Bible Verses About God's Promises
Introduction
The promises of God are the specific commitments that God has made to his people across the whole sweep of the biblical story, and they are the ground on which the entire life of faith rests. The faith that Hebrews 11 celebrates is not a diffuse religious confidence in a vaguely benevolent universe. It is the specific trust in the specific promises of a specific God who has committed himself to do specific things. Abraham left his homeland and traveled to a place he did not know because of the specific promise of a land and a people. Moses endured because he was looking ahead to the specific promise of reward. The heroes of faith held on through the testing not because they were optimistic but because they were promised.
The nature of the promises matters. The promises of God are not the wishes, the intentions, or the hopes of a God who is doing his best in difficult circumstances. They are the commitments of the sovereign God who has both the will and the power to accomplish what he has said. Numbers 23:19 establishes the ground: God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? The implied answer is no. The promises of the God who does not lie are the promises of the God who will do what he said.
The New Testament's great statement about the promises is 2 Corinthians 1:20: no matter how many promises God has made, they are Yes in Christ. The promises of the entire Old Testament find their fulfillment and guarantee in the person and work of Jesus. The promise of a seed to Abraham is Christ (Galatians 3:16). The promise of a new covenant is the covenant Jesus enacted at the last supper. The promise of the Spirit is the Pentecost of Acts 2. The promises are not the aspirations of the biblical story. They are the commitments that Christ has fulfilled and is fulfilling and will fully fulfill at his return.
These verses speak to anyone needing the ground of the specific promises beneath the feet of their faith, anyone whose circumstances have made the promises seem doubtful, and anyone wanting to understand how to hold and inhabit the promises that Scripture provides.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About God's Promises
The Hebrew word dabhar describes the word of God as the active, powerful speech that accomplishes what it addresses. The promise is not only a statement but an event: when God speaks the promise, something begins to happen toward the fulfillment. The Hebrew word shavah describes the oath, the sworn commitment that God makes to establish the reliability of the promise beyond the word alone.
The Greek word epangelia describes the promise as the specific announcement of what God will do: the promise that Abraham received, the promises that are Yes in Christ, and the promise of the Spirit. The word is used consistently for the commitment of God that forms the basis of the trust of the person who receives it. The Greek word bebaios describes the firm or reliable character of the promise that cannot be revoked: the confirmed, established promise that Paul uses for the security of the believer's standing in Christ.
Bible Verses About the Reliability of God's Promises
Numbers 23:19 — ("God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?")
The not human and does not lie and does not change his mind are the three negatives that establish the ground of trust in the promises. The rhetorical questions demand the answer no: the God who has made the promise is not the kind of being who speaks and fails to act or promises and fails to fulfill. The ground of the trust is the character of the one who promised rather than the circumstances that surround the promise.
Isaiah 55:11 — ("So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.")
The word that will not return empty but will accomplish is the active, purposeful nature of the divine promise. The promise is not only a statement about the future but the beginning of the movement toward the future the promise describes. The achieve the purpose for which I sent it establishes the intentionality: the promise is sent on a mission, and it will complete the mission. The reliability of the promise is the reliability of the God who sends it.
Hebrews 10:23 — ("Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.")
The for he who promised is faithful is the specific ground of the unswervingly holding: the hope is held without wavering not because the circumstances support it but because the character of the one who made the promise is the character of the faithful God. The he who promised is the one to whom attention is directed: the focus is the promiser rather than the promised thing.
Titus 1:2 — ("In the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.")
The God who does not lie as the guarantor of the promise that was made before the beginning of time is the most ancient grounding of the reliability available. The before the beginning of time establishes that the promise predates the world: the eternal life that is hoped for was promised before the person who hopes for it existed. The who does not lie is the character that makes the antiquity of the promise the ground of the present confidence.
Bible Verses About the Promises to Abraham
Genesis 12:2-3 — ("I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.")
