Can God be trusted? Do you have your doubts about his faithfulness? Since we are all going to die can we be certain that what we have believed is in fact true?

God Will Honour His Promise

God made a promise to Abraham that through his descendants a nation would be established and through them a saviour, Jesus the Son of God, would come into the world with the offer of forgiveness to all who would accept him. God made his promise to Abraham in these words, 'All nations will be blessed through you.' (Genesis 12:3) 'All nations' (and yes, it includes Ireland) are the potential beneficiaries of the blessing of forgiveness to come through the saviour. This blessing is a promise made by God.

The Apostle Paul captures this when he speaks of 'the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.' (Titus 1:2) So even before God spoke to Abraham he promised to give his people the gift of eternal life. And that is made by God who cannot lie.

We have a tendency to doubt; our faith wavers, we grow weak and unbelief display itself. And God knows that. However, our faith needs strengthening. We need to hear God telling us, 'It's true. It's true.'

And to accommodate our weakness, God did a most remarkable thing – he took an oath and swore that he would do what he had promised to do, namely forgive us our sins. Taking this oath did not put any pressure upon God to honour his promise; God would honour his promise whether he took an oath or not. However, the oath was for our benefit – to give us the assurance we need. This is what the Scripture says:

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself … Men swear by someone greater than themselves and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. (Hebrews 6:13-18)

God has surrounded his promise (to forgive us our sins) with certainty. He links his integrity to his promise of pardon. The promise is as true as God himself! It is as authentic as God! It is a reliable as God! It is as trustworthy as God! It is as believable as God!

And even if our faith grows weak, it will not nullify the promises of God. For the fulfilling of the promise to pardon us, thereby assuring us of our home in heaven, is not based on our faith but on the faithfulness of God.

That's assurance.