If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13
David Livingstone, the great pioneer missionary to Africa, used to often read and recite the promises of God. He used to declare that those promises were precious to him, because God, as a gentleman, has given His Word, and as a gentleman, He will keep His Word. While it is true that many of God’s promises are conditional, it is also true that many promises are unconditional. These are solid rocks on which you and I can base our faith and live out our devotion and service for our Lord.
Consider the following description from 1 Corinthians 3 of the Bima, the Judgment Seat of Christ: ‘Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire’. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15) This great and solemn scene marks the summing up of every Christian’s life, the final review and the final rewards. This is a very searching consideration as we realize that only what is done in faithful service to Christ will endure the testing by fire. These verses ought to instil in each of us a desire to be faithful. And yet, in all of this, we find a reminder that God’s faithfulness is not dependent on our faithfulness. Those words ‘but he himself shall be saved (verse 15)’ remind us that our salvation is based entirely on God’s provision and God’s promise. When we encounter times when we slip and stumble in our Christian experience – and we will all experience those times – we can point to this verse and joyfully declare that our salvation is securely bound up in God’s faithfulness to us. Rather than excusing our faithlessness, this ought to stir us on to thankfulness and joyful service.
Our salvation is not the only unconditional promise from God. He has also promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). And He has also promised to supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). One of the delights of studying the Word of God is uncovering these and many other precious promises of the faithfulness of God. And these are promises that are true for all Christians, whether they know about them or whether they believe them. For example, a friend of mine, a Christian who does not believe in the Rapture, will rise to meet the Lord in the air along with the rest of us in that thrilling event. But there are other promises, individual promises, that God has given us. In our personal experiences, during our times of meditation on His Word and prayer concerning certain situations, God has made plain to us what He will do for us. Because of this, we can live through trying experiences with confidence, knowing that God will keep His Word to us.
Don’t ever allow our poor impression of promises, coloured by our unfaithfulness, to tarnish our appreciation of God’s great promises. He is faithful. He cannot deny Himself. – Jim MacIntosh