Claiming God's promises

A few weeks ago I wrote about the covenant promise God made with Abraham. That was really just a history lesson for us because we are under a new covenant with God, a better one…

  

31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD,

"when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel  

and with the house of Judah.  

32 It will not be like the covenant

I made with their forefathers  

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,  

though I was a husband to them. "  

declares the LORD.

33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel  

after that time," declares the LORD.  

"I will put my law in their minds  

and write it on their hearts.  

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,

or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'

because they will all know me,  

from the least of them to the greatest,"

declares the LORD.  

"For I will forgive their wickedness  

and will remember their sins no more."  

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Why is it called new? The New Testament uses two different Greek words for "new": Neos means new in contrast to old. Kainos means "new" in the sense of "unique".

… to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Hebrews 12:24

This scripture identifies Jesus Christ as the mediator of the new covenant, is the only scripture where kainos is used in reference to the new covenant. Every other passage uses neos. So the "new covenant" is unique.

But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

Hebrews 8:6

  

This passage tells us the new covenant is better than the old because it has better promises. These promises weren’t part of the previous; they were unique to the new covenant. Chapter 8 in Hebrews Mentions three promises.

Change of Nature

  

Israel didn't have the heart or nature to obey God 

Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

Deuteronomy 5:29

The old covenant contained no condition for internal motivation to obey God. In the new covenant God promises to put His laws into the mind and write them on the heart of His people (Hebrews 8). Obeying God's law is not a normal human response, Romans 8:7 say’s “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so”. The new covenant promises the power to obey God, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, a unique feature of the new covenant.

Sanctification is the process of the Holy Spirit convicting us of our sin and changing the way we perceive sin. This process is not a onetime thing it’s a daily commitment to lining up your mind with God’s word. The nature has change into one of a personal and intimate relationship with God.

Forgiveness of Sins

…"For I will forgive their wickedness  

and will remember their sins no more." 

Jeremiah 31:34

Forgiveness of sins, also necessary for a relationship with God is another new promise and unique benefit of the new covenant. The Levitical system of sacrifices cannot take away sins it just covered them up. Therefore, forgiveness of sins was unique to the new covenant. The Passover wine represents the new covenant in Christ's blood, which was shed for the remission of sins.

Eternal Inheritance

  

Eternal inheritance is another unique and better promise offered in the new covenant. Eternal life is a never ending relationship with God. 

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

John 17:3

We are heirs of God through Christ, and what meaning would eternal life have apart from God?

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29

  

And the promise is the New Covenant with God, with Christ a Mediator, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sin and eternal life. And as an heir you have a right to boldly pursue what God says is yours.  

I’m not sure why but a lot of people think they have to walk on eggshells and delicately wonder over these things. The Bible clearly says you are an heir and you have a right to your stuff.

11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-13

The term covenant adds weight to this binding blood bought promise. Man might break his promise but God won’t. God is perfect and Holy and He has to do what He says He is going to – every time, no questions asked.

The covenant promise that we are entitled to is between God and us, and once entered into cannot be broken. Not even death releases God from this covenant because the covenant transcends it. Let’s look back at verse 12, the word “foreigner” is translated from the Greek word Xenos which means “without the knowledge of OR new and unheard of”. So prior to being born again you just didn’t know anything about this.

So now that we are saved and have an inheritance that we are entitled to, what’s next?

  

The Bible is the covenant we have with God. You have to read it to understand God’s promise.

What happens if you don’t read the Bible and understand the covenant God has made with you?

  

Ephesians 2:12 says you will have no hope. And you will have no hope because you wont have the benefit of God’s word in your life because you can’t benefit from the Word of God if you don’t know it. In theory you could go to heaven without ever reading the Bible…

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

But if you go through life without knowing and understanding the Word of God, you will be living without God’s provision.

The Bible is God’s perfect an inerrant word. You have to

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  Hold on to His Word
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  Stand on His Word
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  Believe in His Word
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  Take it and never let it go

You don’t connect to the provision and power of God with tears and pleas; you connect to the power of God through faith. Faith comes from knowing God’s Word and having it written on your heart, and having confidence and understanding the promises He has made to you.

Faith and the will of God can’t operate where it isn’t known.  (Ephesians 2:12 strangers/foreigners)

I’m not saying that God won’t work in and improve your life if you don’t read your Bible and increase your knowledge. But anything He chooses to do is only going to happen by grace and the efforts of others in prayer for you.

Without a study and understanding of Gods word your life can’t unite with the will of God and the amazing specific plan he has your life. You have and inheritance from your Father and He left you His last will and testament, the Bible. Read it, understand it and boldly demand what you’ve been promised.

Hope is a right of your inheritance. Could you use some hope in your life? Take it, God promised it to you so you can walk boldly through any problem knowing you’re covered. Look at

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Romans 4:18

Before Abraham became fully persuaded, he hoped against hope. He decided to not listen to what the world had to say. The world said he was too old to have a kid, the world said Sarah was too old and barren, it would be impossible to have a child. But what did Abraham do? He hoped against hope and trusted God to do what He said He was going to do. And that paid off pretty good for him I’d say. And just like Abraham when the world is beating you down and things look hopeless, you can get some hope in the Word of God.

How could anyone go through life without hope? There is an entire world full of people that we are surrounded with everyday that don’t know about the hope that God has for them. And it’s up to us to make sure they know where to come and get it.

We have been given the winners manual for life in the Bible. The Bible is hope and that hope will overcome any situation. I know this because God promises it and spells it out very clearly in the Bible. And I get my hope from this book everyday. And when people tell me I can’t do something I set my mind to or that I’m crazy for the things I believe in I just tell them it’s too bad they can’t see what I see. And when it doesn’t look like I’m going to succeed I say just wait. Because you can’t see what I see and you don’t know what I know but keep on watching because it is going to blow you away when it happens.

