Introduction
Every athlete wants to break the World Record in his field. Some people do
very silly things just to get their names in the Guinness Book of Records. A day
hardly passes without some new level of achievement being gained by an
individual or company. There is one entry that will never reach the record books
though, for no one is strong, tall, or powerful enough to get to Heaven by
themselves. The majority think they are good and moral enough to find
admittance, or they consider that their religion is the golden key that unlocks
Paradise. God says that the whole world is guilty in His eyes … “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans
3:19-20). The only possible means of salvation is through faith in the blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Abraham and the great fact
“What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the
flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to
glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God,
and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but
believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:1-8).
Regardless of what religion says, salvation is by grace through faith alone. No
good deeds or works of righteousness is of any merit in this area. The only
people who get to Heaven are those who believe in Jesus and the merits of His
righteousness.
Abraham is the most important figure in Jewish history, he was the “Friend of God” (James 2:23) and the father of the Hebrew
nation. What was the basis of his acceptance by God? Was it because he was
morally upright and perfect? No, instead he was a lost sinner just like every
other human being. He was able to have such a close relationship with God simply
because he believed, and that faith was counted to him as righteousness … “And
the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God” (James
2:23).
Justification by faith is not the invention of New Testament writers for it is
clearly seen in the Old too. This proves that God does not accept a person any
other way. If a man will not come through faith in God alone, then they are
eternally lost … “For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Abraham was
the first to reveal this great fact.
Abraham the great father
“Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the
uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for
righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in
uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the
sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet
being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe,
though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them
also: and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision
only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which
he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of
the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the
righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made
void, and the promise made of none effect: because the law worketh wrath: for
where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it
might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to
that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of
Abraham; who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a
father of many nations,) before Him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth
the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against
hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations,
according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be” (Romans 4:9-18).
God is our Heavenly father, but the Scriptures reveal Abraham to be the father
of the Christian faith. He became the father of the Jewish nation through
obedience to the rite of circumcision (see Genesis 17), but he was actually made
right with God about fifteen years earlier … “And
he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis
15:6). Abraham believed that God would be true to His promise despite the
evidence all around him. There was no way, humanly speaking, that he and Sarah
could have a child at their great age. The promise was fulfilled in Isaac.
Because of his faith, we can look to Abraham as a model for our own spiritual
lives. The “seed” of Abraham ought
to have the same kind of faith, that is, to see past the natural to the
miracle-working power of God. We may not be Abraham’s physical descendents,
but he is certainly the father of all who believe.
Abraham and the great faith
“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead,
when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's
womb: he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in
faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had
promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for
righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to
him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and
was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:19-25).
This passage offers us both a demonstration and a definition of true faith.
Abraham’s faith is demonstrated by the fact that he believed and saw beyond
the limits and obvious impossibilities of his personal situation. The definition
is to be found in verse 21 where we read that Abraham was “persuaded” that God would do just as He promised. He was not “persuaded”
in the sense that he was forced to accept the word of God, instead he chose to
accept it as absolute truth. He was convinced that God would do a great thing
and nothing was going to dissuade or hinder his faith.
This is exactly the kind of faith we need today. Though the resurrection of
Christ is impossible to the human intellect, faith tells us of its reality.
Religion teaches that we can get to God by any and all means, but faith
convinces us that God’s word is true and that there is only one way … “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me” (John 14:6). We believe that we have received the promised
salvation and righteousness through faith in Christ Jesus. This great faith is
settled upon the fact that the crucified, risen and ascended Lord paid the full
price for our redemption, and that “Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Conclusion
Today
we can rejoice in the wonderful salvation given to us on the basis of faith in
the meritorious work of our wonderful Saviour on the cross. We need to announce
that self-effort, religion and morality are no substitute for simple faith in
Christ. “Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we
have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16).
Page created 31 January 2006