Abraham, Part 24 - Epilogue

25^th February 2011

This is the final column in my series about Abraham. We've looked at the major stories of his life, and seen how he grew in faith and obedience, and how God rewarded him. We've seen that he was fallible just like us, and we've seen God shaping his character through his experiences. Now we take a brief look at what Paul wrote about him in that wonderful passage of scripture, Romans Chapter 4, starting at the end of the previous chapter:

Romans 3v29-31
Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Paul is arguing that the law of Moses is good, but that people are saved through faith in God, not through observing the law, and that this is just as true for gentiles as it is for Jews. He then asks:

Romans 3v29-4v1
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?

And Paul answers his own question:

Romans 4v2-3
If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

Righteousness is not the same as sinlessness. Rather, it is right relationship with God.

Some people seem to think that we obtain righteousness through sinlessness, but the truth is the exact opposite; we obtain sinlessness through righteousness. That is, some people think that, if we are without sin, then God will accept us but, in fact, God accepts us through faith, and works in our circumstances and our hearts to help us to renounce sin. This is the great theme of Abraham's story. It is further explained to us next:

Romans 4v4-8
Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

None of us deserve to be considered righteous; righteousness is a gift from God, and we receive it through faith in God.

Paul asks why this relationship with God should only be possible for Jews (whom he calls "the circumcised"):

Romans 4v9-11a
Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

And here is Paul's conclusion:

Romans 4v11b-12
So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Circumcision (Jewishness) is irrelevant to God's promises to Abraham, which were made before he was circumcised! Instead, righteousness through faith is offered to people of all nations, making all who believe in Jesus Christ children of Abraham.

We are also heirs of God:

Romans 4v13-17
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

So, if we are gentile Christians or Jewish Christians, Abraham is our father. And here is the example of faith that he gave us:

Romans 4v18-22
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

Abraham was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Now that's faith! And we can become children of God through faith, when we're fully persuaded that God can take away our sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross:

Romans 4v23-25
The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Do you believe God raised Jesus from the dead? And do you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord? Then you are a child of Abraham, and a child of God, an inheritor of His promises.