Back to Genesis in my chronological Bible study:
(Genesis 23:1) And Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah. (2) And Sarah died in Kirjath Arba, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
Abraham not only came to mourn for Sarah by performing the usual mourning customs of the time, but he also wept for Sarah, indicating he was sincerely saddened by the loss of his wife. Kirjath Arba means "city of Arba", or "city of the four giants". Some of the oldest commentaries speculate that it was so named for a Canaanite, one of the Anakim (a mixed race of giant people), called Arba. He was probably the chief of four brothers who dwelt there. This appears to have been deduced because of later scriptures:
And the name of Hebron before was Kirjath Arba (Arba was a great man among the Anakim). And the land had rest from war. - Joshua 14:15
Then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjath Arba), and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. - Judges 1:10
Normally, I would not have made such a big study out of the name of the place, but I rather liked one speculation by early commentaries that the place had been named for the four greats, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they were buried there, or for the four great couples, as their wives, Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah were also buried there. But as it would have been named long after the time in which Sarah died, and with the scripture references above, I am now after that study, more inclined to believe the former explanation of the name.
(3) And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, (4) "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me possession of a burial place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
After he finished the customs of mourning, Abraham went about to provide for a burial place for his wife. He, not a native of the place, spoke to the sons or descendants of Heth, whom we learned was the son of Canaan in Genesis 10:15, who were at this time the inhabitants of that part of the land where Abraham now was. Wanting Sarah buried out of his sight would have been simply because death will make even the most lovely, most unpleasant.
(5) And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, (6) "Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choice of our sepulchres; none of us will withhold from you his sepulchre, that you may bury your dead."
Although Abraham called himself a stranger and a sojourner, the inhabitants had a high opinion of him, and gave him his choice of burial places. There was not a man among them who would deny him the use of his sepulchre in which to bury Sarah.
(7) And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Heth. (8) And he communed with them, saying, "If it be your desire that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, (9) That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is at the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth, let him give it to me for a possession of a burial place among you."
Abraham bowed himself out of respect and as was the custom, as he was grateful for their kind offer. He continued communication on the subject, saying if it was their wish to allow him to bury his wife anywhere he chose, then he chose the cave of Machpelah, and asked that they intercede for him with the cave's owner, Ephron. Abraham was not looking for a free gift, but was willing to pay what it was worth.
(10) And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, of all who entered the gate of his city, saying, (11) "No, my lord, hear me, I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you; in the presence of the sons of my people, I give it to you; bury your dead."
Ephron answered for himself in the presence of the descendants of Heth, with whom Abraham had spoken. "All who entered the gate" probably means all of the citizens of the city. Ephron offered to give the cave and the field in which it lay to Abraham.
(12) And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. (13) And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If you will give it, please hear me, I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there."
Again Abraham bowed out of respect and probably gratitude, but he told Ephron that if he would allow Abraham to take the cave and the field, then he would pay for it.
(14) And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, (15) "My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between you and me? Therefore bury your dead."
Ephron told Abraham the worth of the land, but asked the rhetorical question about what that trifling amount really mattered, and so to therefore bury his dead.
(16) And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver to Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
Abraham listened and immediately paid Ephron the amount he mentioned, all of this done with the inhabitants, descendants of Heth, as witnesses. Abraham paid in shekels of silver, which were particular weights of silver that he weighed out, and it appears this was a common currency used by merchants of the time.
(17) And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were within all the surrounding borders, were made sure (18) To Abraham as a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
We read a description of the land "made sure" or deeded to Abraham, once again mentioning it was in the presence of the citizens, the descendants of Heth.
(19) And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. (20) And the field and the cave that is in it were made sure to Abraham as a possession of a burial place by the sons of Heth.
Abraham buried Sarah in the cave in the field which he had just purchased from Ephron. As is the way with God and Biblical truths written for our benefit, the words are spoken or written twice to establish them as fact.
...In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. - 2 Corinthians 13:1b
And that Biblical truth is established by at least two more mentions in the Bible, one time by God in His laws in Deuteronomy, specifically Deut. 19:15, and another by Jesus in Matthew 18:16. That surely makes it solidly established!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
What Does It Mean to Have the Faith of Abraham in Our Day?
I chose to do a chronological Bible study this time. I enjoy it because I get to see when something happened in relation to something else. I get to read a psalm in context when it was written or sung as opposed to as just one in a huge chapter of many psalms. If there are more than one telling of an incident, as in the gospels, I get the full picture of it with each writer's slightly different details. Rather than reading a chronological Bible, I chose this time to use a chronological guide by Skip Andrews. It is this guide that leads me from the story of Abraham to this commentary of it in the New Testament:
(Romans 4:1) What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found?
