Is this promise for me?
The Bible is full of God’s promises to His people. We love to read them. We love to apply them to our lives. We use them to remember that we serve a good and giving God. But are all those promises for us? Do we have the liberty to apply them to any life situation? After all, we serve a God who does not change and His promises are true.
As with any type of Bible passage, we have to carefully study and interpret God's promises in order to apply them correctly rather than misuse them. Just because God made a promise to Abraham, for example, does not automatically mean He made the same promise to you. If He spoke to the nation of Israel at a certain time in history, His promises refer to those specific events, not necessarily to your circumstances today.
God Does Not Change
However, before we dive into some basic ways to discern God’s promises, let me assure you of this: God really is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end (Revelation 22:13). His character does not change (Malachi 3:6). He remains faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9). His words are always true (John 17:17).
When God makes a promise to His people, He keeps it. He won't change His mind because He is steadfast. He won't go back on His word because He is faithful. We can trust Him.
The Word of God is Truth
2 Timothy 3:16 says that the Bible is inspired by God, reliable, and useful. To say that a promise found in the Bible does not apply to every life circumstance is not to say that God's word is void. It only means we have to interpret it with care.
3 Principles of Studying, Interpreting, and Applying God's Promises
To begin, let’s look at some basic interpretation and application principles that will help you faithfully apply not only God's promises but other Scriptures as well.
1. Pay Attention to the Context
In any piece of literature, it is essential to read a sentence within its context. You know that any article, interview, or even your love letter to your boyfriend can be misquoted when one phrase or sentence is taken out of its context and applied to life in general. It's not fair when the media does it. And it's not OK for us to do so with Scripture either.
When you see a beautiful verse on Pinterest or Facebook, open your Bible and look at its context before claiming it for your personal circumstances. As an example let's take a look at one of our favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you.’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
We love that verse. Who doesn't like to hear that God wants to prosper them? Are you in a financial bind right now? Hey, this verse seems to say that one day God will make you prosperous. One day you'll have lots of money. Is that really what it says? I hope you can read my sarcasm between the lines.
Let's take a look at the context by reading Jeremiah 29:10-1:
“This is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.’”
God made this promise in a context. He promised the nation of Israel while they were in captivity that one day He would restore them as a nation. And while they did not fully understand God's ultimate plan, we now know that it included Jesus Christ and the salvation that comes through Him as a free gift for all of us.
What does that mean for this beautiful verse and our life today? Can we not apply this verse at all? Should we forget about His promise to give us a hope and a future? Are we silly to assure ourselves that His plans are not to harm us? No. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Instead, we are going to move on to another method of interpretation.
2. Find the Principle
Let's consider some principles behind this verse. Here is what I see…
• Our God is one who delivers hope rather than harm.
• God always has a plan. He is not taken aback by anything.
• God shows concern for us and our future.
As you consider your specific circumstance, like financial troubles, you can be assured that God will ultimately use this time in your life as a part of His plan. He is not taken aback by your financial situation as you are, but rather He is in control. He is neither delighting in your stress nor does He intend to harm you. Instead, He loves you and has good things in store for you, which ultimately includes eternity spent with Him, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior.
3. Look for Conditions
Some promises have a big "if" attached to them. They are considered "conditional promises". That means God's promise only applies if we follow the command attached to it. It's not a blanket promise.
As an example, let's look at 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
What is the promise? God will be faithful to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. In the midst of our failures, He will restore us again to a righteous status. He will not allow our sin to come between us and Him. Instead, He wants us to remain in close relationship. He washes us of our sins continually.
Don't let me skip over the condition. This passage contains a big "if". If we confess our sin, He will be faithful to forgive us and restore us. Personally, I have experienced this. When I walk in sin - maybe even grumbling to myself, justifying my sin - I feel distant from God. But as soon as I confess my sin to Him, admit that I am in the wrong and ask for God's forgiveness, I immediately am forgiven. I can feel it. What do I mean by that? I can sense that I've been once again restored to a close relationship with God. I no longer feel distant from Him but rather reconciled. This is one of God’s standing promises for all believers. What a great God we serve!
Side note: If you are wondering about all those sins that you may have committed unknowingly or that passed so quickly that you would not even have remembered to confess them, know that ultimately for the Day of Judgment, we are forgiven in Christ. One day you will meet your Maker, and He will not look at our sins for more than a moment before looking instead on Christ who died for them all. He died for confessed and unconfessed sins. How can I say that after looking at 1 John 1:9? Remember, context!
1 John 1:9 is not the only verse that talks about forgiveness. It addresses how we should deal with our sins while here on earth. We should confess them and experience reconciliation with God. However, the Bible has much more to say about forgiveness, and it is clear that no action of ours ultimately saves our soul, but rather it is God through Christ.
A Quick Look at Old Testament History
God creates the world, including Adam and Eve. When those two sin against God, sin enters the world. However, God continues to lead His people from patriarch to patriarch. He leads Noah. He leads Abraham. He leads Isaac and Jacob. God changes Jacob's name to Israel, declaring that He will make His family a nation. His 12 sons become the 12 tribes of Israel. God leads this people out of Egyptian captivity with Moses as their leader and guides them through the wilderness for many years. God finally gives them the Promised Land and rules via prophets and judges until the nation of Israel asks for a king. God calls first Saul, then David, to the throne, followed by Solomon. Solomon dies, and his son becomes the next ruler. The majority of Israel rebels against him as king and the nation splits into two: Judah (actually the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) and the remaining ten tribes of Israel. Both Judah and Israel go through several generations of kings, most of them disobedient to God but some faithful. God warns Israel through the prophets that if His people continue in their sin, He will have them captured by Babylon. As Israel continues to disobey God, the day comes that both Israel and Judah are captured and scattered around the Assyrian and Babylonian Empire. Stories like that of “Daniel in the Lion’s Den” took place during the time of captivity. God promised all along that one day He would restore Israel as a united nation. He finally does so around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, who led the people in rebuilding the temple and city walls. More prophets rose up to warn the newly reunited Israel to remain faithful to God to avoid further punishment. What follows is a period of silence before Christ enters the scene in the New Testament.
I really hope that very quick summary will give you a little bit of context as we talk about promises and how they apply to us today. If you're intrigued by the idea of understanding the Bible's storyline, check out the Scripture Confident through the Bible course. You’ll learn Bible study methods while getting the big picture of the Bible, so you'll truly be able to study passages in context.
Why All the Fuss?
My concern is this: Sometimes we study a verse (interpret it within its context, draw principles, and apply the verse to our lives) and realize that our conclusions are so close to our first impression of the verse that we wonder why we even bother with the other steps. However, those steps are worth it, because they lead us to the verse’s original meaning. Many times, our initial understanding of a verse is much different from the author’s intention. In order to make sure that we are applying the Bible correctly and not leaning on promises that God never made - or that He made to generations past rather than us - let’s not skip the steps of interpreting correctly and applying accordingly.
Let me give you an example.
a. Pretty Much What I Thought
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know.”
Without any background study on this verse, what might you believe God is promising to all of us? If we call on Him, He will answer us with great wisdom.
We talked about determining principles from each promise and considering how they apply to us today. So let’s look at the verse again. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know.”
God answers prayer. This is not the only verse in the Bible that tells us so. God encourages us to communicate with Him (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Today, we know we have access to God in Christ through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:23, Ephesians 2:18). God answers prayer (John 17:6, Mark 11:24). We can be sure of that fact and do not have to doubt or wonder if we are misinterpreting. We know He answers prayer. We know He knows great and unsearchable things that we don’t (Psalm 147:5, 1 John 3:20). We know that we can ask God for wisdom, and He will give it to us (James 1:5).
So while this conditional promise was specifically made to Israel in the days of Jeremiah, we know that the same principle applies for us today. Let me point out, that we mostly know so because of other verses in Scripture - like the references I mentioned about - that talk about God answering prayer.
We want to be a good stewards of God's Word. If we were looking for a verse to prove that God answers prayer and gives wisdom, Jeremiah 33:3 is not your best proof text. It refers to something else, a promise God made in the days of Jeremiah.
