The word promise, when used as a noun, means “a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified.” When used as a verb, it means “to pledge to do, bring about, or provide.”

Some promises are conditional and some are unconditional.

Let’s say you promise to take your kids to the bounce house on Saturday and you state no condition. That’s an unconditional promise.

But you might put a condition on that promise: “I’ll take you to the bounce house on Saturday if you make your bed each day and keep the floor of your room free of toys and clothes.”

In God’s Word, we find that He has made lots of promises. Some of His promises are unconditional. Others are conditional.

The word promise––sometimes as a noun and other times as a verb––occurs seventy-three times in the NT and forty-four times in the OT. Some promises recorded in Scripture are made by humans. But God is the One making most of the promises in the Bible. And while humans sometimes fail to keep their promises, God never fails to keep His.

Of course, both the OT and NT record many promises without actually using the word promise. For example, all prophecies in the Bible are promises about what will happen in the future, even if the word promise is not used.ⁱ

The Bible records both unconditional and conditional promises.

God’s purely unconditional promises include Abraham and Sarah having a son in the line of Messiah (Acts 7:5; Rom 4:20-21; 9:9; Heb 11:11), bringing Abraham’s multiplied descendants back from Egypt after four hundred years (Acts 7:17), the First Coming of the Messiah, Israel’s Savior (Acts 13:23, 32; Rom 1:2), the resurrection of the dead (Acts 26:6), Israel as the land God promised to Abraham and His descendants (Heb 11:9), Jesus’ Second Coming (2 Pet 3:4, 9), and a new heavens and a new earth after the Millennium (Matt 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33; 2 Pet 3:13).

Here is one of God’s promises that is conditional: While the coming of Jesus’ kingdom is guaranteed, only those who believe in Jesus for everlasting life will be that kingdom (e.g., John 3:16).

The same is true of the salvation of the nation of Israel. The kingdom could have come during the first century if Israel had believed in her Messiah and walked in fellowship with Him. Since the nation did not receive her Messiah, the kingdom was postponed. At the end of the Tribulation, all adult Jews who are still alive will be saved––that is, delivered from the Gentiles (Rom 11:26).

He guarantees that He will give the Holy Spirit to believers, and only to believers (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; 2:33, 39; Gal 3:14).

Eternal security is a promise to all who believe in the Lord Jesus for everlasting life (e.g., John 3:16; 5:24; 6:35, 37, 39-40; 11:26; Eph 1:13). This promise is sometimes called “the promise of life” (2 Tim 1:1; Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25).

God promises to glorify all believers, and to glorify some believers (overcomers) more than others (Rom 8:17-30; 1 Cor 15:42-44; 1 Thess 5:23-24; 1 John 3:2).

God promises to bless those who obey Him (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28; the Beatitudes).

I am sure you could add scores of God’s promises.

One danger, however, is misinterpreting Scripture and believing that God has made promises He never made.

Some think that God promised to eliminate all our diseases and illnesses in this life because of Jesus’ death on the cross (“by His stripes we are healed”). But that is a promise of spiritual health, not physical health.

Some think that God promised that believers who yield to God will speak in unknown tongues. While there was a spiritual gift of tongues during the time of the apostles, that gift was never for all believers. And all the sign gifts, including tongues, had ceased by the end of the age of the apostles.

Prosperity preachers say that God promised financial wealth to all who follow Him faithfully. Not true. That’s a scam.

Hyper–Grace teachers say that God promised that believers will never be out of fellowship with Him and that He never judges believers. Wrong and wrong.

Postmillennialists think God promised that our nations and societies will get better and better until Christ returns. Nope.

Some athletes think that Phil 4:13 is God’s promise that they can do anything they set out to do. Really?

I encourage you to do a study of God’s promises. You will find it encouraging because God keeps 100% of His promises. He will never fail to do what He promises. That is good news, don’t you think?

Grasping His promises is vital to keeping grace in focus.

ⁱ Open theists, however, disagree. They think that God’s prophecies are His best guesses about what will happen in the future. In my view, open theists do not believe in the inerrancy of God’s Word. God does know the future and He tells us what is to come.