In Faith We May Appropriate God’s Promises

For every need that can arise in the life of any Christian, there is somewhere in God’s Word a promise that meets that need and which may be claimed through faith in Christ.

Whenever a need arises in the life of a Christian, therefore, there are three steps that he should take.

1. He should ask the Holy Spirit to direct him to the particular promise or promises that apply to his situation and meet his need.
2. He should obediently fulfil in his life the particular conditions attached to those promises.
3. He should positively expect their outworking in his experience.

This is faith in action, and faith of this kind is “the victory that has overcome the world” (1 John 5:4). The secret of this victory lies in knowing and applying the promises of God’s Word.

Peter states this same truth very forcefully.

“His [God’s] divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him.”

“[Christ] who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises.” (2 Pet. 1:3-4)

Here Peter’s message is in perfect agreement with that of Paul. He tells us that God has already provided us with all that we can ever need for life and godliness and that this provision is made available through Christ by the claiming of God’s promises.

In the Old Testament, under Joshua, God brought His people into a promised land. In the New Testament, under Jesus, God brings His people into a land of promises. The parallel is made more exact by the fact that Joshua and Jesus are two different forms of the same name.

In the Old Testament God showed Joshua the principle of active, personal, appropriating faith.

“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you.” (Josh. 1:3)

In the New Testament this principle remains the same. God says, in effect, “Every promise that you personally appropriate, I have given you.” However, it is necessary to add one word of warning: The great majority of God’s promises, in the Old and New Testament alike, are conditional. There are conditions attached which must be fulfilled before the promise can be claimed. For example:

“Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Ps. 37:5)

The promise here is: “And He shall bring it to pass” – that is, “He shall work out the way of the believer for him.” The two conditions which are stated first are: “commit your way” and “trust also in Him.” The word commit denotes a single definite act; the word trust denotes a continuing attitude.

Thus, the conditions attached to this promise may be interpreted as follows: 1) make a single, definite act of commitment, 2) thereafter maintain a continuing attitude of trust. When these two conditions have been fulfilled, the believer can then claim the ensuing promise, “He shall bring it to pass,” in whatever way is appropriate to his own particular situation.

This kind of active, appropriating faith is the key to victorious Christian living. It must be based on the promises of God’s Word, and it must follow the three successive steps:

• Find the appropriate promise
• Fulfil all the conditions attached
• Claim the fulfilment of the promise.

Subject to these conditions, the scope of the Christian’s faith is as wide as the promises of God.