Bulletin Article for July 2, 2006

The Promises Of God

by Micky Galloway

As we continue our discussion of the “promises of God,” again we are reminded that God “hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises: that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature…” (II Peter 1:4). As great as the promises are that God has made regarding our salvation, what a tragedy it is to commit one’s life and confidence to a promise God did NOT make. Many passages teach that man is saved by faith (John 3:16; John 3:36; John 5:24; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 5:1-2; Mark 16:16). In Romans 1:16-17, Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4 “…The just shall live by faith.” Man is saved (justified, sanctified, reconciled) through a SYSTEM of faith, not a system of works. From Romans 4 we learn that Abraham could not be justified through a system of works. How then was he just before God? Abraham believed God and that faith was made evident through years of faithful service (Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:8-19; James 2:20-24). Abraham depended on, believed in, and walked by Divine Revelation.

Problems arise however, when man believes that he is justified, sanctified, reconciled by FAITH ONLY. The Bible teaches that faith saves, but the religious world is divided over when faith saves. Some believe faith saves the alien sinner from all past sins (and some would say all future sins) the moment he believes, without any further acts of obedience. Thus, salvation by “faith only.” This is a promise God did NOT make!

Please consider what God DID PROMISE. (1) Jesus gave power “…to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:11-12). The believer has power to BECOME a son of God. The moment an alien sinner becomes a believer he is not yet a son of God. (2) In Acts 2:36-38, believers were told to “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” Here were believers still in their sins. (3) Saul of Tarsus was a believer on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:6). When Ananias came to him in the city, he was still a sinner. Ananias said to him, “…arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). (4) If salvation comes at the point of faith, then the demons are saved. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19). The devils believed Jesus was the Son of God for they confessed Him to be the Son of God (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34). Were the devils saved? No. (5) If one is saved at the moment he believes, he is saved with an unavailing faith. The faith that avails is the faith that works by love (Galatians 5:6). (6) If one is saved the moment he believes, then Jesus did not know it for He said, “He that believeth AND IS baptized shall be saved…” (Mark 16:16). (7) And Peter did not know it for he said, “…baptism doth also now save us…” (I Peter 3:21). (8) If one is saved the moment he believes, he is saved without being “in Christ” for one is baptized “into Christ” after he believes (Gal. 3:26-27). Remember salvation is “in Christ” (II Timothy 2:10), out of Christ there is no hope (Ephesians 2:11-12). (9) If one is saved the moment he believes, he is saved without being a member of the body of Christ, for one is baptized into the one body after he believes (I Corinthians 12:13). Since the body is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23), he would also be saved without being a member of the church of Christ (Romans 16:16). (10) If one is saved the moment he believes, he is saved by an imperfect faith, for faith is made perfect by works (James 2:22-24). (11) If one is saved the moment he believes, he is saved by a dead faith (James 2:26).

God has promised that saving faith works. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). Faith without works is dead (James 2:24-26). Faith that does not act is dead. Faith that produces no fruit is dead. A dead faith cannot please God.

Saving faith in Old Testament times worked the works God commanded. (1) “By faith Noah…prepared an ark…” (Hebrews 11:7). (2) “By faith Abraham…obeyed; and he went out…By faith he sojourned in the land of promise…By faith Abraham…offered up Isaac…” (Hebrews 11:8-17). (3) “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days” (Hebrews 11:30). (4) Many know John 3:16, but have no idea what John 3:14 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up…” In Numbers chapter 21, when the people of God murmured against Moses, God sent fiery serpents among them and many died (Numbers 21:6). In Numbers 21:8, God commanded Moses to “Make a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and…every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” The snake-bitten Jew had to believe and “look” to the brazen serpent. When his faith led him to look (obedience required), then he was healed.

New Testament examples illustrate that saving faith worked the works God commanded. In Acts 2:36-41, convicted sinners asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…Then they that gladly received his word were baptized…” (Acts 2:38-41). Saving faith led them to repentance and to baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. In Acts 8:26-40, the eunuch asked, “…what doth hinder me to be baptized?” The answer came when Philip said, “…If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Then “…they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” Saving faith led the eunuch to confess Christ as the Son of God and to be baptized in water. In Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus saw Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Saul’s faith led him to ask, “…Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” When told to go into the city and it would be told him what to do (Acts 9:6), Saul’s faith led him to go into the city. That same faith later led him to “…arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16; cf 9:18).

In the first century, saving faith led men: to repentance (Acts 2:38), to confession (Acts 8:37), to baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and to faithfulness unto death (Revelation 2:10). Truly, this is the man God has promised to save by faith (Ephesians 2:1-10).