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(1)
They are `great and precious' (2 Pet. 1:4).
(2)
They are all `yea and amen' in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).
The promises of the New Testament are distributed under a number of
headings of which the following is a fair presentation.
(1)
The promise of the Holy Spirit, which took place at Pentecost.
`The promise of My Father' or `the Father' (Luke 24:49;
Acts 1:4).
`The promise of the Holy Ghost' (Acts 2:33 cf. 38,39).
`The promise of the spirit' (Gal. 3:14).
(2)
The promise of the Coming of the Messiah.
(1)
His First Advent (Acts 13:23,32).
(2)
His Second Advent (2 Pet. 3:4,9).
(3)
The promise made to Abraham.
Romans 4:13,14,16,20, summed up in verse 16 as follows:
`Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the
promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the
father of us all'.
Galatians 3:16,17,18 and 21.
In this presentation, the subject is divided
under two headings:
(a)
`Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith
not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ'.
(b)
`And this I say,
that the covenant that was confirmed
before of God in
Christ, the law, which was four hundred
and thirty years
after, cannot disannul, that it should
make the promise
of none effect'.
(4)
The promises to Israel.
Romans 9:4 and 8, show that these are Israel's prerogative and
Ephesians 2 shows just as clearly that no promises were made to the Gentiles
who were `aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the
covenants of promise'. In Romans 15:8 the apostle makes another very
important statement concerning the place of Israel in the mind and purpose of
God, and which throws a vivid light upon the earthly ministry of the Saviour.
`Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth
of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers'. These promises
include the hope of resurrection, as Acts 26:6 -8 testifies.