Thought for Thursday
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:4
When I was a youngster, we used to sing a Sunday School chorus that went something like this: ‘Every promise of the Book is mine, Every chapter, every verse, every line, All the blessings of His love divine, Every promise of the Book is mine.’ It’s a lovely chorus, but it has one major problem: it’s not correct. It is true that the Bible is full of exceeding rich and precious promises, as our text declares. But not all of those promises apply to us. There are three basic types of promises in the Scriptures: promises made to Israel, unconditional promises made to Christians, and conditional promises made to Christians. The promises to Israel are interesting, sometimes fascinating, but often have little real relevance to you and me. But the promises made to Christians are far more wonderful and fulfilling than we are able to grasp today. But they are well worth considering.
There are some folks who claim to be saved, but who worry about losing their salvation. These folks don’t know that salvation is an unconditional promise of God. Everlasting life is everlasting, regardless of anything that we could ever do or say. Our home in Heaven for eternity is secured the moment we trust Christ as Saviour (John 14:2-3), and that guarantee can never be broken. Neither can many other guarantees that God has given to His people. The presence of the Holy Spirit within us is never withdrawn, nor is the promise of the Lord Jesus that He will never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We also have this precious guarantee of divine preservation: ‘He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways’ (Psalm 91:11). We ought to be excited today at the wealth of unconditional promises that are ours. But when we consider the conditional promises that God offers, we get a glimpse at the real potential that we have for accessing the blessings of God.
Conditional promises are those that our Lord has for Christians who live up to their side of the deal. For example, consider this promise from Psalm 55:22: ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.’ If we learn to cast our cares on the Lord, we have His guarantee of sustaining us. If we insist on carrying our cares ourselves, we miss out on the blessing of being unburdened and free of those cares. Search the Book and find an unending list of such promises, including the power and direction to succeed if we venture forth in service for the Lord. There are promises of comfort if we seek it in in the Lord, promises of spiritual nourishment if we seek it in the Scriptures, promises of sweet fellowship if we seek it in the Lord’s people. And there are promises of rich and eternal rewards for faithfulness and devotion. ‘In the words of the old hymn: ‘There’s a crown and you can win it, If you go in Jesus’ Name’.
God is not overstating the case when He calls His promises to us exceeding rich and precious. And they become all the more rich and precious as we lay hold on them for ourselves. -Jim MacIntosh