Promises to Believe
The Bible is very clear that we are to have faith. Hebrews 11:6 puts it the bluntese:
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Now, usually when I establish some sort of thing a Christian has to do, I try to avoid the negative side. I don’t want people to do something simply because they have to, I want them to do it because they want to. But in this case I think it’s the best way to put it, because faith should just make sense. If someone tries to talk to you and you constantly brush them off as a hallucination, saying they don’t exist, they’re not going to like that. If your significant other tells you they’ll do something and you never believe them and trust them, you’re going to have problems. If it were impossible to please people without having faith in them, wouldn’t it also make sense that it’s impossible to please God without faith?
But here’s my personal struggle with having faith. I don’t expect my best friend to be able to heal my diseases or bring me salvation. We know that there are things that people can do, cannot do, will do, or won’t do, and so we set our expectations based on that. And if we do expect too much out of someone and don’t get something, we’re disappointed, right? But it’s not that person’s fault; it’s our own for having wrong expectations.
In my relationship with God, I know that I’m supposed to have faith. But in what should have faith? If I try to have faith that God will let me fly to the top of Mt. Everest, I’m going to be disappointed. It’s my fault, because at no point did God promise that. He certainly can do that, but He (correct me if I’m wrong here) won’t.
In order for me to have faith in God, I need to know what He has promised us. 2 Timothy 2:13 declares that “he [God] cannot deny himself,” and Titus 1:2 says that “God…never lies.” So if God promises something to someone in Scripture, you know that He’ll keep His promise, because God does not lie.
Thus, if God makes a promise, or if one of His messengers makes a promise in Scripture that applies to Christians today as well as to the audience in the original text, then this promise can strengthen our faith. Because If I promise my friend a present and he knows that I won’t lie, then he can have faith in my ability to get him a present.
So then, what does God promise? Well, a lot of things, things that cover many areas of a Christian’s life. But to get you started, let’s look at some big, broad promises that God makes to us in Scripture.
Getting to God
James 4:6
Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
When it comes to before salvation, or even after salvation if you have strayed from God, here are some promises to readily embrace. The first verse alludes to a Proverbs 3:34, and it is also mentioned in 1 Peter 5:5. It says two things. First of all, if you have pride against God, God will actively oppose you. Pride takes away God’s glory, and He’s not okay with that. So He WILL be against your lifestyle until you humble yourself before Him.
But humility doesn’t save you. John 3:16 shows us that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. Now this isn’t just a intellectual assertion that Jesus existed. No, this is believing with all of your heart that Jesus is who He said He is: Savior of the world, the God who became man to die for our sins so that we might be reconciled with God. If you believe in Jesus, coming to Him with a humble and repentant heart, you will be saved.
Finally, this third verse is important to remember if you have ever strayed from God. It was penned by King David, after having taken a man’s wife, impregnating her, and then killing the husband to try and cover things. He had messed up big time, and had just been sharply rebuked for his actions. He realized that if his heart is humble, broken, and remorseful, God won’t look away.
God can come and bring healing and forgiveness into our lives. And, as we can see here, He has promised through His Scripture that He will do so, if only we humble ourselves and call on the name of Jesus!
The Christian life
Philippians 1:6
He that has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:28
All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.
There are so many promises about Christian living. But here are two that broadly cover both our personal lives and the circumstances which surround us.
The first one looks at our personal lives, and it says that if God started something good within us, He’s going to finish it. This touches on the issue of losing your salvation, and you can interpret it broadly based on how this verse is translated, but let’s be more practical. If you’re a Christian, if you’re seeking after God, then God will provide for you. God will keep working on you, God will never quit on you. You will never be at a place where you are left to fend for yourself as a Christian, because God is doing so much to build you up. Praise God for that!
The second one addresses the life of the Christian. You might here people say fluffy things like “Everything will turn out okay…if it isn’t okay, it’s not the end.” Or, you just might hear the first part this verse! “Everything works out for good.” But there’s no basis for these, nothing to make it happen other than the positive attitude of the person who receives it. Positive attitudes can only go so far, though. This world is a mean place sometimes, and people can be buried in stuff that can drive them into anything from depression to alcoholism to suicide.
But we have God! God can do more than we can possibly imagine for those who love Him. He can take the bleakest situations in our lives and make miracles happen. He doesn’t always promise happiness, but here He promises good and elsewhere He promises joy. God is so sovereign, and if we embrace this promise in Scripture, we’ll find that we never have to worry about our circumstances, because they will always work out for good.
The end of it all
1 Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
This is one of many promises in Scripture that point to heaven, or the return of the Lord. Either we die, or Jesus comes back in our lifetime, so we need to think about this end of things. This promise says that no matter what happens while we’re alive, if we’ve been in a relationship with God and we’ve humbled ourselves and accepted Jesus as our Savior and we go to be with the Father at the end of it all, we will receive a crown of glory.
There is a heaven, and there’s a lot in store there for us. Not only are there extraordinary riches, but there’s no more trials, no more pain and suffering, no more tears, only joy and happiness forever. But above it all, Jesus Christ will be sitting on the throne, at the right hand of God! We’ll get to be with God forever, praising and worshiping Him!
Conclusion
So let these Scriptures ring loud in your head. These are guarantees that will help you build your faith! If you are humble and accept Jesus, you will be heard and saved by God. If you are a believer, your life will be sanctified and your circumstances will work for the good. And when it’s all done, you will receive heaven and all of the glory that goes with it.
Believe these things, and be strengthened for it!
Grace and peace,
Brendan