That’s faith

That pleases God

That faith will see you through anything

Because I get my faith through hope and the source of my hope is God.

People can’t be your source. Man will always disappoint you. The Bible has to be your source. You have to read it to have the advantage of knowing God’s promise. God’s promise has no “but” in it. Read it, read it every day, that’s it.

God gives us the reason to know and understand his Word and wraps it up very nicely in a beautiful piece of scripture found in 1 Peter.

…"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

1 Peter 5:5b-10

I feel that that is one of the most beautiful passages of scripture in the Bible. I’m encouraged to know that through grace alone, God’s mighty hand will touch me. I’m reassured that I can rest because He will take on any burden I allow Him to take.

I know that the God will show me the way to remain in control and the means to resist any temptation I encounter. And I take comfort in knowing that I’m not alone in my suffering and that when I have suffered, and only for a little while, God will restore me and build me up greater than before.

All that and a whole lot more is promised to us… You’re just going to have to read the rest of it yourself.

Grace then peace,

Jeff

Become fully persuaded!

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Romans 4:20-25

Abraham didn’t waver through unbelief which means he never doubted, even for a second, that God would do what He said he was going to do.  And how much was he persuaded?  Abraham was fully persuaded. You can’t be more persuaded than “fully”.

And the Bible tells us that - that belief, that faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Have you have ever wavered in believing God’s promise?  Have you ever had any doubt about your faith? Have you ever questioned if God really would do all the things and stuff you’ve been told He can do?

I’m not proud to say it but I have too.

So how was Abraham able to become so sure, so positive, have this absolute faith that Paul talks about in Romans?  That must have been some meeting that took place for him to have had this unshakable confidence in God’s promise.

Let’s take a look at that meeting….  Genesis 15, we are going to start at verse 1.

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. "

But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Genesis 15:1-7

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Look at that. Abraham believed and God immediately credited it to him as righteousness.  God made His promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation years ago but Abraham didn’t waver and believed God immediately and God credited it to him as righteousness.

And today we have an amazing parallel to Abraham. Abraham didn’t do a bunch of good works then get counted as righteous.  He believed God would do what He said he would do.  He trusted God and it was counted as righteousness.  When?  Immediately there was NO lag time.

The KJV uses the word counted instead of credited and I like that because it infers that God is keeping track of things.  The original Hebrew word used was “chashab” which translates to being charged or imputed.  You can’t have “chashab” removed or taken away, it’s yours.  SO in other words when God writes your name in His book, you’re counted and God’s pencil doesn’t have an eraser.

And while that might sound too easy, he believed and immediately he was credited as righteous, it isn’t any different than the measuring stick God uses for all of us.  We don’t work to become righteous; Jesus did that for us…

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:18-19

We make it too difficult.  We don’t have to work to become righteous, God gives it to us.  You can’t do enough good works or try hard enough to get into heaven, that will never work.  Just like Abraham we must simply believe God…

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

So if we believe that through Christ we have been justified and the cross was His act of obedience, and we believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead…  We have been given the righteousness of Christ Himself.

It’s that simple and we make it too difficult. Believe and be counted as righteous. And you don’t have to do anything else for God to mark you as counted, as chashab, in His book.

So, Abraham believed and God continued…

He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

Genesis 15:7-8

God tells him that He is the one that gave him everything he had and He was adding to that a child, their heir he asked about. And the response of Abraham is one that you have probably made yourself…

“How can I believe you God”? He told God to prove it to him. And isn’t that really the question everyone wants to ask?

God, how can I be sure...

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  You’re going to take care of me?
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  You’re going to protect me?
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  You’re going to take care of my kids?
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  You’re going to help me pay my bills or get a job?

How can I be fully persuaded you are telling me the truth God?

Unfortunately most people who make a profession of faith, are born again then stop right there and never ask God that question. That’s too bad because just like Abraham, we have the right to boldly ask God to confirm His covenant with us. The apostle Paul tells us that through Christ:

Let then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

We have the right to approach God and have Him confirm His promise to us so that we can have the faith to be able to live a life that knowing that:

God said it

I believe it

I'm going to heaven

I’m going to read my Bible everyday and God WILL speak to me

That’s it. Nothing really bold or difficult about that once you realize that God has to do everything He says He’s going to do. Once you have confidence that God will do everything He says He’ll do. To build your faith you need confidence.

So how Abraham was able to be confident in God’s promise?

So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."  

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

Genesis 15: 9-20

God told Abraham to make a sacrifice, a very specific sacrifice with specific instructions. But more importantly Abraham just did what he was told to do, no questions asked. And each of us must decide for ourselves what sacrifice we are will to make for our relationship with Christ. I have come to believe that the relationship you have with your Maker is directly related to what you are willing to give up in its pursuit. Every un-godly activity in your life is another layer between you and God and the more of these you remove, the closer to Him you get. We have to replace the things of the world for the things of God. It really is that simple. We have to do what the Bible tells us to do, without question and give God a shot at making good on his promise.

Remember that at the time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:12

Those who are separate from Christ are operating in their own power. And when we, as born again Christians begin to operate in our power instead of God’s, we are separating ourselves from Him and the power He has made available to us all. We have to get out of the way and let God work in our life. Look back at verse 12, Abraham was under God’s power when he went into this deep sleep and when Abraham had gotten out of the way and let God do His thing, that’s when He came down and sealed the covenant with him. And when you stop working and trying, when you make the choice to get out of God’s way, he’ll seal His covenant with you too.

Grace and Peace from Him!

Jeff