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2 Corinthians 1:
20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
I have been following a thread on another forum entitled “Is Israel’s chosen status unconditional?” After 25 replies and some very definitive statements, the word “promise” or “promises” has yet to appear!
The debate centers around the word ‘covenant’, specifically God’s covenant with Abram/Abraham which only applies to his natural descendants. The Lord gave Abram promises in Genesis 12 which were completely received by faith.
Genesis 12:
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family
and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Nothing about a covenant, or circumcision, which pertains only to the land of promise and his natural descendants.
Abram’s first act of faith was completed before the covenant of Genesis 15 was made.
Hebrews 11:
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
After arriving in the land of Canaan, Abram received this re-affirming promise:
Genesis 12:
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh.
And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”
And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
The Lord made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15 in response to his concern that he had no natural heir to receive the land of promise. The land of promise was designated quite specifically to be for a people who would serve as slaves for 400 years in Egypt. The Lord would personally bring them out and lead them to Canaan.
Genesis 15:
13 Then He said to Abram: Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,
and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
The promise that pertains to all the saints in Light is fully documented in the NT.
Genesis 15:
5 Then He brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.
And He said to him, So shall your descendants be.
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
The promise of innumerable descendants pertains to all nations by faith, not to the promise of land for the natural heirs. This also is fully documented in the apostolic doctrine. I would call to attention the fact that the Lord is communicating with Abram in a vision:
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.
This informs us that the Lord showed Abram the Cosmos as we only now are able to see in its vastness, which is why Paul states:
Romans 4:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Now many may remain in unbelief concerning this statement, and yet the Lord affirms this understanding when He states at the binding of Isaac:
Genesis 22:
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing,
and have not withheld your son, your only son—
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven
and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
We see two things that are noteworthy. First, ask any astronomer concerning the number of stars and how
that number would relate to the sand of the seashores and they would confirm the Word of God.
Secondly, we receive confirmation that Abram’s seed would be among all the nations of the earth,
who like Abram receive the Lord’s discipline by the Spirit unto knowing and heeding His Voice.
The Saints are heirs by promise, not the covenant, which is concerned with the natural heirs in the promised land,
and there is but one unbreakable bond in its formation.
Genesis 17:
9 And God said to Abraham: As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you:
Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.
Once again, this is fully confirmed in the New Testament, that the Saints are heirs by faith in the promises made,
not the Abram Covenant that pertains to the land and the flesh.
20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
I have been following a thread on another forum entitled “Is Israel’s chosen status unconditional?” After 25 replies and some very definitive statements, the word “promise” or “promises” has yet to appear!
The debate centers around the word ‘covenant’, specifically God’s covenant with Abram/Abraham which only applies to his natural descendants. The Lord gave Abram promises in Genesis 12 which were completely received by faith.
Genesis 12:
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family
and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Nothing about a covenant, or circumcision, which pertains only to the land of promise and his natural descendants.
Abram’s first act of faith was completed before the covenant of Genesis 15 was made.
Hebrews 11:
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise;
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
After arriving in the land of Canaan, Abram received this re-affirming promise:
Genesis 12:
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh.
And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”
And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
The Lord made a covenant with Abram in Genesis 15 in response to his concern that he had no natural heir to receive the land of promise. The land of promise was designated quite specifically to be for a people who would serve as slaves for 400 years in Egypt. The Lord would personally bring them out and lead them to Canaan.
Genesis 15:
13 Then He said to Abram: Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,
and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
The promise that pertains to all the saints in Light is fully documented in the NT.
Genesis 15:
5 Then He brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.
And He said to him, So shall your descendants be.
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
The promise of innumerable descendants pertains to all nations by faith, not to the promise of land for the natural heirs. This also is fully documented in the apostolic doctrine. I would call to attention the fact that the Lord is communicating with Abram in a vision:
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.
This informs us that the Lord showed Abram the Cosmos as we only now are able to see in its vastness, which is why Paul states:
Romans 4:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Now many may remain in unbelief concerning this statement, and yet the Lord affirms this understanding when He states at the binding of Isaac:
Genesis 22:
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing,
and have not withheld your son, your only son—
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven
and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
We see two things that are noteworthy. First, ask any astronomer concerning the number of stars and how
that number would relate to the sand of the seashores and they would confirm the Word of God.
Secondly, we receive confirmation that Abram’s seed would be among all the nations of the earth,
who like Abram receive the Lord’s discipline by the Spirit unto knowing and heeding His Voice.
The Saints are heirs by promise, not the covenant, which is concerned with the natural heirs in the promised land,
and there is but one unbreakable bond in its formation.
Genesis 17:
9 And God said to Abraham: As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you:
Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.
Once again, this is fully confirmed in the New Testament, that the Saints are heirs by faith in the promises made,
not the Abram Covenant that pertains to the land and the flesh.