The fourth chapter of Romans begins with the Apostle Paul asking the question about Abraham. Abraham is the Jews' ancestral father, the founder of their nation, and being the father of all believers, what he has found would be of extreme importance and relevance to the readers of Paul's letter. "As pertaining to the flesh" may mean simply that Abraham was their natural father, but it may be that Paul is asking the question about what Abraham has found with respect to the flesh, as opposed to the spiritual. Because this chronological guide has us beginning in the middle of Paul's thought, we don't get the best understanding. In the strictest chronological sense, Paul's letter didn't occur at the same time as the events in Abraham's life, so for that reason, this has not been my favorite chronological study, but it's different, and different gives a different perspective!
(2) For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something of which to glory, but not before God.
So what has Abraham found? We return to Paul's answer to his question. IF Abraham were justified by his own works, he would have something to boast about, as he was certainly a very faithful and obedient follower of God. But as all men sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), he would have no room to boast before God; therefore he is not justified by his own good works.
(3) For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."
Paul refers back to scripture to answer his question. Genesis 15:6 says, "And he believed in the LORD, and He counted it to him for righteousness." Because Abraham believed God, and all that goes with that belief, faithfulness and obedience, therefore God counted it as righteousness, although the actions of themselves were not altogether righteous. We certainly read of many cases where Abraham was not altogether righteous, truthful, or completely trusting of God, as no sinful man can be. It is a gift from God that He counted Abraham's belief in Him as righteousness.
(4) Now to him who works, the reward is not reckoned as grace but as debt.
If all we had were our own good works to make us righteous before God, then our reward would not be as a gift from God, but would be in payment of a debt. We would be constantly working to keep ourselves out of hell, and we would be sometimes failing.
(5) But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
It must be pointed out that this doesn't mean that the believer does not work at all, but he is not working for his salvation. James will later show in his writing that the believer will naturally do good works because of his salvation in Christ, but he does not do them to be justified before God. The man who does not work for his salvation, but believes in the One who through His grace justifies ungodly sinful men, his faith will be counted as though he was completely righteous before God. What a much easier path God has provided for us! Jesus said that His yoke was easy and His burden light, and that if all who labored and were heavily laden, would come to Him, He would give them rest (Matt. 11:28-30). What a hard and hopeless life it would be to be constantly working, working, working to please God, and knowing that you sometimes failed. However, God provided a way that we could be righteous and justified before Him, by believing in the only One Who can do that for us.
(6) Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness without works, (7) Saying, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; (8) Blessed is the man to whom the LORD will not impute sin."
Paul uses an example of David, again someone the reader would greatly esteem as someone to emulate, who said in Psalm 32, which Paul quotes, that a man is blessed to be seen as righteous without working for that righteousness. He is blessed to have the sins which would have prevented him from being seen as righteous, covered and not counted against him.
(9) Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Paul asks the reader to then examine whether this blessedness of God comes only to the circumcised Jews, or to the uncircumcised Gentiles, as well. Paul points out that it has been established that Abraham's faith is what made him righteous.
(10) How then was it reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Paul asks and then answers that the blessing of righteousness actually came to Abraham while he was uncircumcised.
(11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had still being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them who believe, though they are not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
Abraham was justified first and then as an outward sign and a seal of that righteousness, he was circumcised. It was a seal of the covenant between God and Abraham that Abraham would be the father of all believers, even though they were not circumcised, that righteousness might be counted to them, as well. God had said that all nations would be blessed in Abraham's seed. Abraham was the physical ancestral father of the Jews, but he was the spiritual father of the Gentiles, because in his seed, specifically in Jesus Christ, the Gentiles could come to be considered righteous children of God.
(12) 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.
Thus is Abraham the father of that seal of that covenant to not only the circumcised Jews, but also to those who have the faith that Abraham had, even before he was circumcised.
(13) For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
The heir of the world is the same, in essence, as the father of many nations, which is what God had promised to Abraham and to his seed. Paul says this was not promised based on Abraham's score of how well he adhered to the law, but was promised through the righteousness counted to him for his faith.
(14) For if they who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, (15) Because the law works wrath, for where no law is there is no transgression.
