Chronicle number one of God’s gospel dealt with the great
problem man has before God: he is guilty of sin and condemned.
Chronicle number two dealt with God’s Savior: not a philosophy
or a religious program but a unique Person, the son of God and
the son of man, Jesus the Lord. Chronicle number three looked
at the performance necessary to satisfy God for our sins against
Him. It was not our performance of today but Christ’s performance
of yesterday. And the performance was not the manger, mount of
beatitudes nor miracles but the cross: redemption by blood.
This fourth chronicle looks at the promise of the gospel.
Is God’s gospel a set of works to perform or a promise to
trust–or a bit of both? What does the gospel hold out to
the repentant sinner who places heart faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Is it penance or promise? There are three key areas to
consider on this subject:
a. The gospel is God’s promise in Christ
b. The promises of the gospel
c. How the promises are given
The Gospel is God's
Promise in Christ
The apostles preached the death of God’s Son as the full
payment for our sins. They also pointed to Christ’s resurrection
as obtaining justification and acceptance for the believer (Rom.
4:24,25). Because payment for sin as well as the basis for being
accepted with God is finished in the the work of Jesus Christ,
the apostles did not preach a work to perform but rather a promise
to believe.
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For the PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to
all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call (Acts 2:39).
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body,
and partakers of his PROMISE in Christ by the gospel (Eph. 3:6).
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according
to the PROMISE of life which is in Christ Jesus (2Tim. 1:1).
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, PROMISED
before the world began (Titus 1:2).
... They which are called might receive the PROMISE of eternal
inheritance (Heb. 9:15).
And this is the PROMISE that he hath PROMISED us, even eternal
life (1John 2:25).
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When one is asked to believe in Jesus, what is he or she believing?
Is it that Jesus is good and caring or is it something deeper?
Obviously, we must believe both who He is and what He did. He
is the Son of God. And He died for our sins and rose again
as Lord. But we must also believe what He promised. To believe
what one promises is to trust in that person’s ability,
character, and word to fulfill their promise.
To trust someone in their
promise
is to look away from self and to
depend on the word of the
promisor to make it happen. This
is where the gospel takes us.
The Bible never asks one to believe “about” the
Lord Jesus Christ, but rather to believe “in” Him or
“on” Him (Acts 16:31, Gal. 2:16). To believe in
one is to trust them. For example, all believe about the
existence of their national leader. But all don’t vote for
him because all don’t necessarily believe in him
i.e., trust that he will keep his promises.
The Promises of the Gospel
God’s promise in His gospel can be summarized in two
areas. One deals with the negative and the other with the positive.
As John 3:16 promises: “For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
1. should not perish, - but -
2. have everlasting life.”
The negative side of the promise. God promises to the
believer in His Son that he will “not perish.” This
covers being saved from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9, 1Thess. 5:9).
The believer will never experience the judgment of God for his
sin. Hell and the lake of fire will never be his destiny.
But if this is all the gospel would do, though that would
be something, it would not bring us beyond the condition of a
cat. Cats don’t go to hell.
The positive side of the promise. God also promises
the believer that he will have everlasting life. This includes
the believer’s acceptance with God called justification
or imputed righteousness (Rom. 4:24,24). It also includes heaven
as well as the coming kingdom on earth (John 14:1-3, Heb. 12:26-28).
It also includes the means of getting there: rapture. Whether
dead or alive the believer’s body will instantaneously be
glorified to be with His Savior and God forever (1Thess. 4, 1Cor.
15).
All this is made possible by the promised gift of the indwelling
Holy Spirit that the believer receives immediately (Eph. 1:13).
It is the Spirit that gives the power to know, live for, and
be with God (Rom. 8).
Thus, we have a twofold promise. God promises to:
a. save from something: the judgment of our sin
b. bring into something: eternal life with Him
Old Testament Picture
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In the book of Exodus, we see God making a twofold gospel
(good news) promise to His ancient people Israel. He said:
1. “I will bring you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians
. . . and . . .
2. “I will bring you in unto the
land.”
God’s gospel was that He would save them from
the negative and bring them into the positive.
Many professed to believe God (Ex. 4:31). They believed He
existed and that He spoke to Moses about their salvation from
Egypt. But these same people didn’t trust God in His
promise to them.
They were "believers" who didn’t believe.
God did bring them out of Egypt via the blood of the Passover
lamb. Yet when it came time to enter the promised land many were
convinced that the enemy was too strong and they would be destroyed.
They really only believed half the promise. They saw that
God had brought them out but now they did not trust God that
He could or would bring them in as He promised. This crisis revealed
that they had no faith in God.
They had been “baptized” in the sea unto Moses.
They had partaken of the miracles God did in the wilderness.
They listened to the law of God. Yet they did not enter into
the promised land – because of unbelief (Heb. 3:17
- 4:3).
God pronounced their judgment that they would not ever enter
into the promised land. Without faith in God and His Word, one
does not get to enjoy the fulfillment of His promises.
Then they further revealed their unbelieving hearts. They
said they were sorry and wanted to go in. Moses said, no, for
the Lord was now not with them. Instead of submitting to God’s
directive they presumed in their own strength to enter into the
land. They tried to get in against God’s Word. The
enemy came out and destroyed them and they perished (Num. 14:40-45).
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History has repeated itself.
Like the ancient children of Israel, there are those today
who will profess to believe in God and even follow His mediator,
Jesus the Christ. They might have been baptized, go to church
and even do humanitarian works. Perhaps they even claim to have
experienced miracles. They might even say that because of the
love of God in Jesus, He would never put them in hell.
Yet if you ask them if they are going to heaven, they answer,
“I hope so. I’m doing the best I can.” They don’t
trust the promise of God in Christ Jesus. They believe half but
not all. They wouldn’t dare claim to be assured of everlasting
life even though that is the promise. Thus, they are really unbelievers.
