The Truth about God's Promise

"I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.  Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."  Genesis 22:16-18 (Italics Mine)

I was taught that God's promises to Abraham were "unconditional."  That it didn't matter what Abraham did or didn't do.  I was taught that God's promise and oath to Abraham had nothing at all to do with what Abraham did and didn't do.  But what I'm seeing is that from the beginning, God's promises to Abraham were in fact conditioned on Abraham's faith, which expressed itself in works of obedience.

As it is written in Hebrews 11,

• by faith Abraham obeyed God and went to an unknown destination and land
• he lived in this foreign land by faith, actively moving to and living there
• and he was about to kill his only beloved son Isaac, whom Abraham believed would be raised from the dead.

In other words, Abraham did things that expressed his faith.  And if he had refused to do those things, God would not have fulfilled the promises to Abraham.  I take that from what God said after Abraham passed the test of not withholding his only beloved son Isaac.

God said that because Abraham did not withhold Isaac, God would surely bless him, which must imply the opposite:  that if Abraham withheld his son Isaac, God would not have surely blessed him.  God said all of the nations on earth will be blessed because Abraham obeyed him. (Not because Abraham believed in God or had faith, which of course was accounted to Abraham as righteousness.  I'm not talking about Abraham's righteousness.  Even if I were, Abraham's righteousness was also conditioned upon Abraham's faith.  Faith is the condition of righteousness.  And faith isn't passive mental consent that God exists, or that God is trustworthy.)

Again, before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, he spoke of Abraham as one with whom God could share His plans because Abraham would direct his children to keep the way of the Lord so that the Lord would bring about what He had promised.  Which means that God would not be able to bring about what He had promised if Abraham was not going to direct his children to keep the way of the Lord.

I don't see that God's promises are unconditionally given, any more than anyone else can unconditionally, or unrelationally promise anything.  A husband promises his wife that he will remain with her until death separates them, but the implied condition is that she remains faithfully with him as well.  If she leaves or commits adultery, he is by no means obligated to unconditionally keep his marital vow to her.  Some of us say, "Well, God is not a man.  After all, even if we are unfaithful, he remains faithful."  Of course that's true.  Even the hypothetical husband would remain faithful even if his wife was unfaithful, meaning he was not the unfaithful spouse, but she was.  But that doesn't mean he must stay with her to be faithful, even if she commits adultery and leaves him.  Marriage vows are not "unconditional."  God is our husband, and His vows are not unconditional either.

We have a part to play in the experience of God's faithfulness in keeping His promises, just as we have a part to play in human relationships where promises are made.  Even if a one way promise is made, like if a husband supposedly makes a promise to never leave his wife, even if she leaves him, or to never be unfaithful to her, even if she is unfaithful to him, or to never divorce her, even if she divorces him...she can still leave, commit adultery, and divorce him.  And what can he do then?  Are they still married even after she divorces him and lives with someone else?  Even if they are, and she is living in adultery, what kind of relationship can she experience with her husband?  Can he fulfill his vow to her while she is in bed with another man, even if she remains his wife?  Or if we go to as far an extreme example as possible, what if she has her husband killed, so that she is "free from the law of marriage?"  Obviously, the dead husband is also free from his vow.

The point I'm making is this:  we are in a relationship with God.   And every relationship by definition involves mutual responses.  Even though God is the initiator, we are responders, and our responses to him determine our experiences of Him and His promise.  And what is His promise?

God promised that through Abraham's "offspring all nations on earth will be blessed."  Abraham's "offspring" is the Lord Jesus.  And the blessing is salvation, which comes to us by faith in the Lord Jesus, expressed in our obedience to Him, as the Lord said, "If you love you, you will keep my commands."  And as the apostle Paul said, "The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself in love."  So if we put together what the Lord and Paul said, we see that faith in the Lord expresses itself in love for the Lord, and love for the Lord expresses itself in obeying the Lord.  Therefore, faith in the Lord expresses itself in us obeying the Lord.  This is our salvation.  This is the truth about God's promise.  May you be encouraged in your faith, love, and obedience to the Lord.