The Lineage of Faith John 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. Intro According to the flesh, they were the sons of Abraham. Each of them had a family lineage o that had been diligently traced o all the way back to Abraham. Each of them could recite, upon request, o that long storied history o that established their earthly claim o to the promises of God. It was something that they took great pride in. o It was the cornerstone of everything in their lives. o It mattered more than anything else. They were the chosen. They were the children of the great patriarch. They were the heirs of the promises that God had made to Abraham. That lineage means everything to them. o It is the basis of their qualification as the people of God and without it they have nothing. But in John chapter 8, Jesus calls the whole system into question. o They boastfully proclaim, Abraham is our father. But Jesus says: If ye were Abraham s children, ye would do the works of Abraham Abraham is the father of the faithful. What distinguishes him is his faith. o Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. His faith is the distinguishing characteristic of Abraham s life. That is what makes the words of Jesus, in our text, so very interesting. o He didn t say, If you were Abraham s children you would have the faith of Abraham. o Instead, he said, if you were the children of Abraham you would have the works of Abraham! In other words, Abraham s faith was demonstrated in his works. o Jesus fully expects that, if they are, indeed, the children of Abraham then they will have the faith of Abraham. And, if they have the faith of Abraham, o then it will show up in the works that they do! Because, Abraham s faith was a faith that works! The Lineage Of Faith 1
Self-Righteous Works Think about it for a minute. The Pharisees specialized in works. o Their entire lives were modeled around works. If the fruit that Jesus wanted to see was works o then they, of all people o should have passed with flying colors. That was their greatest distinguishing characteristic. o They were experts in works. But, their works were not the works that God desires. o The men who confronted Jesus that day were self-righteous men, who had turned the Law of Moses into a legalistic religion. They had works, o but their works were born o out of a misplaced faith. In their efforts to establish their own self-righteousness, the Pharisees turned the Law of Moses, o the law that was given by God, o into legalism. The root of legalism is the belief that salvation lies in works. o They presumed to think that they could use their own works, under the law, as the means to establish the argument that God owed them salvation. As if they could, somehow, save themselves by their works. The Law What they didn t understand is that the works of the law never saved anyone. Even way back when the law was first established, o it wasn t the works of the law that saved the saints of old, because the works of the law couldn t save them. The blood of bulls and goats o has never had the ability to cover sins. None of their works, under the law, o ever had the ability to save them. God always has and always will o save by grace, o through faith, o not by works. Galatians 3:11-12 The Lineage Of Faith 2
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith No man was ever justified by the law. o They were saved by faith, not by the works of the law. By faith they were obedient to the commandments of God o and by faith they were saved. Faith was necessary because the Law of Moses required perfect obedience o and no man, except Jesus Christ, was ever able to perfectly fulfill the law. The power of sin was the law because every man failed. All have fallen short. All have transgressed the law. And, when they failed, o they had no other resort but to place their faith in God as they fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the law. In faith, they obeyed God. Their faith in the mercy of God o compelled them to take a lamb without spot and blemish, a lamb that was, in itself, incapable of removing the curse of sin, and sacrifice it upon the altar of God as a sin offering. And, because of their faith o (not because of their works o but because they had enough faith to obey God) God looked ahead to the cross and established their righteousness on the basis of heaven s only perfect lamb! It was their faith in God, o not the works of the law, which saved them. The goal of the law was always the cross. It was always about bringing men and women to Christ. Paul said in Galatians chapter 3 that the law was a schoolmaster. o The Greek word means a trusted servant that both taught and protected the children of his master. The law was intended both to train men to trust in God for their salvation o and to protect the relationship of grace o between God and man o until the promise of God The Lineage Of Faith 3
o was brought to pass in Jesus Christ. Under the law, men and women were, quite literally, shut up unto the faith. o They were left with no other resort than to put their faith in God. This is why Paul is so adamant that the works of the law didn t save us, because the works of the law never saved anyone. It was always about obedient faith. Obedient Faith The works of Abraham were the works of faith. Faith in God resulted in works of obedience. o You have to get this, It is not about the works, it is about the faith. The works of the Pharisees were not the problem. o Doing that which God commanded by the law was never the problem, the problem was where their faith was focused. Their faith was errantly placed in their works instead of in God. o They were busy trying to earn from God what God would only give by grace through faith. The faith is what was missing. According to Stephen, in Acts 7:2, the God of glory appeared to Abraham and said to him, o Get out of thy country and away from thy kindred and come unto the land which I will show thee. And without any other word o and with no other promise, Faith compelled him to come out of that land and follow God. Abraham believed the word of God. o With nothing more than a word to go on, Abraham s faith compelled him to give up what he could see and understand and pursue that which he could not see nor comprehend! Faith is what distinguishes Abraham. o He believed God and that belief compelled him to obey God! This isn t a concept that is isolated to Abraham. God has always required faith that produces works. o In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth and he created a perfect paradise called the Garden of Eden. o In that garden he created man The Lineage Of Faith 4
