¹¹ And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Promises ‘R’ God, to mimic the well-known toy company, Toys ‘R’ Us. That is what God is all about. It is another way of saying God always does what He says and says what He does. He and His word are of one piece, inseparable, un-disconnected and un-severable. For God not to keep His word is a logical inconsistency. That would be like saying, “The truth is sometimes false.” Such a statement is utter nonsense. One cannot say, “1 = 1 usually, but sometimes 1 = 2.” All mathematics would collapse if that were the case. Philosophers call this the “law of non-contradiction, which states, “Contradictory statements cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time.” A = B, is mutually exclusive to the statement A = not B.

God is the ultimate reality, the diviner of Truth. If something is true of God, then it is true of His Word. His word is, well, Him. When Scripture uses the word “promise” in reference to God, it does not mean that everything else He says is suspect of a duplicitous mind, as though He were fickle unless stated otherwise. God adapts, as He always does, to the conventions of human communication. Otherwise how would we ever understand Him? When a person of integrity speaks, we can trust his word. He doesn’t need to make formal promises; everything he says, by virtue of his integrity, carries the same weight as a promise. But he may formally make a promise (such as signing a contract) to give emphasis for the sake of others, to assure them. So, too, with God, His word is always as good as a promise.

In biblical context, the grand theme of redemption is laced with formal promises from beginning to end. The over-arching promise, that God would reach the world through the Jews, was made to Abraham, and repeated in different forms to his descendants. The point in our verses for today is that we should come to “the full assurance of hope until the end” because we shall, like others of faith, “inherit the promises.” You see, the promises of God all point to the need of faith. We must believe God for those promises. Therein is our assurance, our hope. We must be diligent, not sluggish in pursuing those promises. We will soon read of those who waited patiently through faith (Heb 11), and we should follow their example. Our struggle is not one to gain or maintain our salvation, but to gain the full assurance of our salvation.