The Unchangeable Promise

Hebrews 6:13-20

We are going to move from the basics of how to get saved, to the basis for our salvation, and how it was accomplished, and what it means as we go through the book of Hebrews. Only the most naïve or corrupt person can deny that we are surrounded with evil things. Any true observer of human nature must recognize that humans are capable of the most depraved of acts, and that even the best do evil things from time to time. Government , law, and religion are ways man has sought to limit the power of evil. They have been of limited effectiveness in life and offer no release from the power of death that results from sin.

God observed man’s wickedness and as Genesis 6:5 tells us, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” He destroyed the earth with a flood, and began again with Noah’s family. They were no different than their predecessors, but Abraham was different. He believed God, and God blessed him making a promises to him as a result. Paul describes it in Galatians 3:6-9.

“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”

As Paul says, the very basis of Christianity is described and promised in God’s promise to Abraham, but it did not originate there. The plan and choice was already in place before the world came into existence according to Ephesians 1:4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” God knows man’s propensity to lie, and to take oaths as a way of convincing others they are telling the truth. As a result, he commanded us not to take oaths in Matthew 5:34. “But I say unto you, Swear not at all.“ We do not have power to make the oaths come true. Instead, our word should be sufficient. The demand for more is based on an assumption of lying according to Matthew 5:37. “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

Because men would assume there was no commitment without an oath, God swore by his own power to keep his promise. His oath would be seen by men as binding him to his promise. His statement was sufficient to make it true, but men might not accept that.

“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (Hebrews 6:13-20)

God made the oath, to make it more certain in the mind of mankind that he would surely keep his word. His promise is based on his unchangeable nature. As Malachi 3:6 advises. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.“ It was his unchangeable nature that caused him to protect Israel despite their wickedness. .” David said that God’s Word is true, and that it will continue forever in Psalm 119:160. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” Paul told Timothy our hope is founded on the fact that God cannot lie and first made the promise even before the World began. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” (I Timothy 1:2”

Because our hope is founded in the nature of God, and in his unchangeable word, it serves as an anchor enabling us to stand firm in our faith regardless of what is occurring around us. We know that it is centered in the very throne of God, holding us in the right place, and not just close. Jesus Christ has gone in as our high priest to intercede on our behalf to the very throne.