The Promise Code: 40 Bible Promises Every Believer Should Claim

INTRODUCTION

Promises made are always appreciated. But promises kept are what mean the most. It is one thing to make a promise and quite another to keep it. Every one of us can attest to the validity of that truth. We all have had our own experiences of promises that were made and never kept. However, there is someone to whom this does not apply. Did you know that the Bible is replete with promises God has made . . . to you . . . and that He has a perfect record of keeping all His promises?

Though we are good at making promises, we often become lax when it comes to keeping them. But this never happens with God. Whether we keep our promises or not is based on the content of our character. An unrepentant, repeat thief may appear before a judge and promise never to steal again. But his trustworthiness, based on his past recurring behavior, does not attest to his sincerity. Because of the thief’s lack of character and trustworthiness, a judge would never declare such a man innocent. So, how can we trust God and the promises He has made to us? Because of His character and the fact that the Bible declares that it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). His Word is His bond. Your Bible is laced on every page with promises He has made to you—promises He wants you to claim as your very own. It is one thing to read the Bible and struggle with its precepts and quite another thing to believe the Bible and stand on its promises.

One thing I learned early on in my own Christian experience is that in the kingdom of God we do not live by explanations; we live by promises. Do you remember Naaman, the commander of the king’s armies of Syria? He contracted leprosy and searched out every medical specialist providing every possible cure that could be found, but to no avail. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt, he approached the prophet Elisha. The man of God gave him instructions to go to the Jordan River and immerse himself seven times with the promise that he would then be cured.

Infuriated by what he considered an absurdity, Naaman got back in his chariot and sped away. However, he was fortunate enough to have a servant with him who pointed out the truth that he had nothing to lose. So the proud conqueror approached the Jordan River, took off his royal robes, and submerged himself seven times. When he emerged after the seventh dip, the Bible records, his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean (2 Kings 5:14). Naaman obeyed the promise and found his cure. But, like some of us, he almost missed the opportunity for healing because he was looking for an explanation—when God had given him a promise. In God’s kingdom we do not live by explanations, we live by Bible promises.

In God’s kingdom we do not live by explanations; we live by Bible promises.

The Promise Code is designed to lead you into a new lifestyle of trusting in, and living by, the promises of God. This is how we live the faith life. The Bible declares that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Finding God’s promise to you in His Word and standing on it is what produces your own faith, the kind of faith God says can still move mountains (Matthew 17:20).

A few of God’s promises to us are unconditional, not based on anything we might do or not do. One such promise is found in the sign of the rainbow signifying God’s pledge to never destroy the world again by a flood (Genesis 9:13–16). However, most of God’s promises to you and to me are conditional. He promises to forgive us our sins. But in the same verse, there is an if. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Many of God’s promises are prefaced with an if, which is followed by a then. We see this in one of the most repeated of God’s promises: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14, emphasis added).

Throughout centuries of the Christian experience, the promises of God have sustained His people. When all hope seemed lost, believers have held to the promises of God. If there was ever a day the family of God needed to leave their explanations behind and cling to the promises of God’s Word, it is today.

Let’s begin the journey of discovering forty of the most precious promises in the Bible, coming to an understanding of what is behind them, and then claiming them for our very own. But let me be clear: you don’t find a Bible promise. It is not like playing Russian roulette with the Word of God by simply opening your Bible, closing your eyes, and letting your finger fall on a particular verse to claim. No, you don’t find a Bible promise. Bible promises find you! In the normal traffic pattern of your daily Bible reading, God has His way of reaching down by His Spirit and quickening a verse to your heart so you know that it is His special promise just to you—in your own snapshot in time—and right at the point of your particular need. So, let’s turn the page and begin the great adventure of unlocking the Promise Code and living our lives by the promises of God’s Word.

1

THE PROMISE OF A 

BRIGHTER TOMORROW

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

—ROMANS 8:28

No volume on the precious promises of God would be complete without mention of the one that has, perhaps, brought more hope to believers and the one that has so often sustained our faith as we have attempted to navigate our way through various difficult seasons of life. That, of course, would be found here in the words of Paul to the Romans. This is the one verse on which I have personally climbed atop and taken my stand, finding refuge and hope in times of confusion and need.

THE PROMISE IS CONSTRUCTIVE IN ITS APPEAL

As we dissect the elements of this powerful and very personal promise, we immediately note that it is constructive in its appeal. Paul assured us that things work together. This is one of the most comforting thoughts in all Scripture; things that come our way in life have a supernatural way of working together for our good. They can be constructive in nature. As you look back over your own faith journey, consider the events that, in the moment, seemed disastrous yet had a way of actually working out for good. This verse is a reminder that God Himself is behind the scenes in our lives, and things have their own way—not by accident or by blind chance—of working together for our good.