Paul goes on to explain why it is that the promise could not have been made to Abraham according to the law. If those who work to adhere to the law are the ones who are the heirs, then faith would be of no use, and a promise of God would be unnecessary, because if people achieved the "proper score", they'd achieve their salvation with no special promise of God needed. The law works wrath because its very purpose is to define right and wrong. If a person breaks the law, he is found to be wrong, and judged accordingly. If there is no law, then there is no breaking of the law and no crime to be judged harshly.
(16) Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
Therefore it, the promise, is of faith, not by obedience to the law, that it, the promise, is by the grace of God, a merciful gift from God, not as a result of a score on the works card. And this is so that the promise is guaranteed to all, not only to those who adhere to the law (the Jews), but also to those who are heirs because of their faith like Abraham's (the Gentiles). That is not to say that true believers would be lawless, but the law that Paul refers to in these passages is that of circumcision, and he makes it clear that it is not circumcision, or adherence to any law, for that matter, that makes one heir to the promise. It is by faith that he is given this gracious gift of God.
(17) As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations" in the presence of Him whom he believed, God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which are not as though they were;
Paul goes on to qualify what makes Abraham the father of us all from the scripture before this one, and that is because God said it to Abraham. God, who gives life to the dead, gave life to a dead womb. God, who calls things that are not, called someone a father who had no children and whose wife was past the age of possibly having children, as though he already was a father. Abraham believed God who said these impossible things because he knew, or had faith, that He could do the impossible
(18) Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, "So shall your seed be."
Abraham, against all probability, against all apparent and usual grounds for hope, believed in the hope of, or rather, was very hopeful for what was promised him, specifically because that is what God told him.
(19) And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, now dead (since he was about a hundred years old), nor the deadness of Sarah's womb; (20) He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; (21) And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
This passage pretty well sums up the scripture before it. The reason Abraham was able to believe in hope against hope, was because he had strong faith, and did not look at his personal circumstances, but rather looked to God, giving Him glory, knowing full well that God could do whatever He said He would do.
(22) And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Because of this great faith in God, this faith of Abraham was accounted to him for righteousness, before there was any circumcision law by which he could be "justified".
(23) Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, (24) But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, (25) Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Verse 22 is actually a quote from Genesis 15:6, "And he believed in the LORD, and He counted it to him for righteousness." That was not written for Abraham's sake alone, that he alone might be found righteous before God, but for all of us who believe...... Believe exactly what? This is the important part--what we believe is essential, and Paul sums it up beautifully for us. We believe in God, knowing that He raised Jesus Christ, our Lord, from the dead, knowing that He was delivered up to death as a sacrifice for our sins, not for any of His own, as He was sinless, and that God raised Jesus from the dead that we sinful humans may be justified before God. This is the only belief and faith that makes us justified before God; this is the specific faith that lets us be counted as righteous before God. People today say so casually, "Oh, I believe in God", and "I believe in Jesus." Well, so does Satan!! Believing that either exists is not the specific belief that saves us. We must have the specific faith of Abraham! That God will do what He said and save us, but just as Abraham had to pass the faithfulness test, so must we, in order to be found righteous and given this gift of salvation. Specifically, we must believe and have faith and trust in the One who provided the only one Way through Jesus Christ that we might be found righteous before Him. We must believe that God sacrificed Jesus Christ for our individual sins, and that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that He was raised for us, and as a perfect illustration that we might also be raised, even though we are sinful. We are justified because of Christ.
Abraham believed God; he believed what He said. So must we believe what God says, not what we feel must be right. To believe in a god of our convenience, who does what we think he ought to do, is to believe in a false god. There is only one true God and there is only One Way to Him, whether it is convenient or comfortable to all or not! In this day and age many choose to believe that there are many paths to God; this is absolutely false and DEADLY! To true Christians, believers and followers in the One true Jesus Christ, they see these people as headed for certain eternal death! It IS certain death! So what an unsaved world sees as Christians "pushing their faith" on others is really their maybe-often-sloppy attempt to save the lost people of that world. Because the lost world does not understand what a true Christian knows, its people cannot see the truth of why Christians do what they do. They apply their own worldly feelings and actions, and decide they must be judgmental and bigoted or living in fairy-land.
I know that Christians do not always act in the most loving manner, but for the most part, I believe they are just misunderstood. Let's face it, we know that the largest part of our government is Godless. How else could we allow abortion and sexual immorality, including homosexuality, to be considered right? How could a true follower of Christ really believe that the taking of innocent human life is okay for the convenience of the mother? Some may say that once it was the law of the land, then leaders must uphold the law. But those same leaders do not uphold the laws they don't like, like the Defense of Marriage Act. If true followers of Christ were running this country, there is no way they would be voting to take God out of their political platform and trying to erase Him from the public square. It is very obvious we let Godless people run our country and then we wonder what is going wrong!
