"And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists
and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."
(Hebrews 11:6)
"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:26-27)
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared
to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him,
not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the
law, but that which is through faith in Christ —
the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
(Philippians 3:8-9)
Faith Responds in Obedience
Faith is essential if we are to be right with God. But
what does faith mean?
Faith means to trust, to believe. And in Abraham we have
a model for that type of faith. His life is punctuated
with demonstrations of faith, trust, belief in God.
He was told by God to leave his home and go to a foreign
land:
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place
he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and
went, even though he did not know where he was going."
(Hebrews 11:8) That's faith.
Faith Believes the Impossible
God promised Abraham a son. Time passed and the promise
remained unfulfilled. Abraham was now 99 years old and
his wife, Sarah, was 90. God spoke again to him again
about the promise of a son. Though surrounded by physical
impossibilities, Abraham had faith that what God said
would indeed come to pass:
"By faith Abraham, even though he was past age —
and Sarah herself was barren — was enabled to become
a father because he considered him faithful who had made
the promise." (Hebrews 11:11) That's faith!
And when Isaac was grown, Abraham was commanded to offer
him as a sacrifice.
"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered
Isaac as a sacrifice." (Hebrews 11:17)
God never allowed Abraham to take the young boy's life,
though Abraham was prepared to do so, and for this reason
Abraham is called "God's friend". (James 2:23)
That's faith!
The type of faith Abraham displayed is the kind of faith
we are to have. It is a faith that trusts in God, a faith
that believes God, a faith that obeys God.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
