Standing On The Promises

Somebody emailed me this week with a question about whether or not it is the right thing to do as a new testament Christian to claim the promises of God to Abraham. It's a good question, and one with an answer that is thrilling to those who understand it.

The answer is no. We don't claim the promises of Abraham. The Apostle Paul explained why that is the case in Galatians 3:16. He wrote:

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.

Paul makes it clear that when God told Abraham that His promises would be fulfilled in Abraham's seed, He didn't mean the Jewish people. He meant one person. Paul makes the distinction that there's a reason God said "seed" and not "seeds."

The promises of God have all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20) Everything the Father has ever promised has been fulfilled in the Son.

Now, here's the exciting part: Jesus Christ lives inside you! If Jesus is the fulfillment of all God's promises and He is your very life, then the fulfillment of every promise of God is already yours in Christ! I grew up singing the old hymn, "Standing On The Promises," but the truth of the Bible is that we don't stand on promises. We stand in the grace of God which has come to us through Jesus Christ, bringing the fulfillment of every promise He has made.

It is Jesus, "through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:2) that has brought the fulfillment of God's promises to us. We have "received every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:3).

Maybe a new verse for the old hymn could say,

Standing in the Person of Christ, my King,
By God's grace, I now have everything,
Resting in what He has done, I now can sing,
Standing in the finished work of Christ!