Can every promise given in Scripture be directly applied to us today? For example, Israel was told:
But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you (Deut 9:3).
Has God promised us the same thing regarding our enemies? Has He even promised us a land?
Or how about this promise made to King Zedekiah?
'Yet hear the promise of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die peacefully (Jer 34:4-5).
Can we claim this promise for ourselves? Most would say, “Of course not! All these verses were given to a specific person or people under specific circumstances; and besides, they were plucked out of the middle of the OT.”
Well then let’s look in the NT. What about this promise?
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you (Lk 10:19).
Or this one?
And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained” (Jn 20:22-23).
Have we been given the power to tread on serpents unharmed or to discern and declare whose sins are forgiven?
There’s an old saying about being careful when reading other people’s mail. If a father writes a letter to his son promising him his pocket-watch when he dies, his daughter can’t read that same letter and claim the promise of the pocket-watch for herself. She can learn things about her father by reading the letter, and even apply general family-related things to herself, but she can’t directly apply things that were meant exclusively for her brother. In the same way, we must be careful to interpret Scripture within its context and ask ourselves: To whom was it written? What were the circumstances? What specific things can I directly apply to myself? What general principles can I apply? And, have things changed since then? (Watch for the progression of Scripture!)
Keeping all this in mind, what about the following promises regarding prayer? How are we to view these verses? Are we to claim them as direct promises to us today?
If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven (Matt 18:19).
Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mk 11:23-26).
I will do whatever you ask in my name…You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (Jn 14:13-14).
The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (Jn 15:16).
I tell you the truth, My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (Jn 16:23).
Notice that all these verses are from the gospels, which tells us several things right off the bat. First of all, Christ had not yet died and rose again throughout most of what takes place in them; second, people then were still under the law; third, miracles were being performed by Jesus Christ, but also by his disciples (Mk 6:7-13).
Additionally, these accounts all speak of the same promise. And to whom was this promise given? In every case it was given to the 12 apostles (see Matt 18:20 post here). But can every word addressed to the apostles be intended to apply to all believers at all times? For example, look at John 14:12. Is every believer to be endowed with miraculous powers equal to or greater than those performed by Jesus Christ Himself? We are quick to say, “Of course not.” So should we then suppose that the verses that immediately follow are for universal application?
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:11-14).
It seems obvious that in all these verses Jesus was giving special powers to the 12 apostles to perform miracles at that time. And in fact we do see the apostles performing extraordinary miracles in His name, especially in the beginning of Acts after Christ's ascension.
Though no one may dare limit what God will do for the believer today, we need to realize that in this time of grace we live by faith, not by sight, and that ours is a higher privilege as those “who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).” If everything we asked for in His name was given to us, faith would sink to a lower level, and the whole standard and character of the believer's walk would be altered. In fact, when we look at Paul’s life, we see that the sufferings toward the end of his life show a higher faith than the miracles of his earlier ministry.
Moreover, many of Paul’s letters contain accounts of unanswered prayers. One time he pleaded three times with the Lord to fix his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7-8), but did God say to him, “I will do whatever you ask in my name?” Not at all. The Lord told him that His grace would be enough for him. And, “…My strength is made perfect in weakness...” (2 Cor. 12:9). We always want God to fix our problems, but He wants to show us the sufficiency of His grace and His power working in our lives.
But wait, what about James 5:14-15?
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.
Because James is a rather difficult book (in fact, Luther referred to it as an "epistle of straw") and because this blog post is already quite long, I think I will tackle James 5:14-15 separately sometime in the future.
But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you (Deut 9:3).
Has God promised us the same thing regarding our enemies? Has He even promised us a land?
Or how about this promise made to King Zedekiah?
'Yet hear the promise of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die peacefully (Jer 34:4-5).
Can we claim this promise for ourselves? Most would say, “Of course not! All these verses were given to a specific person or people under specific circumstances; and besides, they were plucked out of the middle of the OT.”
Well then let’s look in the NT. What about this promise?
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you (Lk 10:19).
Or this one?
And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained” (Jn 20:22-23).
Have we been given the power to tread on serpents unharmed or to discern and declare whose sins are forgiven?
There’s an old saying about being careful when reading other people’s mail. If a father writes a letter to his son promising him his pocket-watch when he dies, his daughter can’t read that same letter and claim the promise of the pocket-watch for herself. She can learn things about her father by reading the letter, and even apply general family-related things to herself, but she can’t directly apply things that were meant exclusively for her brother. In the same way, we must be careful to interpret Scripture within its context and ask ourselves: To whom was it written? What were the circumstances? What specific things can I directly apply to myself? What general principles can I apply? And, have things changed since then? (Watch for the progression of Scripture!)
Keeping all this in mind, what about the following promises regarding prayer? How are we to view these verses? Are we to claim them as direct promises to us today?
If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven (Matt 18:19).
Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mk 11:23-26).
I will do whatever you ask in my name…You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (Jn 14:13-14).
The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (Jn 15:16).
I tell you the truth, My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (Jn 16:23).
Notice that all these verses are from the gospels, which tells us several things right off the bat. First of all, Christ had not yet died and rose again throughout most of what takes place in them; second, people then were still under the law; third, miracles were being performed by Jesus Christ, but also by his disciples (Mk 6:7-13).
Additionally, these accounts all speak of the same promise. And to whom was this promise given? In every case it was given to the 12 apostles (see Matt 18:20 post here). But can every word addressed to the apostles be intended to apply to all believers at all times? For example, look at John 14:12. Is every believer to be endowed with miraculous powers equal to or greater than those performed by Jesus Christ Himself? We are quick to say, “Of course not.” So should we then suppose that the verses that immediately follow are for universal application?
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:11-14).
It seems obvious that in all these verses Jesus was giving special powers to the 12 apostles to perform miracles at that time. And in fact we do see the apostles performing extraordinary miracles in His name, especially in the beginning of Acts after Christ's ascension.
Though no one may dare limit what God will do for the believer today, we need to realize that in this time of grace we live by faith, not by sight, and that ours is a higher privilege as those “who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).” If everything we asked for in His name was given to us, faith would sink to a lower level, and the whole standard and character of the believer's walk would be altered. In fact, when we look at Paul’s life, we see that the sufferings toward the end of his life show a higher faith than the miracles of his earlier ministry.
Moreover, many of Paul’s letters contain accounts of unanswered prayers. One time he pleaded three times with the Lord to fix his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7-8), but did God say to him, “I will do whatever you ask in my name?” Not at all. The Lord told him that His grace would be enough for him. And, “…My strength is made perfect in weakness...” (2 Cor. 12:9). We always want God to fix our problems, but He wants to show us the sufficiency of His grace and His power working in our lives.
But wait, what about James 5:14-15?
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.
Because James is a rather difficult book (in fact, Luther referred to it as an "epistle of straw") and because this blog post is already quite long, I think I will tackle James 5:14-15 separately sometime in the future.
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