ABRAHAM, - FAITH S EXAMPLE (Gal. 3:6-9) 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "ABRAHAM, - FAITH S EXAMPLE (Gal. 3:6-9) 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7"

Dinah Sanders
5 years ago
Views:

1 ABRAHAM, - FAITH S EXAMPLE (Gal. 3:6-9) 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Paul has been leading up to this moment He knew that when Abraham would be mentioned, his readers would immediately sit up and pay extra attention. He was setting out to convince these Galatian Christians not to be duped by the false teachings of the Judaizers but to return to the faith in Christ alone that was the fulfilment of Abraham s relationship with God. Such faith was firmly fixed in God s unconditional covenant and, consequently, was the gateway to salvation for the Jews, and ultimately for the Gentiles also. So, in Gal. 3:6 where Paul begins to speak about Abraham, it is obvious the apostle is particularly appealing to those who were being swayed to insist upon circumcision for Christians. Circumcision for Christians was one of the subjects the Judaizers had brought in, - you must be circumcised! Your religion requires it The subject of circumcision, of course, was introduced in Gen. 17, and was binding upon all who came from Abraham all Hebrews, all Jews. It worked like this: on the eighth day his parents, - in obedience to the law, - brought him to be circumcised. This sealed him as one of God s set apart people and rendered him ceremonially righteous. However, Paul was making the point that circumcision on the outside was no guarantee of salvation in the inside. The Judaizers, though, were saying that circumcision was necessary because you couldn t be truly saved without it as well as having to keep many of the other customs too. Basically, circumcision was the works carried out to satisfy the law, - so therefore, their form of salvation was by works, and not by faith, which Paul preached. Bluntly, Paul s gospel and the Judaizers gospel were irreconcilable. Paul was a Jew but he knew that being a Jew doesn t save anyone, and that is why he didn t emphasise Abraham s works but his faith. And that is what had angered the scribes and the Pharisees when they tried to set Jesus up, Jn. 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. But then the other Jews heckles were raised, 33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how

2 2 sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. Strong words! There is nothing about you that indicates you are of the same faith in God as Abraham trusted in! And He annoyed them even further, What do you mean, they asked, 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Then He told them some straight truths, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. They couldn t believe their ears! This Man from Galilee this carpenter, - their hatred for Him was at boiling pitch, 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? And Jesus replied, 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. How did Abraham see the day of the Lord Jesus? He saw it by faith. Indeed, that is how God had promised Abraham, Gen. 12:2 I will bless thee and thou shalt be a blessing That is how the nation of Israel was blessed and that is how we are being blessed through them today. And the faith God had given to His servant Abraham is the same faith He has given to every child of God to believe. It is the faith through righteousness, - God s righteousness, - and not faith in the carrying out of any works of the law or any ceremonies of the Jewish religion, Gen. 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Abraham wasn t saved by a religion, but he was saved through a relationship!

3 3 This relationship reached its peak when God told Abraham he was going to have a son But God, I m too old it s physically impossible. Nevertheless, Abraham believed and God took account of his humble faith, and rewarded him for not just believing but for believing in Him! And each time Abraham raised his doubts with God, God repeated His promise, Gen. 13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed God And what a testimony for all the generations of the Jewish people as God accepted Abraham s faith as sufficient for righteousness, Rom. 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. And that is Abraham s legacy to all those who believe, - both Jew and Gentile! And, - just to make it absolutely clear, - when Paul wrote, 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness he didn t mean that simply because Abraham believed, his faith made him righteous. No, believing has no merits of its own it is Who you believe in and Abraham believed in and trusted in God, and his absolute faith in God was credited to him in order to render him righteous. And Abraham recognised his faith was not dependent upon himself, but totally dependent upon the

