07. Whose Are The Promises?
VII. Whose Are the Promises? THE Lord is ever just and good towards his creatures: it is his nature so to be. But there was no necessity either in his justice or in his goodness that he should make promises of grace to those who had rebelled against him. Man has forfeited every form of claim upon his Maker, which he may have thought he had; for he has broken the pure and holy law which he was under bond to have obeyed. Nothing is now due to man but the reward of his sins. If God should now deal with man upon the ground of strict justice he must condemn and punish him. Anything in the way of favour to a guilty creature must proceed only from the undeserved mercy and sovereign goodness of God: it must spring spontaneously from the goodwill and pleasure of the Most High. The promises of grace flow from the boundless love of God, and from that alone. They could not have proceeded from any other source. No single one of the race of man has any natural right to promises of blessing, nor can the whole world of men deserve them. God has made promises to men of his own free will and good pleasure, from no motive but that love which lies within himself.
He has chosen to make his promises to elect persons, who in process of time are discovered by their exercising faith in him. Those whom God has chosen are led by the Holy Spirit to choose God and his way of salvation by faith in Christ Jesus. Those of the elect that come to years of discretion are led to faith in Jesus; and all who have faith in him may conclude beyond doubt that they are of the chosen number to whom the promises are given. To those who live and die in unbelief there is no absolute and personal promise of God: they are not under grace but under law, and to them belong the threatenings and not the promises. These prefer another method of dealing to that of gracious promise, and in the end they perish as the result of their foolish preference. The chosen of the Lord are led to relinquish the proud way of self and merit: they take to the road of faith, and so find rest unto their souls. To believe the word of God, and to trust in him whom God has sent to be our Saviour may seem a small thing; but indeed it is not so: it is the sign of election, the token of regeneration, the mark of coming glory. So to believe that God is true as to rest one's eternal interests upon his promise, bespeaks a heart reconciled to God, a spirit in which the germ of perfect holiness is present. When we believe God as he is revealed in Christ Jesus, we believe all his promises. Confidence in the Person involves confidence in all that he speaks: hence we accept all the promises of God as being sure and certain. We do not trust one promise and doubt another, but we rely upon each one as true, and we believe it to be true to us so far as it has respect to our condition and circumstances. We argue from general statements to particular applications. He who has said that he will save those who believe in him will save me since I believe in him; and every blessing which he has engaged to bestow upon believers he will bestow upon me as a believer. This is sound reasoning, and by it we justify the faith by which we live and are comforted. Not because I deserve anything, but because God has freely promised it to me in Christ Jesus, therefore I shall receive it: this is the reason and ground of our hope.
One wonders at first sight that all men do not believe God. It would seem as if this mark of divine election would be universally present; for God cannot lie, and there is no reason to suspect him of change, or failure of ability to keep his word. Yet, so false is the heart of man, that man doubts his Maker. He hates his God, and therefore disbelieves him. It is the surest proof of man's natural enmity against God that he dares to impute falsehood to one who is truth itself. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave, of his Son" (1 John 5:10).
Real, practical trust in the living God, easy as it seems to be, is a virtue which was never practised by an unrenewed heart. The glorious atonement made by the incarnate Son of God is worthy of the reliance of all mankind. One would have imagined that every sinner would have washed at once in this cleansing fountain, and without hesitation would have believed in the divine Redeemer: but it is very far from being so. Men will not come unto Christ that they may have life. They would rather trust in anything than in the sacrifice of Jesus. Until the Holy Ghost works a miracle upon a man, he will not confide in the great sacrifice which God has provided and accepted for the putting away of guilt. Hence it is that this simple, common-place matter of faith, yet becomes the distinguishing mark of the chosen of the Lord. No other token is so infallible: "He that believeth on him hath everlasting life." Feelings and actions may all serve as evidences; but the master evidence of an interest in the promise of God is faith in him. "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness": there were many other good points in the patriarch's character, but this was the decisive one,—he believed God; indeed, this was the root of all else that was commendable in him.
Worldly-wise men despise faith, and set it in contrast with virtuous action; but this contrast is not fair: one might as well contrast a fountain with its stream, or the sun with its own heat. If true faith be the mother of holiness, let the mother grace have praise because of its offspring, and let it not be contrasted therewith. Such unfair reasoning comes of wanton malice: if men loved good works as much as they pretend to do, they would love the faith which produces them.
God loves faith because it honours him, and also because it leads to acts of obedience to him, which obedience includes love to our fellow-men. There is more in faith than meets the eye. It is in one aspect the greatest of all good works, even as our Lord Jesus teaches us. The Jews said to him (John 6:28-29), "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? "They would fain perform godlike works, works above all others approved of the Lord. Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." As much as to say—the most divinely approved work possible to you, is to believe in the Messiah. To trust in the Lord Jesus is the climax of virtue. Proud men may sneer, but this statement is true. "Without faith it is impossible to please God;" but "he that believeth in him is not condemned." The promise is made to him that believes the promise, and to him it shall be fulfilled. He who embraces the promise is embraced by the promise. He who accepts Christ is accepted in Christ. He who truly believes is surely saved.
Reader, do you believe your God?