The Promise, Oath, and Seal for All
—Blessings for all humanity
So far, we have seen three things: God made a promise, confirmed it with an oath, and guaranteed it with his seal. There are 14 more important principles to consider. In this lesson we look at two of those. They concern the universal nature of the promise, oath, and seal. They are offered to all humanity and all humanity can respond to them.
4th principle: God’s oath is sworn to all the world.
5th principle: God’s seal is for all who believe and obey.
1 The Gospel is for All
The promise and the oath which confirmed it were made to Abraham and his seed. That seed, or descendant, is Jesus Christ (Genesis 22:15-18, Psalms 110:4, Galatians 3:16,26-29).
Genesis 22:15-18
¶“15And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven. 16The angel said, 'By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD. Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you. I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of Heaven and as the sand on the seashore. And these your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.'” (Genesis 22:15-18).
Psalm 110:4
¶“4The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4).
Galatians 3:16,26-29
¶“ 16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say, 'And to seeds' as though it meant the many. It refers to one alone, 'And to your seed,' meaning Christ” (Galatians 3:16).
¶“26You are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed —heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
All who want to be heirs of the promise are able to anchor their hope in that oath because it was sworn to them also (Hebrews 6:13-20).
Hebrews 6:13-20
¶“13For when God made the promise to Abraham, since God could swear by no one greater, he swore upon himself. 14 God said, 'Surely I will bless and multiply you' 15And so, after Abraham had patiently waited, he obtained the promise.” (Hebrews 6:13-15).
¶“16Now people swear by something greater than themselves. Moreover, in all their disputes an oath is the final confirmation. 17 So God desired all the more to convince the heirs of the promise that his purpose is unchangeable. So God guaranteed his promise with an oath. 18Thus, we have two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. In the promise and the oath, we have strong encouragement to take a firm hold of the hope set before us.” (Hebrews 6:16-18).
¶“19This hope is our sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. This hope enters behind the curtain into the inner place. 19 Jesus has gone there as our forerunner, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20).
This assurance is for all the world. Jesus, the promised seed, gave the great commission to take the gospel "into all the world" (Mark 16:14-16). Paul records that this was accomplished (Colossians 1:3-8). In that passage, note the statement, "That same gospel came to all the world".
Mark 16:14-16
¶“14Later, Jesus appeared to the eleven. They were sitting at the table together. He rebuked their lack of faith and their hard hearts —because they had not believed [the testimony of] those who has seen him after he had risen. 15He then said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16Anyone who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Anyone who doesn't believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:14-16).
Colossians 1:3-8
¶“3We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as we pray for you. We've kept on praying for you ever 4since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God’s holy people. 5The hope being kept for you in heaven also makes us thankful. This is the same hope you heard about before, when the word of truth, the gospel, 6came to you. That same gospel came to all the world. It yields fruit in the world. Likewise, it has yielded fruit among you since you heard and knew the grace of God in that truth. 7You also learned that truth from Epaphras. What a dear fellow servant he is —a faithful minister of Christ to serve you. 3He is the one who told us all about your love in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:3-8).
We are assured that "the word of the oath appoints the Son who has been perfected forever" (Hebrews 7:28). So that oath continues to be part of that gospel to the whole world today.
2 The Seal is for All Who Obey
Since God's oath has been sworn to all the world, we would expect that his seal would be given to all who believe. Since the oath is ongoing, so is the seal.
We have already seen that all who have faith in Christ and are baptized into Christ are heirs of the promise made to Abraham (Galatians 3:26-29, Acts 2:37-40).
Galatians 3:26-29
¶“26You are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed —heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
Acts 2:37-40
¶“37Now when they heard Peter’s words, they were cut to the heart, and asked Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do? 38Peter answered them, 'Repent and be immersed every one of you. Do this in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39This promise is made to you, to your children, and to all who are far away; yes, as many as the Lord our God will call.' 40With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, to tell them, 'Save yourselves from this twisted generation!' ” (Acts 2:37-40).
If the heirs of God have God’s oath as a guarantee of their inheritance, why would they not also have God’s seal as their further guarantee? So we are not surprised to read that God has, without exception, given the Holy Spirit "to those who obey him" (Acts 5:32).
Acts 5:27-32
¶“27The officers brought the apostles before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28'Didn't we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Look! You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.' 29But Peter and the apostles replied, 'We must obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to grant to Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. 32We are his witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.' ” (Acts 5:27-32).
3 The Cross and the Crown are for All
What was granted to Israel is also granted to the whole world. As Paul said, "They are not all Israel who are of Israel" (Romans 9:6). In other words, if someone who is not a descendant of Jacob believes in Christ and obeys him, that believer is regarded as an Israelite. That believer is an heir of the promise, oath, and seal. Anyone can be so.
Jesus himself taught that he offers salvation to the whole world (John 3:16).
John 3:16-18
¶“16For God so loved the world, that he gave his one unique Son —so that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17For when God sent the Son into the world, the purpose was not to condemn the world. Rather, it was to save the world through him. 18One who believes on the Son is not condemned. One who does not believe has already been condemned —for not believing on the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
The cross of Christ, together with his resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven, completely fulfill and confirm God’s promise.
We certainly praise God for the wonders he accomplished through Christ’s first coming. Nevertheless, we still await those aspects of God’s promise which pertain to Christ’s second coming. We have yet to finally enter into eternal life. We look not only back to Calvary and Pentecost; we also look forward to our Saviour's return. The cross allows us to hope for a crown. God’s seal is essential because it confirms us in that hope and enables us to persevere in it.