and placed him there, in perfect fellowship with him, to live out his days in the blessings of God s provision. The only thing that God required from Adam was faith in His word o that would result in obedience to His word. All Adam had to do was believe what God said o and, on the basis of that faith, o do what God required of him. Only one thing was required. o Don t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was that simple. Obedience was the only requirement for Adam to live forever in fellowship with God in the garden. o Ultimately, fellowship with God in the garden was broken by lack of faith in God, which was demonstrated by disobedience to God. Sin entered the world by Adam and, with the passage of time, o the sinfulness of man became so great o that God purposed in his heart o to wipe humanity out and start over. But one man, out of the vast expanse of humanity, o found grace in the eyes of God. God purposed to save Noah from the coming judgment. o All that God required of Noah for his salvation was faith in His word. Faith would result in obedience. If Noah believed the word of God, o then he would build an Ark. Understand this: God didn t need a boat to save Noah. o Noah needed a boat to be saved, o because grace always works through faith and saving faith always produces works. Faith required that Noah build a boat! o He had to build the ark in order to be saved. His faith had to produce works. Obedience to the word of God is what built the Ark. o Obedience to the word of God is what saved him and his family. Had he not obeyed, o He would not have been saved. It was not enough just to believe. Faith had to produce works. The Lineage Of Faith 5
After the flood, the earth was, once again, repopulated and sin, once again, gripped the hearts of men. And again God chose a man to become the avenue by which the promises of God would flow. o And, just like before, all that God required of Abraham was obedience. God called him and all that God required from him was faith in his word. o God said, Get out of Ur. o And all that he required of Abraham was obedience to that call. If he had faith in God, o if he had faith in the call of God, o then he would leave Ur. If He doesn t leave Ur o then he doesn t truly believe. Abraham s obedience to the call of God o is the lynchpin upon which a worldwide blessing hinges. All the people of the earth are blessed o by Abraham s faithful obedience to the call of God. Listen to what I m trying to tell you tonight: Abraham is the father of the faithful. o He is give that title on the basis of his faith, which was demonstrated by his works. Abraham believed God o and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham believed God o and because he believed God he obeyed God! Hebrews 11:8 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. I don t know if you see the pattern yet, but there is an inseparable link between faith and obedience o that spans the whole of scripture, o from Genesis to Revelation. When you read the word of God, o you will find it over and over again. God always requires faith that results in obedience! According to Hebrews 11:6, o genuine faith in God believes more than just that God is, o it believes that God rewards those who act on that belief. Faith in God believes that God rewards those that diligently seek him. o Belief in the word of God The Lineage Of Faith 6
always produces obedience to the word of God. The faith that saves is always a faith that produces works. This is a message that is consistent throughout the word of God. Deuteronomy 6:4 is the ultimate statement of faith in God, The Lord our God is one. o The next verse (Deuteronomy 6:5), however, o dictates the works that are necessary o to demonstrate that faith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. If you truly believe that there is only one God o then you will do something about it, because genuine faith produces real works. In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul declared that by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. But he immediately adds, (Ephesians 2:10), o For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. We are saved by grace, o which means that none of us is ever going to be good enough. God saves us on the basis of grace alone. o And we are saved through faith not through works. Our works will never save us. Grace saves us through faith not by works lest we should boast. That s about as far as most folks get, o but that s not the end of the story. Paul goes on and says, o For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works We are saved unto good works! Saving faith produces good works in our lives o and we are ordained by God to walk in them! Faith That Works Faith without works cannot save a person. That doesn t mean that your good works o when added to your faith will save you. Good works cannot save us either. o That s not the point. What it means is that genuine faith in God o will always result in good works. We are not justified by faith plus works. But, neither are we justified by faith without works. The Lineage Of Faith 7