It's also obvious that the majority of media, at least what we consider the mainstream media, is Godless. Why else would they glory more in the immorality and violence, and be so biased toward the Godless views of man? Yes, I know they are supposed to be reporting news, and they report what they see, but who could truthfully argue that they don't report the news with a bias? It used to make me so angry about how blatantly biased the media were, but I am beginning to understand that they can't help themselves. They truly cannot understand a Godly perspective, so they attempt to report what they do not understand through their corrupt worldly views. I suppose the same is to be said of our leaders; they honestly don't know any better. After all, the Bible tells us over and over again, there is no wisdom but God's, so Godless leaders are incapable of making Godly moral laws! Godless news people are incapable of reporting the truth of those Godless laws. And the people who vote for Godless leaders likewise can't really know what they are doing. Why would a true follower of Christ intentionally vote for a man who voted on three separate occasions to KILL by neglect fully born ALIVE babies who happened to survive botched abortions? There are so many more reasons for a true Christian to flee from such a leader as the president we as a country have chosen, but to me that one reason is so black and white and blatantly illustrative of just how far we have let ourselves go if we can justify the killing of people!
I'll never forget a call-in listener on ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) with Jay Sekulow when he was fighting against partial birth abortion. The woman used her liberal talking point about how she didn't believe the government had the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. Jay asked her then if she believed the abortion procedure was okay, and proceeded to tell her what they did in a partial birth abortion. She was terribly indignant, and said well, if he was going to put it THAT way, they just couldn't discuss it! THAT was the truth!! But it was too uncomfortable for her to hear. Many times the truth is too difficult, but we are doing a disservice to ourselves and to our country, and certainly in this case, to the millions of lives that could be saved, if we do not take responsibility to simply vote against it, if we did nothing more. But to turn our backs and pretend it's something that it's not... Just think of how Godless leaders take moral issues and give them names the very opposite of what they are. Killing babies becomes "freedom of choice" and homosexual marriage, something God called an abomination, becomes "marriage equality". "Separation of church and state" is an absolute myth, but repeating that mantra over and over again has certainly worked, as people think it is fine and lawful to remove God completely from the public square, and then we wonder why there are so many problems in our schools. If people really understood what "freedom of choice" meant, if it were called the "Brutal Murder of Innocent Babies Act", how many people would then go along with it? Bad laws are purposely given names to make them more palatable. Why hide what you are doing behind deceptive names? If there was nothing wrong with abortion, there would be no reason we couldn't call it what it was and describe it!
Wicked leaders do lead the people to do wicked things. That was stated over and over again with the kings in the Old Testament:
"Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins," - 1 Kings 16:2
The media helps to perpetuate wickedness. Sex and violence and all kinds of sinful behaviors are glorified, and there is a definite liberal bias, as bad laws are usually reported as good, and attempts to change them to more Biblical laws are seen as bad, hateful, and bigoted, because they simply do not understand the Truth. Although leaders and media do help to cause people to sin, the people have no excuse. The Bible tells us they are "without excuse". They know better, but they choose to ignore the truth:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. - Romans 1:18-25 (NKJV)
How is it people cannot see this truth? Because they choose not to see it. God will reveal Himself and His truth to all who seek Him first, but in this day and age, people seek personal pleasure first and seek the things that they want to hear, regardless of truth:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts, because they have itching ears, they will heap to themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and will be turned to fables. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4
How true and sad it is that people are willing to read other spiritual books, listen to Oprah, listen to what other people have to say, but resist reading the only true Word of God!
Continuing this chronological study, the author of Hebrews, who may have also been Paul, said this about the faith of Abraham:
(Hebrews 11:17) By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
I believe the point here is to emphasize that Abraham was promised numerous posterity, too numerous to count, and yet when God told him to, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only begotten son, the only one through whom the promise seemed possible.
(18) Of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called",
Indeed, the author of Hebrews quotes Genesis 21:12, showing that it was through Isaac himself that the promise would be fulfilled, and yet Abraham willingly obeyed God and was going to sacrifice Isaac.
(19) Concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
The author of Hebrews answers the question about how Abraham was able to do what he did, which I have pondered a great deal in my lifetime. Here we see that if God was to use Isaac, there really seemed to be no other way for God to fulfill His promise other than to raise Isaac from the dead. So great was Abraham's faith in God, that he did what seemed absolutely contrary to what would have seemed humanly "right"! What a lesson there is to be learned in this! As it was already pointed out above in Romans 4:17, God gives life to the dead and calls those things which are not as though they are; the things of God are often opposite of what our sinful human nature may feel is "right".
The second part of the scripture above actually reads in the old KJV, "...from whence also he received him in a figure." I try to stay true to the KJV, as, after much study (see this), I believe it to be the most accurate, but in my personal study, I sometimes use the NKJV for more modern terminology that I can better understand if I feel it agrees with the original meaning. "From whence", meaning "from which", would mean from the thing just previously spoken of, that is, from death. It can also mean "whereby" or "for which reason", but the general idea is the same. In "receiving him", Abraham received Isaac back from the dead in a "figure", the original word being "parabole", meaning "parable". This was meant to be an example of faith and obedience for a parable. The same way in which Jesus used parables to explain the supernatural plan of God for His death and resurrection and salvation of the world, God used this incident in Abraham's life as a parable that was to be purposely recorded for the benefit of all generations to come.
Finally, in this particular chronological study, we have the words of James, the brother of Jesus:
(James 2:20) But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
"Will you know", meaning "are you willing to know" that faith without works is dead? James goes on to use Abraham as an illustration of his point.
(21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?
At first glance, this appears to be a contradiction to Paul's assertion that Abraham was justified by faith, but James continues to explain his point:
(22) Do you see how faith worked with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
Abraham had the faith first, and because of his great faith, he was able to do what he did, with regard to being able to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God. As much as I enjoy a good chronological study, this particular study fails a little in that we don't get the benefit of reading what James had said up to this point, which more fully explains the point he was trying to make:
What does it profit, my brethren, though a man says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them those things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? So also faith alone, if it does not have works, is dead. A man may say "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God, you do well; the devils also believe, and tremble. - James 2:14-19
Wow! This should give lukewarm Christians great pause! People who believe that just believing in God, just believing in that "salvation" moment when they went down the aisle and accepted Jesus into their hearts, and yet do not live as Christians, and continue to live worldly lives contrary to the word of God, are given a rude awakening by the brother of Jesus. So-called Christians today may say they believe, but James says that by a Christian's works, you will see his true faith. Indeed, Jesus said, "By their fruit you will know them."
(23) And the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
The scripture being referenced above is Genesis 15:6 which says, "And he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness." Later in scripture, 2 Chronicles 20:7 refers to Abraham, God's friend.
(24) You see then how a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
James concludes, at least, he concludes in this chronological study (he goes on with another example in his letter), that a man is justified by his works and not by only his faith. Paul had concluded that a man was justified by faith without the works of the law. This is why it is so essential to know the entire word of God in context! Both are correct and are not at all contradictory! It is a person's faith in Jesus Christ that justifies him/her before God, but you will know that a person is truly a follower of Christ by his/her works! Anything less than that, taking only one part of that out of context, is to distort the whole meaning, as Satan, who also believes in God and Jesus Christ, does, as evidenced by his deceptive temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:6 and Luke 4:10-11.
In my conclusion, I have to now admit that this was a good chronological order after all, as it sums up what true faith in Jesus Christ really means in its entirety!
(Romans 4:1) What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found?
The fourth chapter of Romans begins with the Apostle Paul asking the question about Abraham. Abraham is the Jews' ancestral father, the founder of their nation, and being the father of all believers, what he has found would be of extreme importance and relevance to the readers of Paul's letter. "As pertaining to the flesh" may mean simply that Abraham was their natural father, but it may be that Paul is asking the question about what Abraham has found with respect to the flesh, as opposed to the spiritual. Because this chronological guide has us beginning in the middle of Paul's thought, we don't get the best understanding. In the strictest chronological sense, Paul's letter didn't occur at the same time as the events in Abraham's life, so for that reason, this has not been my favorite chronological study, but it's different, and different gives a different perspective!
(2) For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something of which to glory, but not before God.
So what has Abraham found? We return to Paul's answer to his question. IF Abraham were justified by his own works, he would have something to boast about, as he was certainly a very faithful and obedient follower of God. But as all men sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), he would have no room to boast before God; therefore he is not justified by his own good works.
(3) For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."
