The (actual) Promises of God

It is impossible for God to speak a promise that He cannot or will not fulfill — and make no mistake, all of His promises are written in Scripture (there are no new promises being made) — whether that be to the Church, to Israel, or to the world. We do not doubt that God is unchanging, nor that His Word is unchanging. So why would we take it upon ourselves to attempt to change the promises written in His Word?

Some cases in point: 1.) God has promised His future wrath to the unbelieving world; telling them that God has no wrath for them is both sinful and deceitful. 2.) God has promised salvation to the Church, to those whom He has directly called to repentance; to claim that all can and/or will be saved is to ignore the Gospel and to usurp God’s authority/sovereignty. 3.) God has promised to return Israel to her land, and to redeem a remnant of Jews; to deny these promises or claim them as belonging to the Church is to rob the Jews of both their identity and their inheritance.

To some, these may seem like insignificant errors. But any error in communicating or teaching the Word of God is not merely a mistake; it is sinful. God requires of us that we handle His Word rightly, that we are advocates of truth, and that we are not deceived. Disobedience to these commands constitutes sin and therefore begs repentance and correction.

 


References:

Numbers 23:19: “God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?”

Deuteronomy 4:2: “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.”

Proverbs 30:5-6: “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar.”

Romans 2:5: “Because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

John 6:37: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out.”

Ephesians 1:3-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”

Jeremiah 23:3: “Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.”

Revelation 7:4: “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.”

2 Timothy 2:15: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”