We are, however, justified by faith that works. That is the consistent message of scripture. o Faith gives rise to works. Faith says, I believe that God can forgive me of my sins, so I will repent. My repentance doesn t save me. o My works don t cover my sin. o God saves me. My faith in his salvation o motivates me to throw myself at his mercy and repent. And, based on my physical action, a spiritual transaction takes place. Faith says, I believe that God can forever wash away the stain of sin on my life, past, present and future, so I will be baptized. The baptism doesn t save me. o God saves me. My faith in God, o my faith in the saving power of his name, motivates me to obey the word and be baptized in his name. Based on my physical action, a spiritual transaction takes place and my sins are washed away. Faith says, I believe that God will fill me with his spirit so I surrender my life to him. I yield my whole being to him, out of faith. o And he fills me with his spirit. Speaking in tongues doesn t save me. o God saves me. The tongues are the evidence. It is a physical demonstration born of obedience that signifies that a spiritual transaction has taken place. Faith says, I believe that I belong to God and I believe that I should live like it. He separated me unto himself. o And I believe that I am his. I believe that I am in this world but not of it. o And that Faith demands that I live like it! Separation and holiness principles o are often compared to the works of the law by those who want to tear down the works of holiness. Let me clearly delineate the difference. o The works of the law, as instituted by God, were designed to lead men to the obedience of faith. o However by Jesus day the whole system had been twisted into a legalistic religion. The Lineage Of Faith 8
Legalism believes that the works of the law save me. It is, inherently, the belief that I can save myself by my actions. But, that was never the case! That was never what God intended. o The works of faith are faithful obedience to God. They are based on faith in God. They are based on the belief that I do this because God has saved me! o Its not about the works, its about my faith in God. The legalist may manifest the same works o as the individual that lives by faith. That matters little, o because the emphasis shouldn t be on the works. o The emphasis should be on my faith in God which gives rise to the works. Let me say this real plain: o Your standard doesn t save you. But if you are saved you are going to have a standard. Faith always produces works. A Faithful Lineage The Pharisees, in their arrogant pride, made their boast in the fact that Abraham was their father. When, in reality, they were never, truly, the heirs of Abraham. Galatians 3:6-7 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. In Abraham God set aside the lineage of promises and blessing. o The Pharisees believed that the lineage of Abraham was the lineage of flesh. o They believed that, because their daddy s, daddy s, daddy could trace his lineage back to Abraham, then they were, automatically, heirs to the promise of Abraham. But Paul details for us in Galatians chapter 3 o that the lineage of Abraham was never about the flesh. The lineage of Abraham is the lineage of FAITH! Abraham had two sons. The first was born out of doubt. o Ishamael was conceived out of an ill-fated effort to help God out. The Lineage Of Faith 9
God rejected Ishmael, even though Abraham begged God to accept him. o Ishmael was of the lineage of Abraham, by the flesh, but he was never of the lineage of Abraham by faith. Isaac was the child born of promise. o His birth was the result of faith and the promised blessing flows from Abraham to Isaac, bypassing Ishmael. They were both children of Abraham, o they both had an earthly claim to the heritage of Abraham, but there was such a distinct difference between them that the descendants of Ishmael are never spoken of in scripture as the children of Abraham. In the next generation, Isaac had two sons. They were twins, o Esau was born first o and Jacob was born second. If the heritage of Abraham was to be the lineage of the flesh, o then Esau stands to inherit the promise and the blessing. But, before he was ever born, o God rejected Esau and chose Jacob, who from the beginning of his days, was trying with all he had to attain the promises of God. The significant difference between Esau and Jacob o is not the order of their birth o or even the differences in their personalities; the distinguishing characteristic about Jacob is his faith in the promises of God. Esau traded the birthright for temporary carnal satisfaction o while Jacob risked everything in the effort to deceive his father and lay claim to the promised blessing of Abraham. Because Jacob had such faith in the blessing of God, o the promise was transferred from Isaac to Jacob. Esau was rejected. The three generations of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, o establish a pattern that demonstrates that the lineage of Abraham will always be the lineage of faith, not flesh. This is significant because the Pharisees that accosted Jesus in John chapter 8, o may have been the children of Abraham by the flesh The Lineage Of Faith 10
and they may have been able to trace their lineage back through Jacob and Isaac to Abraham, but they were not the children of Abraham by faith. They didn t have the faith of Abraham o because Abraham s faith was a faith that demonstrates itself in works and those works were absent in their lives. The lineage of Abraham is, and always has been, the lineage of faith! o The spiritual promises that God made to Abraham and his seed were never made to his natural descendants, but always belonged to those who had a like faith with him. Abraham s promise wasn t just about a new land, or a new nation. o The curse of Adam was wrapped up in the promise of Abraham. Under Adam, all the people of the earth were cursed by sin, o but in Abraham, all the people of the earth were blessed by a promise. It was the same promise that God made to Adam and Eve, o the promise of a Messiah. The main purpose behind God s covenant with Abraham was to establish the lineage from which the Messiah would come. When God made his promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, o the focus of the promise was not o the varied seeds, plural, of Abraham. The focus of the promise was not o the many men and women o who would be able to trace their lineage back to Abraham. The focus of the promise in Genesis 12 o was Abraham s seed, singular. Listen to what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:16: Galatians 3:16 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate seed of Abraham. o In Jesus Christ, God manifested himself in the flesh. He was, at the same time, fully God and fully man. o And He was the only one who ever lived a life of perfect obedience. That matters because the efficacy of the cross o depends upon the perfect obedience of the flesh of Jesus. Our salvation hinges on his works. His flesh was completely submitted to God o and, as the God-man, o he lived the only perfect life o of perfect obedience The Lineage Of Faith 11
