After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 12:1-6 ESV)
God seldom allows our faith to remain static, and so we face crisis points which bring our faith from the abstract to the concrete, and from the general to the specific. Such is the case with Abram in Genesis 15. Even though Abram had been assured by the Word of God about the future blessing, he nevertheless begins to have doubts when he considers both his own childless marriage and the hope and plans of his servant.
We Lutherans operate under three
premises, more commonly known as our three “solas”: Sola
Scriptura – Scripture Alone; Sola
Gratia – Grace Alone; Sola Fide –
Faith Alone. Scripture alone shows us
that we cannot possibly measure up to God’s expectations as sinners, but
through God’s grace alone we are given, not only the precious gift of a Savior,
but the wonderful gift of faith through which alone God counts us as righteous
in His sight.
Genesis 15:1-6 deals with the
latter—faith—and how Abram, some 4,000 years ago, was counted as righteous,
that is justified by God’s solely by means of his faith…alone. And, no, Abram
wasn’t a Lutheran—Sola Fide is older
than the Reformation!
God told Abram to take his family
and possessions and move to an unfamiliar place about 400 miles away…and he was
no spring chicken, easily 70 years old! By obeying God and doing so, God
promised that through Abram would come a great nation. Abram did as he was told
by God, which included, later, circumcising himself and his entire household.
Certainly by such obedience this man Abram was deserving of God’s favor.
In fact, many Jewish religious
leaders assumed that Abram was justified by his obedience to God. Descendants
of “Father Abraham,” as Abram would come to be known, claimed entitlement to
God’s favor and expected redemption (political and spiritual) from the promised
Messiah.
Most of us are acquainted with those three verses from Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church which, perhaps, define us as Lutherans, Ephesians 2:8-10: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Abraham simply believed. Yes, and
he obeyed. But he believed! In his letter to the churches in Rome, Paul
used Abraham as an example to demonstrate that faith—not obedience, which we
could never pull off anyway, nor any amount of good works—is required for
salvation. This is the doctrine of justification, being made right with God,
through that third sola, FAITH ALONE.
The doctrine of justification
apart from works —often spoken about as a Lutheran doctrine—predates the time
of Moses and the Law by 600 years. God promised to give Abraham more
descendants than the stars in the skies...and Abraham believed. And because of
his obedience, God even called Abraham “friend” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah
41:8).
Abraham showed faith before
he became circumcised (as the sign of the covenant in Genesis 17)...and in
doing so Abraham becomes the spiritual ancestor of later believers, Jews and
Gentiles alike. And think about it—Abraham was a Gentile before his faith was
counted to him as righteous. The decisive moment in God's plan for salvation is
Abraham's trust in God's promise to him.
Paul uses an analogy to highlight
the gift aspect of justification through faith alone in Romans 4:4, “Now to the
one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.” People who
believe that God responds to good works, that salvation is either fully or
somewhat dependent upon what we do—such things about which we could easily
boast, like Pharisees, before God—are like workers awaiting payment in return
for services rendered. Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteous by God’s
grace.
While God’s justification of
Abraham occurred four millennia ago, it was still based on that third sola, as
is a sinner’s justification today. Yet obedience, then and now, cannot be
discounted—4,000 years ago God told Abraham what to do and he did it; 2,000
years ago, God told Jesus what to do and HE DID IT. Through the sacrifice of
His one and only Son, God freely and graciously justifies believers through
faith alone in Christ alone.
God’s way of saving men is not
new. It has not changed from Old Testament times to New. Always, God has saved
men by grace, through faith. There is no other way. While Abram was saved through
faith in the One Who would come, we are saved through faith in this One
Who has come. That is the only difference.
May our baptism assure us of
God’s promises in Christ: freedom from the shackles of sin, rescue from the
devil, and hope for everlasting life! May our works reflect an Abraham-sized
faith to the glory of His holy name! Amen!
That’s it for this month. May the
Lord bless you and keep you,
Pastor E.B.
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