Why am I making such a big deal of this? Isn’t all that matters to us that God hears our prayers? All Scripture is valuable. So why can't we hang this verse on our fridge to remind ourselves that God invites us to ask Him questions so that He may give us answers? Let’s take a look at another example, which happens to be this verse’s context.
b. Not Always As it Seems
Jeremiah 33:6-9 says,
“‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’”
This passage, written during Israel’s captivity, promises the following:
Health and healing
Abundant peace and security
Judah and Israel back from captivity
Judah and Israel rebuilt as they were before
Cleansing from all sin committed against God
Forgiveness of all sins of rebellion against God
City that will bring God joy, praise, and honor before all nations on earth
So many good things done for this nation that the whole earth will hear about it and be in awe
Abundant prosperity and peace
Many believers are in the habit of skipping over the “boring Judah and Israel stuff” - maybe because they don’t understand it - and focus on the “juicy” promises like prosperity, peace, health, and security.
Friend, you are now in the know. You understand what this verse meant for Israel and Judah. As you read these verses in the context of Old Testament history, does any of it seem to say that you personally will receive financial prosperity and always live in political peace? Does it seem to say that you will be rich and famous, the envy of all around you? I don't think that after our history lesson you would apply this verse as such any longer. So how do we apply it?
Old Testament Promises Fulfilled in the Old Testament
God restored the nation Israel as we find out in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. God gave them favor with their oppressors, and they didn’t even have to fight to get their land back. That doesn’t mean restoring their city was always a walk in the park. The people met opposition and had to face it with trust in God.
Why should we get excited about a promise that was made to someone else? God restoring the nation of Israel says something significant about the way He treats His people. As you read over that very brief history I gave you, I hope what stands out to you is that God takes sin seriously but is eager to forgive us and restore us back to Himself. He is both just and loving. Seeing these Old Testament promises made and fulfilled should give us assurance that we serve a trustworthy, mighty, and loving God.
The Old Testament Promises Fulfilled in Christ
Ultimately many of the Old Testament promises are fulfilled in Christ, even for us. We are now part of God's people, Jews and Gentiles, as long as we believe in Jesus Christ, that He died to pay for our sins and was resurrected on the third day. Take a look at the list of Jeremiah 33 promises again. Peace and security, the forgiveness of our sins against God… doesn't that sound familiar? Isn't that what we have received from God through Christ?
The Abrahamic Covenant
We fast-forward to the days of Abraham. God made a special promise - a Covenant - with Abraham. In Exodus 12:2-3 He says, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
God promised Abraham…
He will raise up a great nation through Abraham’s line.
The name of Abraham will be great.
Abraham will be a blessing to others.
Those who bless Abraham will be blessed.
A curse will rest on those who curse Abraham.
All the earth will be blessed through Abraham.
Covenants are more than promises. Even back in the day, they were understood as binding legal agreements. Did God owe us the guaranteed promise of a Savior? No, God owes us nothing. He sent Jesus out of the goodness of His heart and love for us. Even though we sinned against the perfect and holy God, He chose from the beginning of time to send a Savior to save us from the mess we made. He made a covenant promise to do so.
How is the Abrahamic Covenant Fulfilled in the Old Testament Days?
We discussed last week that Old Testament promises are often fulfilled in part in the Old Testament itself. In the case of the Abraham a covenant, some of it was fulfilled during Abraham’s lifetime and other parts through the nation of Israel. As promised, God brought forth the great nation of Israel from the descendants of Abraham. Abraham himself experienced personal blessings in the form of many children after years of crying out to God for a son and heir. God blessed him in many other ways, making him a great man of faith.
The Davidic Covenant
Many years later, God makes a covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7:9-16:
“I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”
God promises David…
He will make David’s name great.
He will provide land and a home for His people.
He will shield His people from oppressors.
David’s son will succeed him, and build a house for God.
God will discipline David’s son to keep him in right relationship with Him rather than removing him from power like Saul.
The throne/kingdom established through David will last forever.
How is the Davidic Covenant Fulfilled in the Old Testament Days?
Both David and his son Solomon were and still are well known. The nation of Israel enjoyed victory and territory during their reign. Solomon ordered and oversaw the building of God’s temple. Even though Solomon (and David) did not always act righteously, God disciplined them in love and did not take the throne from them.
The New Covenant
God promised a new covenant through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors 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. ‘This is the covenant I will make with the people 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. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘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
The emphasis here is that the new covenant will mean a new, close relationship between God and His people. Of course, it is through Christ that God forgives us and dwells in our hearts, so that we no longer have to go through a priest to gain forgiveness but have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 10:1-13 references this passage when it explains that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and takes the place of any priest. The Old Testament Law existed to show us our sinfulness, our inability to live up to God’s standards, and our need for a Savior, Whom we have found in Jesus Christ.
