Quick Summary of the Promise

Summarized from ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 4 The Promise

The Word is bound together with the Promise of a Savior. Sometimes called a covenant. God’s side of a covenant is always a promise, because no one can make Him deliver.

Genesis 3:15 The promise is made
Genesis 6:18, 9:9, 9:25-27 the promise is given to Noah
Genesis 12:1-3 Abraham inherits the promise, details of a land and descendants added
Genesis 13, 15, 17, 22, 24, 26, and 28 The promise inherited by Isaac and Jacob
Exodus 2:24, 6:8, 12:25 Israel rescued from Egypt because of the promise
Deuteronomy 6:1-4 the Law as part of the covenant or promise
Joshua 1:3 promise given to Moses
2 Sam. 7:11-16 Promise given to David, with more details of a son and a kingdom forever
1 Chronicles 16:14-18 David summarizes the promise or covenant
Acts 2:38-39 Peter says repent to receive the promise which is for all who are called
Acts 13:23-24 Jesus, son of David, brought to Israel as a Savior as promised
Romans 1:1-4 the gospel of God promised beforehand through the prophets concerning His Son
Romans 4:16 the promise guaranteed to all by faith through grace
Galatians 3:29 if we belong to Christ we are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise
Ephesians 2:12 we were separate from Christ, strangers to the covenants of promise
2 Peter 3:9 the Lord is not slow about His promise, wishing all to come to repentance
1 John 2:25 Eternal life is the promise

There are more verses scattered throughout the Word. Try the words ‘covenant’ and ‘promise’ in a good Bible software search and see what you can come up with. Good books on the subject are The Promise-Plan of God by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and The Prophets and the Promise by Willis Judson Beecher.

The Second Sermon on the Mount

From ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 7 The Second Sermon on the Mount

Matthew in chapters five, six and seven of his gospel account records for us the second Sermon on the Mount. Yeah, I said second because the first was at Mt. Sinai with Moses, who relayed it to Israel. The second is similar to the first; even identical. Since Jesus actually gave both sermons, we would expect they would sound alike, which they do. In fact, what we really have here is Jesus cutting through man’s false teachings about what He set down at Sinai. He repeats His message over and over and over and over in the Bible. Man’s interpretations or applications of the Law to that point were lacking, so Jesus corrected them.

In 5:17 He says He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill. The word ‘abolish’ is clear – it means eliminate (or destroy, or change). As in ‘I did not come to eliminate the Law.’ It wouldn’t make very much sense for Jesus to say, “I did not come to abolish the Law, but to abolish it.” The word ‘fulfill,’ used as the opposite of ‘abolish,’ means to interpret correctly so that words are given their proper meaning. It’s clear in this context Jesus is saying He would not destroy the Law through wrong interpretation. So we can read this statement as, ‘I did not come to remove or destroy or change the Law, but to correctly interpret it so it would be put back on a firm foundation.’

The word ‘fulfill’ by itself also means to ‘fill up full,’ as in filling up the foundation forms of a house with cement. Jesus cements His intention by telling us that even the tiniest part of God’s Law will not change until heaven and earth pass away. Some try to make the phrase “until all is accomplished” to mean Jesus changed the Law through the resurrection. But heaven and earth certainly did not pass away at that time. Therefore the Law still stands, placed on firm foundation by the Giver and Interpreter. It is still absolutely applicable to everyone.

Whole Bible Christianity book draft

Read the Bible

Did you read your Bible today? Do you read it everyday? If not, why not? How many hours did you put into watching TV instead? Did you think about His Word? Did you face a choice to follow His Word or ignore it? Did you even know there was a choice?

The Bible is the book of life. “Living oracles” as Stephen says. His word can impart life. It is the most important book in history. TV, radio, Facebook, Twitter, Harry Potter books, movies about vampires do not impart life. They distract us from the path of Life. A little amusement is fine, but did you read your Bible today?

Jesus was flogged with whips that had tips of bone and other sharp objects tied on them, and He was made to carry His own execution stake to a hill where He was nailed to it alive. He spent torturous hour after hour hanging there, trying to breath by pushing up against the nail in his feet and pulling up against the nails in His hands. His flayed back (likely cut to the bone) scraped against the rough wood with every breath. And He didn’t do one thing to deserve it. All He asks of us is in return is to abide in His Word of life.

So tell me, did you read your Bible today?