We are continue to talk about “new” view of justification by God. And today we will look at Abraham.
Why Abraham
Why Abraham? Well, I think it is fare to say that with Abraham begins the story of “God’s special people”. The story of salvation and Abraham is one of the key figures. He is the forefather of Jewish nation. And not only that, but he also considered a forefather of all who believes God.
We can find the story of Abraham right in the beginning of the bible in the book of Genesis chapter 12. It’s basically at the very start. Rough historic timeline would look like this:
- Noah came out of the Arc and God promised to never flood the earth again.
- Approximately 100-200 years later there were story of the Babilon’s tower where people revolted against God once again.
- And then around 300 years after the flood Abraham was born.
Fun Fact
Little fun fact is that Noah were still alive when Abraham was born. Noah died when Abraham was in his fifties.
Did Abraham and Noah hang out?
I don’t know they were 10 generations apart. And they lived quite far away from one another. But everything is possible.
One requirement
Anyway, God speaks to Abraham in chapter 12. Promising some really amazing things. With effectively ONE foundational requirement of faith expressed through obedience.
Abraham hears God and makes the step of faith. He belied God and it changed the course of His own life and the course of the history forever. Abraham was 75 years old at that point. His faith was put to the test big time more then once. He had to believe agains the odds and against logic. He had to believe beyond possible. And he passed those tests every time. He was not a perfect person by any means, He had his share of mistakes that he made along the way. But never the less he is an amazing example of faith and faithfulness to God.
ISSUE
He became a key figure and quite literally forefather of all God’s people. So much so that a lot of Jews believed that they will be justified because they are descendants of Abraham. For example when people have come to John the baptist to get baptized into forgiveness of sins John warned them:
Luke 3:8
⁸Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Why does he say that?
He says that because one of the main teachings and quite common believe among Jewish people was that justification comes through GENEALOGICAL BELONGING:
“We are justified because of our forefather Abraham, because we are his descendants”.
In fact it was even more radical(at least radical from our point of view). That God ONLY concerned with Abraham and his descendants. That he is God of Jews only. That’s how people believed and how word of God was interpreted for hundreds of years.
Contrary view
But at the end of the Chapter 3 we read this verses:
Romans 3:29,30
²⁹…is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,³⁰since God is one — who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
We know that God is ONE and there is NO other Gods. Paul brings us to conclusion that God does not belong to ANY specific group of people AND He is NOT LIMITED by any specific people group. He is God of ALL people. He love all people all the same, he judges all people all the same and justifies all people all the same. All though faith.
The Scripture
And to confirm whether it’s true, we will look at the forefather of faith. How did it worked it his case. How did he get justified
Romans 4:1-8
¹What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
⁷ “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; ⁸blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
We start off by reading that in hypothetical case in which Abraham was justified because of what he did, he would have a reason to boast. He would be able to take pride in his achievement. Like a cage fighter, when he wins the title, he rejoices, he holds that belt above his head running in circles, for everyone to see. Because he did it! He won. He worked hard and now it is his moment of glory.
However bible says that Abraham had NOTHING to boast about before God. Because the real reason for his justification is in the verse 3:
Romans 4:3
³…“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
You see, it’s not the hard work. Not the birth. Not anything else but his faith that brought the justification. It is not wages. Not something that you can earn by working hard. It is a gift. It is a blessing. Blessing of forgiveness and justification as the verse 7 says.
You cannot earn Gods forgiveness or justification. It is simply impossible. But that’s not even the main point, the greater reason is that God desires to make it available to ANYONE at ALL TIMES. And this is why You can ONLY receive it as a gift, as a blessing. No one ever EARNED justification. Not even Abraham. Faith that expressed though obedience - that were it’s at.
Next question
And so, if Abraham got justified because of faith, is this option available only for him or is this for everyone? Let’s find out:
Romans 4:9-12
⁹Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.¹⁰How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.¹¹ He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,¹²and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
I don’t think any of this comes by a surprise. Recently we spent the entire Sunday reflecting on God’s justice. We know that God is just and treats people fairly. We can see that this blessing and promise are not only for those who are Abraham’s descendants by birth. This blessings are available to me and you. As long as we are Abraham’s children by heart. As long as we have the same faith in God. Those are true descendants, who walk in the footsteps of the faith of Abraham.
Romans 4:13-15
¹³For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.¹⁵For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
You see if only those who will fulfill the law would be heir of the world then it is an empty promise. Then faith not even required. You do not need to have faith, because in this case it is due to you.
It is an empty promise because the only thing you can get by relaying on the law is wrath. No human ever successfully fulfilled God’s law. No human ever will fulfill the law. It is sort of like an old joke that there is a Nobel’s prize to the first man who will successfully give a birth. It is never going to happen it is biologically impossible.
Same with people and God’s law. Humans are not capable to adhere to God’s standard of righteousness. The bar is too high for us in our broken condition. There is only one way around this issue. And this is not to go that route. Do not rely on your works, they not gonna justify you before God.
Romans 4:16-25
¹⁶That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,¹⁷as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.¹⁸In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.²⁰No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.²²That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”²³But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
God, by His great mercy, made those blessings a promise that rest on grace. This way it is guaranteed to ALL of us. There is no limiting factors. It does not depends on outwardly circumstances. You cannot earn what’s been promised. You can only receive it by grace via faith.
FAITH THAT EXPRESSED THOUGH OBEDIENCE.
Today we can be considered descendants of Abraham, his offspring. We all are fulfillment of God’s promise to him. And as his offspring we share the promises that God made to Abraham. As long as we walk in the footsteps of faith.
Abraham was the person who believed God against the odds. They were not on his side. The facts of life were against him. But he believed never the less. He grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God. He believed that God can do the impossible. He believed AND acted upon it. Because Abraham was the man of faith expressed through obedience.
So, what do we learned today:
We learned that no one get’s justified because of what he does. Not even Abraham, forefather of all who follow God.
We learned that justification and forgiveness are the blessings that are promised and guaranteed by Gods grace. And they can ONLY be received by faith.
Abraham believed the words of God. He believe into the promises God made to him. And this faith were counted as righteousness.
Just as God made promise to Abraham. God also made a promise to us. Promise that requires faith, living, active faith. The promise we should believe in order to be justified. And it is a good news of Jesus. We need to have Faith in Jesus Christ that will be expressed in obedience to him. Which gives us more then justification. It makes us the children of God.
But without this faith, all you can hope for is wrath and fury.
People come and ask “what is the practicality of it all?”. And it’s a fair question.
First and foremost you can have confidence. That there is no pitfalls when it comes to God. He is fair as no one else.Yes, God is perfectly fair, but also He is perfectly good and perfectly kind and perfectly loving. Don’t forget that. He is FOR you, not against you.
There other one is that. You are not required to do something special in order to get God’s promise. You do not have to become Jew of follow Mosaic or any other law. No rituals, no nothing. If you still trying to earn justification by doing things, please stop. It is a gift, that you receive though faith. Not knowledge, not any kind of faith. But faith which expressed through obedience.