What are the promises of God?
God does not merely make offers; He binds Himself by His word. Scripture speaks of "the promises" as a body of committed blessing running from Eden through Abraham and David to the Lord's return — which raises two questions: what exactly has God pledged, and on what footing does it stand?
What a promise is
Commentators locate the source of promise not in human need but in God's own settled intention.
James BoydPromise is presented in Scripture as outside the whole course of nature and of the responsibility of the creature. It is an engagement on the part of God to bring about a certain state of blessing for the creature, which had already been decreed in the determinate purpose of His love; a purpose which originated in His own mind, not suggested by the ruin of the creature, nor by any desire on the part of the creature, for the counsels were all formed, and the promise given, before the foundation of the world.
Promise, not law
Because the promise starts with God, it carries no conditions attached to the one who receives it. Abraham is the test case, and his case was settled centuries before the law was given.
Andrew MillerWe have now clearly seen, from God's dealings with Abraham and his seed, that the blessing of both Jew and Gentile is secured by promises, and that without the question of man's condition as a sinner being raised. Abraham knew nothing of law, or of conditions on his part, as the ground of the promise being fulfilled. It was by unconditional promise that God gave him the inheritance.
Every promise secured in Christ
Long delays between a promise and its fulfilment can look like God changing His mind. Writers answer that the delay proved nothing against Him.
James BoydMy object in bringing these things before you is to have our hearts well grounded in the great fact that God has been faithful to all that He promised in the past, and that there has been no breach of promise. For some hundreds of years while the promise was being delayed it may have appeared as if it was yes and no with God... but all questionings of unbelief are now for ever set at rest, for the promises are all fulfilled in Christ.
Because they rest in Christ rather than in us, the promises reach far beyond the family they were first spoken to.
F. A. HughesNot one of these "exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4) is in any way dependent upon man, nor can the expression of man's will affect their being carried out... the whole of Galatians 3 shows us that the blessings and the fulfilment of promise are not Abraham's alone, but are the possession of "all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."
What God has actually promised
The content is both what we hold now and what we still await.
An Outline of Sound WordsGod's promises are indeed great and precious, promises that have brought to us the knowledge of salvation, both present and that which is to come, and that hold out the hope of an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us.
The outstanding promises are not scattered across an indefinite future; they converge on one event.
An Outline of Sound WordsAt the Lord's coming there will be the fulfilling of every divine promise that remains to be fulfilled — the promises made to Israel of earthly blessing that will never be taken from them, the promises made to the saints who shall share Christ's heavenly kingdom, and dwell with Him in all the deep joys of the Father's House for evermore.
What is promised and what is already done
A careful distinction is drawn: some things God pledged for the road ahead, but salvation itself is finished work, not something still owed.
J. N. DarbyAs to help on our journey onward, there are many cherished promises. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear." "No one shall pluck His sheep out of His hand."... But the work in which I have to believe as justifying me and reconciling me to God, as alone and perfectly putting away my sins and redeeming me to God, is not a promise; nor can it be looked at as such. It is an accomplished fact, a work already accepted by God.
Where they are found, and how they are used
People can circle a promise for years without ever tasting it, and one writer traces the reason to where they are looking.
The Christian's FriendIt is a most important thing to remember that promises are not found outside Christ. There are most precious promises for the Christian, without which he could not get on for a day... You may see a person lingering about promises, and until the soul is humbled to the place of faith, until it submits to the truth and righteousness of God, the end of the story will be as the beginning: "I cannot realise them."
Once they are yours in Christ, they become the material of prayer.
Truth & TestimonyThe best basis for prayer is the solid promises of God. Remind God of what He has said!
Summary
- Purpose. The promise begins in God's own counsel before the world was made — not prompted by our ruin or our asking.
- Promise. Given to Abraham without conditions, so its fulfilment rests on God's faithfulness alone, never on our performance.
- Person. All of it is gathered up and secured in Christ; outside Him no promise is found or enjoyed.
- Possession. Redemption is not a promise still owed but a finished fact; the promises carry you through the journey that follows.
- Prospect. Every unfulfilled promise — Israel's land, the saints' inheritance, the Father's house — is settled at the Lord's coming.