Paul refers back to scripture to answer his question. Genesis 15:6 says, "And he believed in the LORD, and He counted it to him for righteousness." Because Abraham believed God, and all that goes with that belief, faithfulness and obedience, therefore God counted it as righteousness, although the actions of themselves were not altogether righteous. We certainly read of many cases where Abraham was not altogether righteous, truthful, or completely trusting of God, as no sinful man can be. It is a gift from God that He counted Abraham's belief in Him as righteousness.
(4) Now to him who works, the reward is not reckoned as grace but as debt.
If all we had were our own good works to make us righteous before God, then our reward would not be as a gift from God, but would be in payment of a debt. We would be constantly working to keep ourselves out of hell, and we would be sometimes failing.
(5) But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
It must be pointed out that this doesn't mean that the believer does not work at all, but he is not working for his salvation. James will later show in his writing that the believer will naturally do good works because of his salvation in Christ, but he does not do them to be justified before God. The man who does not work for his salvation, but believes in the One who through His grace justifies ungodly sinful men, his faith will be counted as though he was completely righteous before God. What a much easier path God has provided for us! Jesus said that His yoke was easy and His burden light, and that if all who labored and were heavily laden, would come to Him, He would give them rest (Matt. 11:28-30). What a hard and hopeless life it would be to be constantly working, working, working to please God, and knowing that you sometimes failed. However, God provided a way that we could be righteous and justified before Him, by believing in the only One Who can do that for us.
(6) Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness without works, (7) Saying, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; (8) Blessed is the man to whom the LORD will not impute sin."
Paul uses an example of David, again someone the reader would greatly esteem as someone to emulate, who said in Psalm 32, which Paul quotes, that a man is blessed to be seen as righteous without working for that righteousness. He is blessed to have the sins which would have prevented him from being seen as righteous, covered and not counted against him.
(9) Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Paul asks the reader to then examine whether this blessedness of God comes only to the circumcised Jews, or to the uncircumcised Gentiles, as well. Paul points out that it has been established that Abraham's faith is what made him righteous.
(10) How then was it reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Paul asks and then answers that the blessing of righteousness actually came to Abraham while he was uncircumcised.
(11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had still being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them who believe, though they are not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
Abraham was justified first and then as an outward sign and a seal of that righteousness, he was circumcised. It was a seal of the covenant between God and Abraham that Abraham would be the father of all believers, even though they were not circumcised, that righteousness might be counted to them, as well. God had said that all nations would be blessed in Abraham's seed. Abraham was the physical ancestral father of the Jews, but he was the spiritual father of the Gentiles, because in his seed, specifically in Jesus Christ, the Gentiles could come to be considered righteous children of God.
(12) 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.
Thus is Abraham the father of that seal of that covenant to not only the circumcised Jews, but also to those who have the faith that Abraham had, even before he was circumcised.
(13) For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
The heir of the world is the same, in essence, as the father of many nations, which is what God had promised to Abraham and to his seed. Paul says this was not promised based on Abraham's score of how well he adhered to the law, but was promised through the righteousness counted to him for his faith.
(14) For if they who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, (15) Because the law works wrath, for where no law is there is no transgression.
Paul goes on to explain why it is that the promise could not have been made to Abraham according to the law. If those who work to adhere to the law are the ones who are the heirs, then faith would be of no use, and a promise of God would be unnecessary, because if people achieved the "proper score", they'd achieve their salvation with no special promise of God needed. The law works wrath because its very purpose is to define right and wrong. If a person breaks the law, he is found to be wrong, and judged accordingly. If there is no law, then there is no breaking of the law and no crime to be judged harshly.
(16) Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
Therefore it, the promise, is of faith, not by obedience to the law, that it, the promise, is by the grace of God, a merciful gift from God, not as a result of a score on the works card. And this is so that the promise is guaranteed to all, not only to those who adhere to the law (the Jews), but also to those who are heirs because of their faith like Abraham's (the Gentiles). That is not to say that true believers would be lawless, but the law that Paul refers to in these passages is that of circumcision, and he makes it clear that it is not circumcision, or adherence to any law, for that matter, that makes one heir to the promise. It is by faith that he is given this gracious gift of God.
(17) As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations" in the presence of Him whom he believed, God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which are not as though they were;
Paul goes on to qualify what makes Abraham the father of us all from the scripture before this one, and that is because God said it to Abraham. God, who gives life to the dead, gave life to a dead womb. God, who calls things that are not, called someone a father who had no children and whose wife was past the age of possibly having children, as though he already was a father. Abraham believed God who said these impossible things because he knew, or had faith, that He could do the impossible
(18) Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, "So shall your seed be."