The I will repeated five times is the form of the promise: God is committing himself to specific actions. The great nation and the great name and the blessing are the specific contents. The all peoples on earth will be blessed through you is the scope: the blessing that begins with one person and one family is the channel through which the blessing reaches every family on earth. The promise is both particular, to Abraham, and universal in its ultimate scope.
Romans 4:20-21 — ("Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.")
The fully persuaded that God had power to do what he promised is the faith of Abraham as Paul presents it: the comprehensive confidence in the ability of the God who made the promise to accomplish what he said. The being strengthened in his faith is the growth that the exercise of trust in the reliable promise produces. The gave glory to God is the response: the trust that holds the promise honors the God who made it.
Galatians 3:29 — ("If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.")
The heirs according to the promise is the New Testament's specific statement about the scope of the Abrahamic promise. The person who belongs to Christ has entered the lineage of the promise: the blessing that was announced to Abraham and his seed is the blessing that the person in Christ now inherits. The promise to Abraham is not the promise to the biological descendants alone but to all who are in the seed who is Christ.
Bible Verses About the Promises of Christ
2 Corinthians 1:20 — ("For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God.")
The no matter how many promises is the comprehensive scope: every promise in the whole of Scripture finds its fulfillment in Christ. The Yes in Christ establishes that the fulfillment is certain rather than conditional: the promises are not the possibilities that might be realized but the commitments that Christ has guaranteed. The Amen spoken through him is the human response: the affirmation of the Yes that God has spoken through Christ.
John 14:2-3 — ("My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.")
The I will come back and take you to be with me is the specific promise of the return of Christ and the receiving of the believer into the prepared place. The would I have told you establishes the trustworthiness: the promise is given because it is true. The that you also may be where I am is the content of the promise: the being with Christ where Christ is, which is the completion of the presence that the Spirit's indwelling begins.
Matthew 11:28 — ("Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.")
The I will give you rest is the specific promise to the weary and burdened: not the advice to find rest or the exhortation to seek rest but the direct promise of giving. The all establishes the scope: the invitation is not to the impressive or the worthy but to the weary and burdened specifically. The rest is the gift of the one who gives it rather than the achievement of the one who seeks it.
Bible Verses About Specific Promises for Daily Life
Philippians 4:19 — ("And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.")
The all your needs and the according to the riches of his glory are the comprehensiveness and the measure of the provision. The all establishes that no genuine need is outside the scope of the promise. The according to the riches of his glory is the measure: the provision is not the minimum that the promise requires but the abundant provision of the God whose riches are the riches of his own glory. The in Christ Jesus is the location: the provision flows from the one to whom the person belongs.
Romans 8:28 — ("And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.")
The in all things God works for the good is the promise that no circumstance, however difficult, falls outside the scope of the divine purposefulness. The we know establishes the confidence rather than the hope: this is the settled conviction of the person who has been called according to God's purpose. The all things includes the things that do not appear to be working for good: the promise is not that all things are good but that God is working for good in all things.
Isaiah 40:31 — ("But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.")
The renewing of strength for those who hope in the LORD is the specific promise for the person whose capacity has been depleted. The soar and run and walk are the three levels of the renewed energy: the exhilaration of the soaring, the sustained effort of the running, and the steady faithfulness of the walking. The will not grow weary and will not be faint are the negatives that the promise guarantees: the hope in the LORD is the specific provision against the depletion that the ordinary life produces.
Bible Verses About Receiving and Standing on God's Promises
Hebrews 11:33 — ("Who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised.")
The gained what was promised through faith is the testimony of the people of faith in Hebrews 11: the promises were received through the faith that held them rather than the circumstances that would have undermined them. The conquering, administering, and gaining are the specific activities of the person who has received the promises: the promises are not only the future hope but the present ground of the present activity.
2 Peter 1:4 — ("Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.")
The very great and precious promises as the means of participating in the divine nature is one of the most remarkable statements about the function of the promises in the New Testament. The promises are not only the assurance of future benefits but the means of the present transformation: the person who receives and inhabits the promises is the person who is being formed into the participation in the divine nature that the promises describe. The escaping the corruption is the liberation that the promises produce in the person who lives from them.
