Faith of Abraham

July 18, 2021 Background Scripture: Romans 4 Lesson Passage: Romans 4:1 – 12 Abraham is known as the father of the faithful. Abraham’s faith is spoken of because of the relationship God developed with him as a result of his faith. God promised Abraham some things that were humanly impossible and quite unlikely. At the time of the promise, Abraham was at least seventy-five years old, and his wife was ten years younger than him. Abraham and his wife had not been able to have children. God promised Abraham that he would father a child and as a result would have more descendants than he could count. Abraham believed what the Lord told him. God accounted Abraham’s belief in what He said as righteousness. Righteousness means to be in right standing with God—or to have the right relationship with God. Sin prevents us from having the right relationship with God. Sin is against God and all things holy. But God accepted Abraham’s faith in what He said as sufficient to deliver Abraham from his sin. Faith in the promises of God is the only method given in the bible whereby a person can be saved from their sin and brought into right relationship with God. Therefore, any person who believes in the promises of God for salvation is brought into right relationship with God. Such persons become the spiritual children of Abraham. The Lesson Passage notes that Abraham’s faith in God’s promise happened before God gave him the ritual of circumcision. Circumcision was given as a sign of the promises God made to Abraham. There are no rituals required as a predecessor for faith in God. This is the faith of Abraham that establishes the right relationship between a person and God. Once that relationship is in place, then we should go further and endeavor to live a life of faith as Abraham did. Indeed, Abraham’s faith did not stop at believing in the long range promises of God. Abraham submitted himself to do what God told him to do and led him to do. Abraham was willing to leave his extended family and move to a place where he was a foreigner. Abraham erected altars and openly proclaimed the name of God in the presence of strangers. Abraham did not blend in with the foreigners around him. He allowed himself to remain different and lived in the fear of God before them. This required a lot of faith on Abraham’s part. Believing what God said privately and living in a way that pleases God publicly are two very different things. They both require faith in God. Abraham demonstrated both. These are not two different faiths but rather a single-minded faith in God that is used in different scenarios. In other words, Abraham’s faith was not just a private expression of belief in the promises of God. Abraham’s life was a public demonstration of the faith he had in God. Christians are challenged today to demonstrate their faith in God through their daily living. If we are to have the faith of Abraham, then it must be more than a Sunday morning expression. Our faith should become our lifestyle and not just our statement of profession. The bible does more than record what Abraham believed. The bible also records many events in Abraham’s life when he was not at the altar proclaiming the name of God. It can be said that Abraham demonstrated a faith in action. Abraham was far from perfect, and we know this because the bible reveals it. That makes his faith in God and God’s response to it even more relevant for us today. We should challenge ourselves by asking “Do I have the faith of Abraham?” Robert C. Hudson June 12, 2021