4 4 promises of God. He trusted God to bring about the impossible. He was a sinner, but he believed God said, and it was in God his faith rested absolutely His confidence was in every word of God! And that is how we are also confident in our justification through Christ, - His Word teaches it to us! All who are prepared to believe the message of the Gospel, - the word that comes from God, - are reckoned righteous in His sight made righteous by virtue of the unstinting faith in Christ alone, and that is a condition by which God has brought all His children unto Himself. No way can we make ourselves right, for outside of Him we are sinners who aren t aware of our true state. The unsaved, don t recognise their unrighteousness, that all have sinned, and there is none that doeth good. They don t see their life in those terms as God sees it. It is only when the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the sinner to see their sin that salvation is at work. And so this is how Paul brought these Galatians back to the roots of the Gospel, using the example of Abraham, Gal. 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. That s how Abraham was saved, and that is also how every believer is saved, - every true son of Abraham, - through believing faith in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, in v.7, we need to be very precise. Our AV translates it, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. However, the Greek is ui`oi, VAbraa,m. sons of Abraham. It is neither te,knon nor paidi,on it is ui`o,j. In other words, correctly translated, Paul says, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the sons of Abraham as distinct from the children of Israel which is a term relating to the Jewish national people. As sons of Abraham, therefore, Gentiles are born again of the Holy Spirit not circumcised into an earthly race. Through Christ, Abraham is our father because like him we believe in God for our salvation, and our faith is counted unto us as righteousness as a consequence of His grace. So, wrote Paul, adding anything to such a faith, - such as the Judaizers do, - is folly and has nothing to do with God. And there is another lovely little truth here, 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto

5 5 Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. That passage relates to Gen. 12:3 where God said these words to Abram. Notice how the scripture is what God says and God had in view the blessings of the Gentiles even as early as Gen. 12! From the beginning, He described how He would come in grace upon them and the means by which He would bless the Gentiles was prophesied to be exactly the same as how He would bless the children of Abraham, the Jews. And here s the point Paul was making, 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. We are one with Abraham, - the blessings God blessed Abraham with, He has also blessed us with. We then are as precious to God and we have been added into God s economy of salvation with the same faith by which Abraham was saved, for there is only one salvation. Yes, he lived before Christ, but by faith the righteousness of the Saviour was credited back to him. In the New Testament we use the word to describe it imputed for example, James 2:23, And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. This is how God privileged Abraham. He is faith s example! God called him out of a godless and idolatrous nation. He chose and saved him. He gave him a promise that was impossible to keep by any other means outside of believing in the purposes and power of God and God fulfilled His word to the salvation of Jews and Gentiles and His promises will be even more greatly fulfilled when Jesus returns to this earth. How easy it would have been for Abraham to have disbelieved God, but had he done that, he would have missed out on the blessing! Do we too easily disbelieve God? I confess I cannot see how God will do a new thing in our country, or in our nation. As I look at our fellowship, where do we see hope for the years to come? And yet, I trust His promises. I trust Him when He says He will reward those who faithfully serve Him. I trust Him when He says He will bless those who bless His ancient people. I trust Him that He is still on the throne and He remembers His own I cannot see much light in the darkness around us but I know that ultimately His is the Light that will one day outshine all others for we read in His Word, Mal. 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

6 6 That s what God has in store for us We don t have to look to the plans of men, - even religious men, - to trust for the way ahead We look to God and His Word! Philip Bliss put it like this, No darkness have we Who in Jesus abide; The Light of the world is Jesus! We walk in the light When we follow our Guide! The Light of the world is Jesus! And that Light will shine brighter across this world than any sun by day or moon by night for, - building on all His Old Testament promises, - here is another promise, Rev. 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it That is God s covenant with His children! And Paul was trying to draw the Galatian believers away from looking to the Judaizers, and instead, keeping their attention on the Lord That s the direction all God s people must be facing, Heb. 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. May He find us doing that here so His work may continue and progress for many years to come! Amen.

FIG 10A. THE SPIRITUAL FULFILLMENT OF A NATION AND A COMPANY OF NATIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

FIG 10A. THE SPIRITUAL FULFILLMENT OF A NATION AND A COMPANY OF NATIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ROMANS 4 ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD Rom 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh,