Abraham's Faith

Romans 4:3  

"For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, 

and it was counted unto him for righteousness." 

   Paul is seeking to prove that what makes a man right with God is not the performance of the works,  but the simple trust that takes God at His word and believes that He still loves us even when we have done nothing to deserve that love. It was not the fact that Abraham had performed the demands of the law that put him into his special relationship with God, it was his complete trust in God and his complete willingness to abandon his life to Him. That for Paul was faith, and it was Abraham's faith which made God regard him as a good man.

   Abraham was the only righteous man of his generation, therefore he was chosen to be the ancestor of God's special people. The question might be; How could Abraham keep the law when he lived hundreds of years before it was given? "He kept the law of the Most High,"and was taken into covenant with God. Therefore God assured him by an oath that the nations should be blessed in his seed. "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations," (Gen 17:4).

   The basic thought of Christianity is that all a man can do is to take God at His word and stake everything on the faith that His promises are true. Paul's argument was, and he was exactly right, is that Abraham entered into a right relationship with God, "not" because he did all kinds of legal works, but because he cast himself, just as he was, on God's promise. 

   My Friends, During our Christian life, we do not need to torture ourselves with a losing battle to earn God's love, but rather we need to accept in perfect trust, the love which God offers to us.  "Very True," after that, any man of honour is under the life long obligation to show himself worthy of that love. But he is no longer a criminal seeking to obey an impossible law; he is a lover offering his all to one who loved him when he did not deserve it. I have been talking about faith. If you want to see what faith is, read and look over the history of Abraham." 

Amen!

Reading: Rom. 4:1-8

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry