The Bible is full of promises from God to His children. According to bibleq.net – “The Bible is so full of God’s promises, that it is not really possible to count them. Some people have tried and come up with about 3000. Others have counted 7000. Herbert Lockyer wrote a book called All the promises of the Bible and claims to list 8000.”[i]

While God made some of these promises to a specific individual or group of people, many were for anyone who believes in God through Christ. Second Corinthians 1:20 tells us the promises of God to His children come through Jesus. When we accept salvation through Jesus, we become the children of God and the promises of God are applied to us. We are “partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). Galatians 3:29 explains, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

The promises we receive as New Testament believers fulfill and exceed the promises made to the children of Israel in the Old Testament. Hebrews 8:6 (ESV) states, “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” If we see an Old Testament promise and are not sure if it applies to us, we can assure ourselves that we have better promises through Christ.

Say “Yes” to the Promises

All our promises become ‘yes’ in Christ. ‘Yes’ is an affirmative answer or decision. While we cannot expect God to answer our every prayer with ‘yes,’ we can expect Him to apply every promise in an affirmative way. We can also expect Him to answer every prayer with a ‘yes’ decision. When we ask for anything that is not good for us, God sovereignly replaces what we want with what is best – His ‘yes.’

There are many ‘yes’ promises in the Bible. Second Peter 1:4 tells us, “by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” God uses these exceedingly great and precious promises to transform us into the image of Jesus so that we can exhibit His divine nature and live above the corruption of this world.

Here are just a few of the many promises from God:

“And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life” (1 John 2:25).

“For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b).

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life … nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:4-5).

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

Say “Amen” to the Promises

God gives us these and many more promises. They are all ‘yes’ through Jesus. They are also ‘amen.’ We can respond to the promises we read in His Word by saying ‘amen.’ Amen shows affirmation. It means we believe the promise is trustworthy and we expect God to fulfill it. Amen also means ‘so be it.’ When we say ‘amen’ to a promise of God, we are saying – let it be just as God has said it shall be.

Stand Firm on the Promises

Saying ‘yes and amen’ is the first step of acting on God’s promises. After we do so, we must continue to believe and stand firm in our faith. Joshua 21:45 (NIV) declares, “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; everyone was fulfilled.” Neither will any of the promises made to the children of God through Christ fail. For this reason, we should be like Abraham as described in Romans 4:20, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.” We will grow strong in our faith as we learn to recognize and believe the promises of God’s Word.

As we read His Word, we can look for the promises. When we see them, we can respond with, ‘Yes and Amen,’ and choose to stand firmly on them trusting God to fulfill them as He sees best.

“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.” 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)

What is your favorite promise from God’s Word?

How do you choose to stand on this promise?

All Scriptures are quoted from the NKJV unless otherwise indicated.

[i] How Many Promises are in the Bible. https://bibleq.net/answer/650/