James 1:5 — ("If any of you lacks wisdom, let them ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to them.")
The it will be given to them is the promise that James attaches to the asking for wisdom. The gives generously to all without finding fault establishes the character of the giving: not the reluctant provision of the God who has to be persuaded but the generous giving of the God who gives gladly. The without finding fault is the specific provision for the person whose sense of unworthiness might prevent the asking: the fault-finding that would disqualify the request does not come from this God.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
God's promises are most honestly prayed from within the circumstances that seem to contradict them. These verses can become the specific prayers that claim what has been specifically committed.
Romans 8:28 — ("In all things God works for the good of those who love him.") Response: "This specific thing that I cannot see the good in: let me hold it within the all things. I do not need to see how you are working. I need to trust that you are. Let the promise be the ground I stand on."
Philippians 4:19 — ("My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory.") Response: "The specific need I have right now: I bring it to the all your needs. Let the riches of your glory be the measure of the provision rather than my ability to see how it could come."
Isaiah 40:31 — ("Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.") Response: "I am weary. The renewal is the promise rather than the achievement. Let the hoping in you be the posture from which the renewing comes rather than the effort that produces what I do not currently have."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about God's promises? The Bible presents the promises of God as the specific commitments of the faithful God who does not lie (Titus 1:2) and who does not change his mind (Numbers 23:19). The promises span the entire biblical story from the promise to Abraham that all peoples on earth would be blessed through his offspring to the promises of Christ's return and the new creation. Second Corinthians 1:20 establishes that every promise finds its Yes in Christ. Hebrews 11 presents the faith of the people of God across the biblical story as the specific trust in specific promises. The promises are not the aspirations of the story but the commitments that have been guaranteed by the character and the power of the God who made them.
How do you stand on God's promises when circumstances seem to contradict them? The examples of Hebrews 11 consistently show people who held the promises before the circumstances confirmed them: Abraham left without knowing where he was going. The disciples held the resurrection hope in the middle of the crucifixion. The practical standing on the promises involves the specific speaking of the specific promise into the specific situation that seems to contradict it. Romans 4:20-21 describes Abraham not wavering but being strengthened in his faith and giving glory to God: the exercising of the faith that holds the promise is itself the practice that strengthens the faith. The holding of the promise in the community of those who have witnessed the faithfulness of God is the provision for the individual who cannot sustain the holding alone.
What is the most important promise in the Bible? The promise that contains all the others is the promise of the new creation at which God will dwell permanently with his people, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and all things will be made new (Revelation 21:3-5). The second most comprehensive promise is the Yes of 2 Corinthians 1:20: no matter how many promises God has made, they are Yes in Christ. Practically, the promise of Romans 8:28 that God works for good in all things, the promise of Philippians 4:19 that God will meet all needs, and the promise of Isaiah 40:31 that those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength are among the promises that the people of God have found most sustaining across the life of faith.
Does God always fulfill his promises immediately? No. The pattern of the biblical story is of promises that are held for a long time before they are fulfilled. Abraham waited decades for the promised son. The promises of the prophets about the new covenant were held for centuries before their fulfillment in Christ. The promise of Christ's return has been held for nearly two thousand years. Hebrews 11:39-40 acknowledges that the great people of faith did not receive what had been promised in their lifetimes but saw it from a distance and welcomed it. The patience that James 5:7-8 commends, the farmer who waits for the autumn and spring rains, is the specific virtue for the gap between the promise and its fulfillment.
How should knowing God's promises change the way we pray? The specific promises of God are the specific content that prayer can bring before him as the ground of the request. The children of God who bring the promise of Matthew 7:7's ask and it will be given, the person who brings the promise of Philippians 4:19 to a specific need, and the community that holds the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 as the ground of its prayer for restoration are all praying differently from the person who approaches God without the specific promises as the ground of the asking. The promises do not constrain God to the specific form in which the person imagines the fulfillment. They establish the character of the God who is being approached and the specific commitments that the asking can rely on.