And even further they are like Israel of old. When you tell
them that they can’t earn heaven by their works because
it is a grace-promise from God simply to be believed (Eph. 2:8,9),
they not only don’t believe God but also boldly proclaim
that their good works will “most likely” get them in.
They continue on in their self confidence – only to perish
in their unbelief: sin.
To not trust God in
His promise is
to be an unbeliever. And only by
faith does one obtain the promises.
“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through
faith and patience inherit the promises ... But without faith,
it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 6:12, 11:6). God loves
to be taken at His Word. Don’t you?
| Faith believes the word of God |
Unbelief questions the certainty
of the same |
| Faith sees the unseen promise
of God |
Unbelief says, “How can these
things be?” |
| Faith puts a man under grace–in
Christ |
Unbelief keeps a man under law–in
wrath |
| Faith makes great burdens light |
Unbelief makes light ones intolerably
heavy |
| Faith is dependence upon God |
Unbelief is dependence upon self |
| Faith will help the soul wait
if God delays |
Unbelief snuffs and throws it all
away if God tarries |
How the promises are given
There are two ways a promise can be given. One, as a reward
for good performance. Two, as a gift.
1. The reward way. A parent may promise a child
a new bike “if” the child does all his chores up to
standard and gets straight A’s in school. The receiving
of the bike is now dependent upon the child’s performance.
Therefore, it is not guaranteed. The promise is based on performance.
The Scriptures call this principle of getting something, the
law of “works” or simply “law” (Rom. 3:27,
Gal. 3:18).
2. The gift way. A parent may also promise a
child a bike for his birthday. If the parent is a promise keeper,
the child is absolutely guaranteed the bike for it is a gift
not dependant on his performance. He just has to take it. The
promise is based on the love and ability of the giver.
The Scriptures call this second principle of getting something,
“the law of faith” or simply “promise” (Rom.
3:27, Gal. 3:18).
The gospel of God promises eternal life as a gift.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
To admit one’s works
cannot
obtain God’s salvation is to take
the grounds of humility. It is to
confess that one is unable to meet
God’s holy standard. It is to
acknowledge that one is hopelessly
lost apart from God’s grace
through His Son.
By offering salvation only as a gift-promise, God is saying
that the price for sin has been paid in full by Christ. (A gift
must be paid for by someone). And God is fully satisfied with
Christ’s sacrifice for sin as His raising of Christ declared.
If not, God would ask for something more to be done. “It
is finished” is now proven by God’s offer in grace.
If the Father is satisfied with the Son, are you? Is God a promise
keeper?
Old Testament Picture
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God gave Abraham the inheritance by promise
(Gal. 3:18). Abraham was justified (saved – declared righteous).
So how did Abraham get it? Romans 4 refers us to Genesis 15.
Though Abraham was old and Sarah his wife was barren, God
promised Abraham an offspring from his own body. It was a clear
Mideastern starlit night when God asked Abraham to step outside
and count the stars if he could. Concerning the number of the
stars, God then made a five word promise to him: “So
shall thy seed be.”
The promise held out no conditions or work to be performed.
It was unconditionally offered. Abraham could either disbelieve
God in His Word or trust God in His Word of promise. Abraham
did the latter.
Without moving a muscle, saying a word, or performing a ritual,
Abraham “believed in the Lord.” The second he
did that, God counted him as righteous (justified). Instantly,
Abraham became right that night before God – by faith alone
– records Holy Scripture.
Abraham is the model that all must follow. When we believe
the promise of God in Jesus the Lord we are declared righteous.
It is a gift – exactly like Abraham’s. “Therefore
it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise
might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is
the father of us all” (Rom. 4:16).
Later, Abraham, under the coaxing of his barren wife, went
into his slave girl and conceived a child. This child, Ishmael,
was produced by the works of the natural flesh: human effort.
But later God by His power caused Abraham and Sarah to have their
own child, Isaac, produced by God’s power fulfilling His
promise: grace. (Gal. 4:23).
God rejected Ishmael as the heir, but chose Isaac. God was
making a gospel statement: only those who come by promise
get the inheritance, never what is of the flesh (human
effort). (Gal. 4: 21-31).
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Some look at God’s grace-promise in the sense of a gratuity.
One might leave a waitress a gratuity at the end of a meal. This
is an expression of appreciation for service rendered. Though
the waitress might thank you for your graciousness, it wasn’t
really grace because the waitress expected it and indeed worked
for it. God’s saving grace is to give the sinner deserving
of judgment an unconditional gift without any works (Rom. 4:4-6).
Grace is not God showing extra kindness in appreciation for our
good service (even if we claim to have done that service only
by His grace-strength). God’s gift is not gratuitous but
undeserved mercy.
Believers believe God keeps His promises. The great difference
between Satan’s counterfeit gospels and God’s true
gospel is that God says trusting Him is enough to obtain the
promise. Religious counterfeits say receiving the promise requires
some human performance to get it. Whom do you believe?
Receiving the promise is not
the
sinner asking Christ to do
something now by inviting Him
into his heart. But the invitation is
from God for a sinner to look away
from self and trust God concerning
His Son and what He already did
for his sin – on the cross.
Man’s way gives some glory to man who “does his
part.” The gospel gives the glory to God alone (Gal. 6:14).
God’s gospel as defined in Romans:
Condemnation - guilty because of our sin performance
Salvation - the Person of Jesus by incarnation (birth)
Redemption - sin paid for by Lord’s cross-performance
Propitiation - God’s satisfaction with Christ’s
sacrifice
Justification - right by faith because of His resurrection
Sanctification - the changed life by His Spirit