We do not want to commit our God to something He has not committed to Himself.…Context is part of the inspiration of the Bible, so it does matter how we apply a particular text of the Bible, whether it be a promise or command.

Many of us have heard the often-repeated Christian claim that affirms every promise in the Bible is mine. Of course, that sounds brilliant and very faith-affirming until a little thought is applied to the claim. The point is that we must not ignore the context in which a promise is given. We must know if the promise is limited by context or if it is given to Christians in general.

First, there is no doubt that the Bible contains many promises directed to all Christians designed to encourage them in life and strengthen their hope. For example, in Hebrews 12:8 we have the promise that God will never “will never leave nor forsake” the Chrisitan. Then we have universal promises to humanity in general. An example would be John 3:36 where Jesus says, he that believes on the Son has life and he that believes not on the Son does not have life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” This is a promise that goes in both directions as it were, to the one who believes, life is promised, to the rejecting one, wrath is promised. Or we can think of Romans 10:13 which promises that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  This is a promise that goes out to all humanity.

Read More