{"id":974,"date":"2019-09-11T22:01:51","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T21:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=974"},"modified":"2019-09-11T22:01:52","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T21:01:52","slug":"all-gods-promises-are-yes-in-christ-2-corinthians-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=974","title":{"rendered":"All God’s promises are “yes” in Christ 2 Corinthians 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Peter 1 3(God\u2019s) divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
\nGod has promised to give us forgiveness and eternal life. He has promised to give us the Holy Spirit living inside us. He promises to meet our needs, to give us healing and guidance and wisdom and peace and victory and protection.
\nHow many promises does God make in the Bible?
\nThe word promise comes in the Bible well over a hundred times, and not all of those are God\u2019s promises so that doesn\u2019t help much. If you let Biblical Studies people loose on the question they will talk to you about counting the number of times when God Himself, or Jesus, or through a prophet, expresses an intention to do something and you only get a few hundred of those. God makes many more promises than that. One person has counted 3573. Clint Byars has written a book called \u201cGod says yes to over 3000 promises.\u201d But he could well have missed a few. Herbert Lockyer wrote a book called \u201cAll the promises of the Bible\u201d and claims to list 8000.
\nWe know many of those promises by heart. We heard about at least three of them this morning.
\nGenesis 22 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, \u2018On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.\u2019
\nGenesis 22 15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, \u2018I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.\u2019
\nJoshua 1 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
\n7 \u2018Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.\u2019<\/p>\n

Here are examples of specific promises God made to individuals, but we take them as applying to Christians or the church and claim them for ourselves.
\nIn 2 Corinthians chapter 1 Paul talks about God\u2019s promises. But he got there in a very roundabout way.
\n2 Corinthians 1 12 Now this is our boast: our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God\u2019s grace. 13 For we do not write to you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
\n15 Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to let you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both \u2018Yes, yes\u2019 and \u2018No, no\u2019?<\/p>\n

Paul had promised to visit Corinth, and then he hadn\u2019t showed up. Paul was worried that the Corinthians might have felt hurt or insulted offended by this. They might have thought he didn\u2019t actually care about them, or even that he thought they weren\u2019t worth the trip. He was worried that they might think he couldn\u2019t be trusted anything he says. So Paul clears the air by explaining##]# why he had had to change his plans.
\nSometimes people make promises and they fail to keep them. Sometimes people deliberately decide not to keep their promises. Sometimes they forget. But more often they find that they are just not able to deliver what they have promised. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that nothing like that had happened and that he was entirely reliable and trustworthy. Just like God Himself is.<\/p>\n

18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not \u2018Yes\u2019 and \u2018No\u2019. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us\u2014by me, Silas and Timothy\u2014was not \u2018Yes\u2019 and \u2018No\u2019, but in him it has always been \u2018Yes\u2019. 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are \u2018Yes\u2019 in Christ. And so through him the \u2018Amen\u2019 is spoken by us to the glory of God..<\/p>\n

Sometimes people make promises and they fail to keep them. Sometimes people deliberately decide not to keep their promises. Sometimes they forget. But more often they find that they are just not able to deliver what they have promised. None of that is the case with God,
\n. 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are \u2018Yes\u2019 in Christ.
\nGod never forgets the promises he makes. God never changes his mind and decides to disappoint people by failing to keep a promise they are relying on. There is never an occasion when God is not able to deliver the promise he has made.
\n20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are \u2018Yes\u2019 in Christ.
\nPaul means at least two things by this.
\nPaul is saying that Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of all God\u2019s promises.
\nRom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God\u20142 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord
\nActs 13 32 \u2018We tell you the good news: what God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.
\nPaul is surely also saying that Jesus is completely trustworthy in all he said. Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life is completely able to keep all the promises He has made to his disciples.
\nTitus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God\u2019s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness\u20142 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
\nGod does not lie!<\/p>\n

But Paul also gives a third reason to trust in the promises God has made.
\n21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come<\/p>\n

We know that God can keep and will keep all His promises to us , because he has already begun fulfilling all His promises in our lives by the Holy Spirit living inside us.
\nHe anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come
\nGod has already given us the Holy Spirit as the arrabon, the deposit, the guarantee, the sure down payment and the first installment of all the blessings he has promised us.
\nWe hear the same in later in 2 Corinthians 5:5 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (NIV)
\n5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. NLT
\nMESSAGE The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what\u2019s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we\u2019ll never settle for less.
\nAnd Paul makes the same point in
\nEphesians 1 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God\u2019s possession\u2014to the praise of his glory.
\n13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God\u2019s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. NLT
\nMESSAGE \tIt\u2019s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free\u2014signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what\u2019s coming, a reminder that we\u2019ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
\nSo we know God will keep all the promises he has made to us. Because those promises have been fulfilled in Jesus. Because everything Jesus says is completely trustworthy. And because we have already begun to experience those promises being fulfilled in our own lives by the work of the Holy Spirit inside us.
\n20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are \u2018Yes\u2019 in Christ. And so through him the \u2018Amen\u2019 is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.<\/p>\n

SO \u2013 out of all the promises God has made \u2013 which are precious and special to you??<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 Peter 1 3(God\u2019s) divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":975,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974\/revisions\/975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}