The Promise God Made To Himself
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
“In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world [or, “ages”] began” (Tit. 1:2).
“The
Cretians are always liars” (Ver. 12). “God… cannot lie” (Ver. 2). What a
contrast! And how reassuring to know that our salvation depends upon
the Word of God, who cannot lie!
Our
opening passage, above, however, states that God made this promise
“before the world [or, “ages”] began. How can this be? There is no
indication that He made this promise to the angels, and there was no one
else to whom He could have made it — except Himself, and this is
exactly the truth of the matter. Have we not all made earnest promises
to ourselves?
Before
God ever made one promise to any man, He promised Himself that He would
provide salvation and all the riches of His grace for sinners through
Calvary’s finished work, and the promises later made to men were but
progressive revelations of a firm purpose He had already made in His own
heart of love. Paul, the apostle of “the mystery,” refers to this
blessed fact again and again in his epistles:
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery… the hidden… WHICH GOD HATH ORDAINED BEFORE THE WORLD UNTO OUR GLORY” (I Cor. 2:7).“According as HE HATH CHOSEN US IN HIM [CHRIST] BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD…” (Eph. 1:4).“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, BEING PREDESTINATED ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL” (Eph. 1:11).
“Who
hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE AND [HIS OWN] GRACE, WHICH WAS
GIVEN US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN” (II Tim. 1:9).
Christ Arrest And His Suffering
By Les Feldick
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Psted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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