In the language of the New Testament, one Greek word translates this entire phrase, things work together. The word is synergia, and we derive our English word synergy from it. A constructive and synergistic principle is at work in our lives. This certainly does not mean that everything that comes our way is good. In fact, many of us are confronted with issues that are downright bad and painful. You may be faced with financial setbacks, sickness, disappointment, and so on. However, this verse assures us that God can take our mistakes, messes, and misfortunes and work them together for our good and His glory.

God can take our mistakes, messes, and misfortunes and work them together for ourgood and His glory.

King David captured this truth and recorded these poignant words for posterity: It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes (Psalm 119:71).

THE PROMISE IS COMPREHENSIVE IN ITS APPROACH

Not only is this promise constructive in its appeal, it is comprehensive in its approach. The promise says, "All things work together for good. When I meditate on this promise, I am prone to ask myself if I can really believe it. Had Paul said some things or many things or even most things it would be a bit more palatable. But all things"? All things can include unfair things. This was certainly true for Joseph, who was sold into slavery, taken to a foreign land, falsely accused of a crime, and thrown into an Egyptian dungeon. Also, consider the one from whom these words flowed. Paul was shipwrecked at Malta, stoned at Lystra and left for dead, and repeatedly beaten and berated during the years of his missionary journeys. For Paul, these words were not simply trite platitudes but were issued out of his own personal experience as the Holy Spirit led him to record this promise.

Yes, all things are what? Working together. For what? Our good. All things—not in isolation, not necessarily in and of themselves, but when worked together in the tapestry of the cross—have a way of coming out on the other end for our good. This promise is comprehensive, not just constructive.

THE PROMISE IS CONDITIONAL IN ITS APPLICATION

However, before you claim it as your own, look closer. This promise is conditional in its application. It is given exclusively to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. It is not for everyone. This is not a blanket, unconditional promise. It is for those who love God. Only those who love Him and sense that there is a purpose in their lives can understand the deep truth of Romans 8:28. And when they do, they can say with Job, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD (Job 1:21).

Love is something you do. In the Bible love is always equated with action. For God so loved the world . . . that He gave (John 3:16). He did something. Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15). John framed it thus: For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (1 John 5:3). Loving God and abiding in His will according to His purpose is the condition by which the truth of this promise comes home to our hearts.

Love is something you do. In the Bible love is always equated with action.

There is one final thought. Don’t leave out the first phrase of this promise. It begins with We know. . . . Note carefully the plural pronoun at play: we. Yes, we know. This promise was never intended to be understood by the world. It is a foreign language to those outside Christ. It is, in its essence, a family secret for those of us in the family of God. The promise found in Romans 8:28 is something that we know that those who are not part of God’s forever family cannot comprehend. But we can. Yes, We know that . . . all things . . . work together for good—to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by situations or circumstances swirling around you that seem beyond your control, climb up on this Bible promise. Stand there. Believe it. Claim it as your very own.

A PROMISE AND A PRAYER

The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever.

PSALM 138:8

Lord, in the midst of the storm, help me to hold fast to Your promise that all things are working together for my good and, most importantly, for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

2

THE PROMISE OF HIS ALL-

SUFFICIENT GRACE

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

—2 CORINTHIANS 12:9

None of us are immune to disappointments and defeats, heartaches and heartbreaks, struggles and setbacks. These trials will affect each of us at one time or another. In fact, behind some of the most radiant lives I have known have been some of the biggest challenges. The great apostle Paul attested to this fact in his second letter to the Corinthians. He had a problem, and he had asked the Lord on three different occasions to remove it. Yet it was still there. This same man who had written to the Romans saying, We are more than conquerors through Him who has loved us (Romans 8:37), this same man who had said, All things work together for good (Romans 8:28), laid bare his heart in admission that he had a situation in which he could find no relief.

THE PROBLEM

His explanation began with a problem. He referred to his problem as a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). What this thorn actually was no one knows for sure. But it was something physical in nature. It was a thorn in the flesh. Some have speculated it was his physical appearance. After all, his bodily presence [was] weak (2 Corinthians 10:10). He had been lashed with a Roman whip almost two hundred times, he had been stoned at least three times—and once left for dead—and virtually every bone in his body had been fractured. Others contend his thorn was epilepsy. Still others speculate it was his failing eyesight, for earlier he had written to the Galatians saying, See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! (6:11). He had stated to them that he was confident that if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me (Galatians 4:15). Whatever it was, it was so irritating to him that he saw it as a problem and as an impediment to his work.

THE PURPOSE

But behind it all was a purpose.