2 Corinthians 1:20 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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2 Corinthians 1:20

Comments

Now this glorious statement – ‘For all the promises of God’ – the Greek says, for as many promises as there are – ‘in him are yea, and in him Amen.’ He deliberately uses both terms. In him are ‘yes’, from the Greek, and in him ‘Amen’, from the Hebrew. Both in the Old Testament and the New, all the promises of God are answered in him. Right back in the book of Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, the promise of the seed of the woman who would bruise, crush the serpent’s head. The first promise of salvation, it is fulfilled in Christ. He came and suffered and died. That is a promise. Has God kept it? Yes! In Christ, he has carried out through his suffering and death the destruction of the devil and his strangle hold upon us. Then the great promises to Abraham, that he would have a seed and through that seed all the nations, people from all the nations of the world, would be blessed, would be saved. Has God kept the promise? In Christ, yes, he has come and suffered and died and purchased salvation for us. All the promises of the ancient ritual, the sacrifices, suggesting that a great sacrifice is coming, a promise of God in the ancient ceremonial. Is it fulfilled? Of course it is in Christ. God’s promises to the Jews, are they fulfilled by their obedience to the ceremonial law? No, by Christ’s obedience and his suffering and death. It applies that way and of course Paul says, ‘unto the glory of God by us’.

Application

We are his representatives must be absolutely earnest and sincere and stick by our word to the best of our ability. So there is a sharing of sincerity. He is sincere with them, they must be sincere with him.

I hope you are a great one to praise God at every opportunity for all that he has done because Paul says here that the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ in order that God may be praised. People are saved, so that they will praise him. We shall see his wonderful work and praise him. Praise is the grand occupation of all eternity – we had better be praising him here and now. But we say ‘Amen’ of course. I am a lost sinner, I hear the message of the gospel, I understand that Christ has fulfilled the promises of God to save by making an atonement for me; I trust in him, I am converted, I am changed tremendously and what is the result of that? I then say, ‘Amen,’ I have proved it for myself. He has kept the promises of God and salvation has come to me through him. He promises to sanctify you and me, so take your sin to him, repent of them, promise him better, ask him for his help, trust in him, Christ has suffered and died in order that you may be saved and sanctified and if you look to God for help, you will overcome those sins and you will say, ‘Amen, I have proved the Lord, he helped me, he has been with me.’ Finally, you come to that last valley of life, the very end, and you draw your last breath and you are ushered into the eternal kingdom, the promises of God that we shall be there. We know we will be there because we trust in him and his work. He has purchased it for us but then we finally prove that he has accomplished it when we stand with the Lamb in eternal glory and we join that tremendous ‘Amen’.

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Introduction

2 Corinthians 1:20 Commentary and Bible Study