I have since the last post been seeking after GOD my LORD for what to look at next, then this morning a light came on. So I will make use of a daily study that is shared within my e-Sword program, as it is opening the promises given for those who are become Christ Ones. This study is authored by the Spirit of Christ within Pastor Robert Hoekstra and I will use it for that reason with the LORD's help. In the whoever's, whosoever's and everyone's of Deuteronomy 18:15-22. This will been done by three subtitles, each having its own secret.
The Promises that GOD will be restored to His saints.
How We are to Respond to God's Promises
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17)
How are we to respond to the promises of God? His promises are not automatically at work in every life that hears them. Some respond correctly, while others respond improperly. Some enjoy the benefits of God's promises, whereas others do not. In these two verses, we are given the fundamental response to all that pertains to the gospel and covenant of grace. That response in faith. This would certainly include living by the promises of God.
Paul was unashamed of this gospel due to its effective character. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation." The good news about Christ in Jesus is essentially the grace of God proclaimed to man: "the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." (Acts 20:24) This grace is God's power given out to the redeeming of souls as required by the universal law. This power is experienced by all who place their faith in this gospel, whether Jew or Gentile: "for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." The gospel is effective, because it holds forth God's righteousness to sinful man, if he is willing to trust the LORD. "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith."
The gospel is referred to in the scriptures as a promise. "And this is the promise that He has promised us - - eternal life" (1John 2:25). The gospel is often stated in the form of promises: "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved . . . whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 15:11 and Romans 10:13). These gospel promises are partaken of in by faith. "The just will live by faith."
In addition to initial redemption is received through the gospel as is our salvation received through the good news of God's grace as being a narrow pathway which includes many other promises from God. "I will build My church . . . You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free . . . When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth" (Matthew 16:18; John 8:32; and 16:13). All of these promises are experienced by faith, because "the just shall live by faith" - - continually, as well as initially.
God's Children by God's Promises
"For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise . . . Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise." (Galatians 4:22-23, 28)
Our God is a God of promises. He characteristically works by making and fulfilling promises. We are His children by faith. We are children of promise. We were birthed spiritually into God's Family through faith in His promises. Two sons of Abraham (Ishmael and Isaac) provide a vivid contrast that attest to this, our sonship is by promise. As Isaac was of promise.
God had promised to make of Abraham a mighty nation, through which would come the Messianic seed that would bless all nations. "I will make you a great nation . . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-2). Yet, in verse 3 is the key for those who will bless Abraham in their attitude of faith's receptivity, the same pattern shown and stated by Jesus Himself a man, a seed of promise. (Genesis 3:15) This seed resides within every person born of woman. The years passed by, and Abraham was still without a son. Eventually, he implied to God that his servant would have to be the beginning of this promised seed. "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house (Eliezer, his servant) is my heir! " (Genesis 15:3). However, the LORD clarified His promise to give Abraham a true son, sired from his own body. "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir" (Genesis 15:4). As time passed, the aging couple decided that they would have to come up with another alternative for God. "Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children . . . So Sarai said to Abram, 'See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.' And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai (revealing the err of Genesis 3). So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived" (Genesis 16:1-2, 4). Thus, Ishmael was born as the result of Abraham's and Sarah's ingenuity: "he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh (a symbol of the Law, in which the Law works unto disobedience)."
Thereafter, the LORD reiterated His promise of a son. "My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year" (Genesis 17:21). As God promised, so He did. "And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken" (Genesis 21:1). Thus, Isaac was birthed as a result of God's promises. This is a picture of the only possible way that we could ever have become God's children, by His fulfilling of His promises, thereby proving His faithfulness through the man Jesus. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise."
More on God's Children by God's Promises
"Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son" . . . Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise . . . As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." (Galatians 4:28; and Colossians 2:6)
Once again, our verses reveal God as a faithful God of promises, Who brings forth spiritual children of promise. This truth not only dictates how we enter the family of God, for it also determines how we are to live as restored children of God.
Ishmael could not be counted as the true seed of Abraham, because he was the product of fleshly ingenuity. "Those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God." Only Isaac could be called the true seed. "But the children of the promise are counted as the seed ( this having a dual meaning because it also meets the requirement of Genesis 3:15)." This is true concerning us as well. We became God's children through faith in the promise of the gospel. "As many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12). We could not be redeemed by any fleshly provision, neither can we enter His salvation by fleshly means: "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). Isaac was born through faith in the promises of God. "For this is the word of promise: 'At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son'." We also are born again through faith in the promises of God. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise."
Children of promise are spiritually birthed by promise and spiritually developed by promise. Now that we have been born into God's Family by faith in His promises, we are to live day by day in the same way that we became His children. "As you have therefore received Christ, that walk and worked in Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." The parallel is simple and straightforward: "As . . . so." As we were saved, so we are to walk. We started out with the Lord by faith in the life-giving promise of the gospel "And this is the promise that He has promised us - - eternal life" (1John 2:25). We are to live each day by faith in the life-developing promises that are inherent to the gospel. "He who believes Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38).
The LORD willing I will continue with a few more of these daily teaching posts written by Pastor Hoekstra.
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