"Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." (2 Cor 7:1, NLT) When you read the scriptures you will come across so many beautiful promises. Promises of life, blessings, prosperity, eternal life, security, divine healing, etc. The general idea is usually to claim every promise that we find in the scriptures; but the truth about God's promises is that they are not for everyone. God's promises are for His children only. Someone might ask, "Who are the children of God?", "Are we not all children of God?", "Are we not all created by God?", etc. And the answer is always very revealing! Here is the simplest way of expressing this truth. Being created by God does not make you a child of God and a partaker of His promises. This is because right from birth we are all cut off from God and under the bondage of sin and the devil. The only way to become a child of God is by receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, repenting from your sins and becoming born again. That is what I call yielding to the promise. To be a shareholder to the promises of God, you yield to God... daily! .
The Bible says "Because we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our defile our body and spirits". The promises demand something from us. They demand that we constantly keep ourselves in check. They demand that we "work toward complete holiness" out of reverence for God. The English Standard Version says "bringing holiness to perfection in the fear of God". These promises control us and our behaviour. To share in God's promises we have to yield ourselves to them, and allow them dictate how we live.
"And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires." (2 Pet 1:4)