Abraham, against all probability, against all apparent and usual grounds for hope, believed in the hope of, or rather, was very hopeful for what was promised him, specifically because that is what God told him.
(19) And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, now dead (since he was about a hundred years old), nor the deadness of Sarah's womb; (20) He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; (21) And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
This passage pretty well sums up the scripture before it. The reason Abraham was able to believe in hope against hope, was because he had strong faith, and did not look at his personal circumstances, but rather looked to God, giving Him glory, knowing full well that God could do whatever He said He would do.
(22) And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Because of this great faith in God, this faith of Abraham was accounted to him for righteousness, before there was any circumcision law by which he could be "justified".
(23) Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, (24) But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, (25) Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Verse 22 is actually a quote from Genesis 15:6, "And he believed in the LORD, and He counted it to him for righteousness." That was not written for Abraham's sake alone, that he alone might be found righteous before God, but for all of us who believe...... Believe exactly what? This is the important part--what we believe is essential, and Paul sums it up beautifully for us. We believe in God, knowing that He raised Jesus Christ, our Lord, from the dead, knowing that He was delivered up to death as a sacrifice for our sins, not for any of His own, as He was sinless, and that God raised Jesus from the dead that we sinful humans may be justified before God. This is the only belief and faith that makes us justified before God; this is the specific faith that lets us be counted as righteous before God. People today say so casually, "Oh, I believe in God", and "I believe in Jesus." Well, so does Satan!! Believing that either exists is not the specific belief that saves us. We must have the specific faith of Abraham! That God will do what He said and save us, but just as Abraham had to pass the faithfulness test, so must we, in order to be found righteous and given this gift of salvation. Specifically, we must believe and have faith and trust in the One who provided the only one Way through Jesus Christ that we might be found righteous before Him. We must believe that God sacrificed Jesus Christ for our individual sins, and that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that He was raised for us, and as a perfect illustration that we might also be raised, even though we are sinful. We are justified because of Christ.
Abraham believed God; he believed what He said. So must we believe what God says, not what we feel must be right. To believe in a god of our convenience, who does what we think he ought to do, is to believe in a false god. There is only one true God and there is only One Way to Him, whether it is convenient or comfortable to all or not! In this day and age many choose to believe that there are many paths to God; this is absolutely false and DEADLY! To true Christians, believers and followers in the One true Jesus Christ, they see these people as headed for certain eternal death! It IS certain death! So what an unsaved world sees as Christians "pushing their faith" on others is really their maybe-often-sloppy attempt to save the lost people of that world. Because the lost world does not understand what a true Christian knows, its people cannot see the truth of why Christians do what they do. They apply their own worldly feelings and actions, and decide they must be judgmental and bigoted or living in fairy-land.
I know that Christians do not always act in the most loving manner, but for the most part, I believe they are just misunderstood. Let's face it, we know that the largest part of our government is Godless. How else could we allow abortion and sexual immorality, including homosexuality, to be considered right? How could a true follower of Christ really believe that the taking of innocent human life is okay for the convenience of the mother? Some may say that once it was the law of the land, then leaders must uphold the law. But those same leaders do not uphold the laws they don't like, like the Defense of Marriage Act. If true followers of Christ were running this country, there is no way they would be voting to take God out of their political platform and trying to erase Him from the public square. It is very obvious we let Godless people run our country and then we wonder what is going wrong!
It's also obvious that the majority of media, at least what we consider the mainstream media, is Godless. Why else would they glory more in the immorality and violence, and be so biased toward the Godless views of man? Yes, I know they are supposed to be reporting news, and they report what they see, but who could truthfully argue that they don't report the news with a bias? It used to make me so angry about how blatantly biased the media were, but I am beginning to understand that they can't help themselves. They truly cannot understand a Godly perspective, so they attempt to report what they do not understand through their corrupt worldly views. I suppose the same is to be said of our leaders; they honestly don't know any better. After all, the Bible tells us over and over again, there is no wisdom but God's, so Godless leaders are incapable of making Godly moral laws! Godless news people are incapable of reporting the truth of those Godless laws. And the people who vote for Godless leaders likewise can't really know what they are doing. Why would a true follower of Christ intentionally vote for a man who voted on three separate occasions to KILL by neglect fully born ALIVE babies who happened to survive botched abortions? There are so many more reasons for a true Christian to flee from such a leader as the president we as a country have chosen, but to me that one reason is so black and white and blatantly illustrative of just how far we have let ourselves go if we can justify the killing of people!