Israel and the Church
Galatians 3:28-29 says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Ephesians 2:11-13 says, “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember 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. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Accordingly, I will argue that the Church is now God’s people and inherits the ultimate fulfillment of the promises made to Israel in Christ Jesus - that is forgiveness of sins, an eternal home in heaven, and victory over the bondage of sin.
What Does That Mean for Promises Made to Israel?
Believers don’t always agree on the answer to that question. The Church generally splits into two camps: Dispensational theology and covenant theology.
Believers in dispensational theology believe that the of the promises made to Israel (that were not fulfilled in the Old Testament) will be fulfilled to the modern-day nation of Israel. The most well-known promise is the restoration of the temple, which dispensationalists still await in Israel before Christ’s return.
Christians who adhere to covenant theology will argue that the promises made to the nation of Israel now apply to the Church. They would use verses such as 1 Corinthians 3:16 (“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”) to argue that we need not await the rebuilding of another literal/physical temple.
For more information, I highly recommend reading this article from bible.org or finding a book on the subject below.
What Does That Mean for Me?
When you come across promises God made to His people in the Old Testament…
Rejoice that God fulfilled many of these promises during the Old Testament days. You serve the same faithful God!
Ask yourself how these promises are ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Does God promise Israel a home? Jesus is preparing a home for you in heaven right now (John 14:3). Does He promise a restored relationship with Him? If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are enjoying closeness with God right now. As a member of God’s people, the Church, you enjoy forgiveness of sins, an eternal home in heaven, and victory over the bondage of sin. Praise Him!
I need to add something here. Some of you may be disappointed that personal prosperity and wealth is not something that God promises to all of us. I want to challenge your thinking on that. There is no greater promise than that of an eternal life spent with God. There is no greater gift than the gift of salvation, the forgiveness of our sins at the expense of One who has never sinned. God was faithful to the nation of Israel and restored them in the days of the Old Testament. You may not see how that affects you today, but it meant hope for a whole nation, and it was a symbol for God's faithfulness to His people, among whom we believers consider ourselves today. The fulfillment of these promises is far greater than a pot of money delivered to your doorstep today, which you can spend within a few months and which will not serve you a bit beyond this life. Let us never be disappointed that salvation is the "only" promise we can draw from a Bible passage. There is nothing "only" about it.
Does God promise us anything besides eternal life in heaven, the greatest gift He could ever give? Oh, our loving and giving God does. More on that next week… If you don’t want to miss it, be sure to subscribe to the “Scripture Confidence” blog-post category below.
4 Questions to Discern Bible Promises Made to the Church
There are many promises God has made to the Church - and you are a part of that group if you have accepted Christ as your Savior. When deciding if a promise was made to you/the Church, read the context and ask yourself:
Is this actually a promise, or is it a different type of statement - possibly the speaker hoping/wishing/praying for something rather than promising it?
Is this promise made to believers? Is it made to all believers or just a specific person?
Does this promise seem to pertain to a specific situation? Be careful to apply it to a similar situation rather than accepting it as a general promise.
Are there any conditions connected to the promise? Keep those in mind.
When reading a Bible promise, always remember: context and conditions!
How to Use this List of Promises
As we look at this list of promises God made to the Church, my challenge to you is this:
Study each of them in context and ask yourself, “Is this promise made to the Church?” Don’t take my word for it! Check for yourself.
How does this promise apply to you today? How does it encourage or challenge you? If it’s a conditional promise, are you keeping the condition?
If all this feels too overwhelming, take a step back and go the road more slowly with the “10 Steps to Approaching the Bible with Confidence” ebook. I’ll send you the FREE download instructions. Just request them below.
A List of New Testament Promises
The Promise of Forgiveness and Freedom from Sin
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’” Romans 10:9-11
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
“The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.” Revelation 3:5
The Promise of Answered Prayer
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24
“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.” James 6:14-15
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14
The Promise of His Sovereign Intervention
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
The Promise for Provision
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:31-33
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:9-11
The Promise for Inner Peace
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
The Promise for the Holy Spirit
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17