o that has ever been lived. At the cross, o by virtue of his sinlessness, he paid the price for our sin. He purchased our salvation by virtue of his perfection. o We are saved by his blood. We are saved by his perfect, sinless, sacrifice. Obedience Required That doesn t mean that works are no longer necessary. The testimony of scripture, from beginning to end, o declares loud and long that faith, genuine saving faith, the kind of faith that Abraham had, always results in works. In Jesus Christ we are, by faith, heirs of the promise of God. o If we have the same kind of faith as Abraham. o A faith that obeys God. o That is what God requires: Faith that works! So many people want to point to the cross o and declare that the righteousness of Jesus Christ releases them from the burden to have any standard of righteousness in their own lives. I want to make this very plain: His obedience doesn t render ours unnecessary. o To the contrary, His obedience renders ours acceptable. Faith does not free us from the need for good works. Faith frees us from the idea that we are saved by those works. Faith sets us free from the notion o that our works have to be good enough to earn our salvation. o That doesn t mean that we no longer need to have works, that means that the focus should be on our faith in God, not on our works. o Because our works flow from faith. We come to God in faith. o We repent of our sins in faith. o We are baptized in faith. o And we are filled with the Holy Ghost through faith. The product of our faith is a new birth. o That new birth results in the works of faith in our life. The Lineage Of Faith 12
These works are the fruit of the spirit that God has filled us with. o That spirit will always produce fruit. Saving faith will always produce works. o That will never change. It has always been so, from the very foundations of the world. o Faith is the precedent and obedience is the result, every single time. o One without the other is useless. Grace has been abused in our world. Faith has been slandered. o Gross sin and unrighteousness have been laid at the feet of grace and faith for far too long. Listen to me: Grace doesn t operate at the expense of righteousness. o Grace reigns through Righteousness. Romans 5:21 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Faith and grace are not glorified get out of jail free cards, o they are the vehicles of your salvation. If you make it to heaven you will, without a doubt, o be saved by grace, you will never be good enough to earn your salvation from God. But if you are saved, o you will be saved through faith. And faith always produces good works in your life! Don t tell me you believe, o if there are no works of righteousness. You can t hide behind faith and grace o when your works plainly declare that there is no genuine faith in your life. My righteousness may be as filthy rags in the presence of God. But that doesn t excuse me o from the necessity to have works of righteousness in my life. My feeble effort to serve God o is made perfect by the blood of Jesus Christ. My obedience will never be perfect, o my works will never merit salvation, I m never going to measure up to God s standard The Lineage Of Faith 13
o but that doesn t release me from the burden to produce the works of faith in my life, any more than it released the Pharisees in our text. Close One notable thing about the call of Abraham in scripture is that the word of God never records any response on Abraham s part, o other than obedience. We wouldn t even be talking about the faith of Abraham o if he had not obeyed God. When God called him, o Abraham answered that call by his actions. Abraham s faith was a faith that works! o You need that kind of faith in your life because that is the kind of faith that saves you. What we do reveals who we are. It costs me nothing to become a Christian o but it costs me everything to live as one. If you believe that God can forgive you of your sins, o then repent and turn away from your sins. If you believe that there is no other name under heaven o that has the power to wash away your sins, then let your faith work and get baptized in Jesus name. If you believe that God will fill you with the power of the Holy Ghost, o then surrender your whole life to him and let your faith produce its good fruit in your life. Faith without works is dead, o but saving faith will always have works! If you believe that God has the power to set you free, then act on that faith by obedience to the word of God. If you feel God calling you, then step out by faith and answer his call. In James 2:18, James puts it all in context. He challenges the proponents of faith without works o to demonstrate their faith without any works. Show me your faith, alone, all by itself. o You can t do it. Faith without works is dead o because there is no evidence of faith without works. Faith is only faith when it compels you to do something about what you believe. o James said, I can show you my faith By my works! The Lineage Of Faith 14
Show me your faith. Don t tell me what you are going to do. o Don t tell me what you believe. Show me what you believe: Let your faith work. Someone once said, Only he who obeys believes and only he who believes obeys. You need obedient faith in your life. The Lineage Of Faith 15