God's Promises and Facts

I am currently reading "The New Covenant" by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. The first chapter of the book talks about God's promises and facts. The authors say that "God's Word in the aspect of grace may be summed up into three categories : 1) the promises of God to us, 2) the facts which God has accomplished for us, and 3) the covenants which God has made with man which He Himself will definitely fulfill.

There are four principles concerning God's promises and I quote from the book : " 1) God's promises require our prayer that it may be fulfilled; 2) If God's promise is conditional, man must fulfill His condition in order to obtain the promise; otherwise, the promise may be revoked; 3) If, apart from God's promise, man uses the strength of his flesh to act or to add something, the promise may become of none effect; 4) God's promises are fulfilled in God's time." (Pg 16 of "The New Covenant" by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee)

On the other hand, God's facts are His accomplished work. The principles concerning God's facts are and I quote from pg 23 and 24 of the book : " 1) We need to discover what God's fact is. For this, revelation from the Holy Spirit is necessary. 2) Once we see what God's fact is, we need to hold on to God's Word and believe that just as God's face says, so are we. 3) We need by faith on one hand to praise God that we are this way; on the other hand we need to act and manifest that we are such. 4) Whenever temptation or trial comes to us, we must believe that God's Word and His fact are more dependable than our feelings. We need only to fully believe God's Word; then God will be responsible to give us the experience. Our responsibility is to believe God's fact; God's responsibility is to grant us the experience. If we believe God's fact, our spiritual life will grow every day. 5) Fact requires our faith, for faith is the only way by which the fact may be realized in our experience. God's fact is in Christ; therefore, we must be in Christ in order to enjoy the fact which God has accomplished in Christ."

I was reflecting on this and the Holy Spirit brought to my attention a few examples of God's promises which have not materialised in the past but praise God that through Jesus' finished work on the cross, they are now facts!

John proclaims in Luke 3:16 :"John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." This promise of God has become a fact after Jesus' death and resurrection. "For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:5)

Isaiah 42:9 tells us "Behold, the former things have come to pass,And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” It is now a fact! "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Isaiah 58:8 promises us : " Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard." After Jesus' finished work on the cross, the fact is : " who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— BY WHOSE STRIPES YOU WERE HEALED. " (1 Peter 2:24) Thank you Jesus!

I like what the authors emphasize in the book " concerning God's fact, we do not need to ask God to do that thing again; we need only ask God to show us that He has already done that thing. 2 Corinthians 1:20 sums it up very well : "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." God's promises through Christ's finished work on the cross are all Yes and in Him Amen! Hallelujah!

Let us delve into His Word and discover for ourselves what God's facts are. We can then hold fast to His Word and exercise our faith to believe God's facts and He will grant us the experience. Amen!