Our Defense and Great Reward Promises to Live By A Pivotal Point What Did Abram Believe? 1
Our Defense and Great Reward The three great spiritual moorings God s calling God s faithfulness God s power Our sure defense Abram was in great danger! God promises Abram protection. God would be Abram s shield. 2
Our Defense and Great Reward God promises to shield believers. From their enemies 2 Samuel 22:2-3 3
2 Samuel 22:2-3 (NASB) 2 He said, The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.
Our Defense and Great Reward God promises to shield believers. From their enemies 2 Samuel 22:2-3 Against Satan 1 Peter 5:8 cf. James 4:7 4
1 Peter 5:8 (NASB) 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. James 4:7 (NASB) 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Our Defense and Great Reward God promises to shield believers. From their enemies 2 Samuel 22:2-3 Against Satan 1 Peter 5:8 cf. James 4:7 Against temptation 1 Corinthians 10:13 5
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NASB) 13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Our Defense and Great Reward God promises to shield believers. From their enemies 2 Samuel 22:2-3 Against Satan 1 Peter 5:8 cf. James 4:7 Against temptation 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation is too strong for you in Christ God always makes a way for us to bear up Against bitterness Philippians 1:12-14 6
Philippians 1:12-14 (NASB) 12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.
Our Defense and Great Reward God promises to shield believers. From their enemies 2 Samuel 22:2-3 Against Satan 1 Peter 5:8 cf. James 4:7 Against temptation 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation is too strong for you in Christ God always makes a way for us to bear up Against bitterness Philippians 1:12-14 In whom do you trust? 7
Our Defense and Great Reward Abram s great reward God! Abram had come to know God as Jehovah Jireh God is my provider. Abram now comes to know God as El Elyon the God most high, creator of heaven and earth Romans 8:16-17. 8
Romans 8:16-17 (NASB) 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Promises to Live By God had given Abram a promise. I will show you a land which becomes I will give you this land. I will bless you. I will make you a great nation. I will make your seed as numerous as. God s promises seem to come in response to a crisis or trial. Abram s response was to follow God. 9
Promises to Live By Now, Abram has a problem. Abram voices his problem to the Lord. He is worried about a son to receive his inheritance. It is never wrong to ask God questions! What can be wrong is how we ask those questions? 10
Promises to Live By God s answer to Abram s question God gave Abram an answer by deepening Abram s knowledge of the promise. First, God repeated the promise. God clarified the promise. God expanded on the promise. 11
A Pivotal Point Perhaps the most important verse in all the Scriptures is Genesis 15:6. The first verse in Scripture to speak of faith, righteousness, and justification. Faith existed before Abram. Romans 3:21-26 states that both OT and NT saints were saved through faith on the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ. So, what does this verse mean? 12
A Pivotal Point Is faith a substitute? In the phrase, he credited it to him as righteousness, the question becomes what is meant by the word it? It demands a noun, which is not there. In the rest of Scripture, it is never stated that we are saved because of faith or even on the basis of faith. 13
A Pivotal Point Scripture says we are saved by faith. So what does that mean? In Greek, the preposition dia rendered by can mean because of or through. If the phrase justification by faith means because of, then faith is both the grounds of salvation and a substitute for righteousness. For dia to be translated this way, the object of the preposition (faith) would have to be in the dative case, indicating on the basis of. It never occurs this way! 14
A Pivotal Point Scripture says we are saved by faith. So what does that mean? When the Greek word for faith occurs with dia, it is always in the genitive case, which dictates the translation through. This means by faith as a channel and not the grounds or basis of. 15
A Pivotal Point The meaning of the word credited, hashab in Hebrew and logizomai in Greek, becomes very important. Both mean reckoned or accounted. They both refer to an accurate recordkeeping. This refers to what is actually the case Ps. 32:2. 16
Psalm 32:2 (NASB) 2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
A Pivotal Point The meaning of the word credited, hashab in Hebrew and logizomai in Greek, becomes very important. Both mean reckoned or accounted. They both refer to an accurate recordkeeping. This refers to what is actually the case Ps. 32:2. This leads us to the legal term justification declared righteous, not blameless. 17
Application Are you trusting God to be your shield? In what areas do you need to put more faith in God s promises and less in your own strength and ability? Is God really your reward? How open is your channel of faith? 18