When Promises Aren't Promises

When Promises aren’t Promises

I will give just one of many possible examples to illustrate how easy it is to imagine God has promised every believer something, when we have merely ripped a verse out of context and forced into God’s mouth a promise he has not given us. I chose this example because it is popularly believed. At the same time, however, I dare not imply that God can never take words out of context and use them as a promise to an individual. It is not for me to tell the Almighty what he cannot do! But it is also not for us to tell him what he must do, unless he has specifically promised it to us. For example, I do not consider it impossible for God to want someone to go to Macedonia and one day that person is reading Acts 16 and suddenly Paul’s call to Macedonia leaps out of the page at him and God uses it to speak to his heart that he should go there. Nevertheless, it is obviously ridiculous to claim that God is telling every Christian to go to Macedonia just because Scripture says God told Paul to go there.

I therefore find it easy to believe that God could speak to you personally through a few verses later (Acts 16:31) and promise you that all your family will be saved. Nevertheless, this would have to be a dramatic personal revelation direct from God because this is not a promise that every Christian can claim. Paul was speaking specifically to one man – the Philippian jailer. The apostle immediately preached to the jailer’s entire household. They all responded and were baptized on the spot. If this simple statement were a promise for every Christian, it would be stated clearly elsewhere in Scripture. In contrast, 1 Corinthians 7:15-16 implies that it is uncertain whether or not an unbelieving partner will be won to the Lord, even though, of course, it is not God’s desire that anyone should perish.

Your loved ones might indeed come to the Lord and you should faithfully pray and gently work toward that goal. The point, however, is that without God specifically and unmistakably promising you salvation of your loved ones, you cannot claim that Acts 16 guarantees it.

Jesus proclaimed, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” He then raised Lazarus from the dead. If we do not claim this as a general promise to all Christians whose loved ones have been dead for four days, what right have we to do it with other statements that are directed at an individual and not taught throughout the rest of Scripture?

God-honoring faith in a divine decree is a spiritual world away from presumptuously stuffing words into God’s mouth. Until we hear from God we can do nothing but act like Peter staying in the boat and saying, “If that’s you, Lord, tell me to come.” Unless we submissively wait and ask, what we claim to be faith is nothing but arrogance that exposes us to the need to be taught a lesson. Once Jesus gives the word, however, we can step out on that word, and participate in a miracle.

Even personal words from God, whether they come direct from God or through someone else, need prayerful interpretation. Is it truly from God or is some human fallibility mixed with the word? John Bevere’s Thus Saith the Lord? (Creation House, 1999) expounds several reasons why a “word from God” might not be from God, regardless of how undeniably supernatural it is and despite the high reputation of the person claiming to speak for God. In addition, even a personal word from God often comes with conditions that are not spelt out. For instance, the prophet Jonah’s pronouncement that in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed made no mention of any possibility of avoiding this fate. The mere fact that they were being told ahead of time, however, implied that there was still a chance to avert destruction. The people repented and the city was untouched. Anyone not understanding the nature of prophecy would conclude that Jonah’s word could not have been from God since it never happened the way he said it would.

The infallible Lord always keeps his promises, but we do not always infallibly interpret his promises.