A Promise Conditioned Only Upon Christ

Numbers 15:17-18 KJV

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you,

It is striking and gracious that, the very next words out of the mouth of God[1] (and repeated in verse 18), after Israel's failure of faith at Kadesh Barnea, is to return to giving instructions to them about what to do when they entered the Promised Land. Their sin, though grievous and costly, had not changed God's mind concerning them. His covenant was sworn by Himself. He had not made the Promised Land a conditional promise. What He had promised them was still theirs. 

What grace God has given us in salvation. It is a promise conditioned only upon Christ and therefore is a promise that is not retracted regardless of how the possessor might fail God. As Israel learned, God would 

• Test them
• Prove them and
• Chasten them

They would pay heavily for sin. But God would never take from them His promise.

So it is in salvation. We did not receive a license to sin in our salvation. God desires that we are made in the image of Christ and that work of conformation will progress. But as the work progresses, and we discover our worldliness and sin-filled propensities, God, nevertheless, keeps His promise. 

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[1] See Numbers 15:1-2