the enemies of God because they do not believe Him! Just to be clear, this does not mean that sin is okay or that God is somehow encouraging us to sin. What it means is that if someone is trapped in sin, God remains faithful to them. But, we need to go to that person and ask them "Why" are they committing a particular sin? It is deeper than just sin is wrong, but that there is something missing in a person's understanding of their relationship with God that must be addressed. Forgiveness allows a person to approach God and for Him to approach them without their sin separating the two. That allows all parties involved to get to the root cause of the problem. The problem between God and man is not that man is a sinner in need of forgiveness, but that man is spiritually dead and in need of the life of God being restored to them.  A born again Christian has had the life of God restored to them and will never lose it because there is no unforgiven sin that will cause God to remove His life. While we still sin, the forgiveness we have is the driving force behind God staying faithful to us, continuing to love us, never leaving us, never forsaking us, not separating from us, not driving us away, not losing us, and, definitely, not taking our salvation (His indwelling life) away from us!