I'll never forget a call-in listener on ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) with Jay Sekulow when he was fighting against partial birth abortion. The woman used her liberal talking point about how she didn't believe the government had the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. Jay asked her then if she believed the abortion procedure was okay, and proceeded to tell her what they did in a partial birth abortion. She was terribly indignant, and said well, if he was going to put it THAT way, they just couldn't discuss it! THAT was the truth!! But it was too uncomfortable for her to hear. Many times the truth is too difficult, but we are doing a disservice to ourselves and to our country, and certainly in this case, to the millions of lives that could be saved, if we do not take responsibility to simply vote against it, if we did nothing more. But to turn our backs and pretend it's something that it's not... Just think of how Godless leaders take moral issues and give them names the very opposite of what they are. Killing babies becomes "freedom of choice" and homosexual marriage, something God called an abomination, becomes "marriage equality". "Separation of church and state" is an absolute myth, but repeating that mantra over and over again has certainly worked, as people think it is fine and lawful to remove God completely from the public square, and then we wonder why there are so many problems in our schools. If people really understood what "freedom of choice" meant, if it were called the "Brutal Murder of Innocent Babies Act", how many people would then go along with it? Bad laws are purposely given names to make them more palatable. Why hide what you are doing behind deceptive names? If there was nothing wrong with abortion, there would be no reason we couldn't call it what it was and describe it!
Wicked leaders do lead the people to do wicked things. That was stated over and over again with the kings in the Old Testament:
"Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins," - 1 Kings 16:2
The media helps to perpetuate wickedness. Sex and violence and all kinds of sinful behaviors are glorified, and there is a definite liberal bias, as bad laws are usually reported as good, and attempts to change them to more Biblical laws are seen as bad, hateful, and bigoted, because they simply do not understand the Truth. Although leaders and media do help to cause people to sin, the people have no excuse. The Bible tells us they are "without excuse". They know better, but they choose to ignore the truth:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. - Romans 1:18-25 (NKJV)
How is it people cannot see this truth? Because they choose not to see it. God will reveal Himself and His truth to all who seek Him first, but in this day and age, people seek personal pleasure first and seek the things that they want to hear, regardless of truth:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts, because they have itching ears, they will heap to themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and will be turned to fables. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4
How true and sad it is that people are willing to read other spiritual books, listen to Oprah, listen to what other people have to say, but resist reading the only true Word of God!
Continuing this chronological study, the author of Hebrews, who may have also been Paul, said this about the faith of Abraham:
(Hebrews 11:17) By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
I believe the point here is to emphasize that Abraham was promised numerous posterity, too numerous to count, and yet when God told him to, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only begotten son, the only one through whom the promise seemed possible.
(18) Of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called",
Indeed, the author of Hebrews quotes Genesis 21:12, showing that it was through Isaac himself that the promise would be fulfilled, and yet Abraham willingly obeyed God and was going to sacrifice Isaac.
(19) Concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
The author of Hebrews answers the question about how Abraham was able to do what he did, which I have pondered a great deal in my lifetime. Here we see that if God was to use Isaac, there really seemed to be no other way for God to fulfill His promise other than to raise Isaac from the dead. So great was Abraham's faith in God, that he did what seemed absolutely contrary to what would have seemed humanly "right"! What a lesson there is to be learned in this! As it was already pointed out above in Romans 4:17, God gives life to the dead and calls those things which are not as though they are; the things of God are often opposite of what our sinful human nature may feel is "right".
The second part of the scripture above actually reads in the old KJV, "...from whence also he received him in a figure." I try to stay true to the KJV, as, after much study (see this), I believe it to be the most accurate, but in my personal study, I sometimes use the NKJV for more modern terminology that I can better understand if I feel it agrees with the original meaning. "From whence", meaning "from which", would mean from the thing just previously spoken of, that is, from death. It can also mean "whereby" or "for which reason", but the general idea is the same. In "receiving him", Abraham received Isaac back from the dead in a "figure", the original word being "parabole", meaning "parable". This was meant to be an example of faith and obedience for a parable. The same way in which Jesus used parables to explain the supernatural plan of God for His death and resurrection and salvation of the world, God used this incident in Abraham's life as a parable that was to be purposely recorded for the benefit of all generations to come.
Finally, in this particular chronological study, we have the words of James, the brother of Jesus:
(James 2:20) But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
"Will you know", meaning "are you willing to know" that faith without works is dead? James goes on to use Abraham as an illustration of his point.
(21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?
At first glance, this appears to be a contradiction to Paul's assertion that Abraham was justified by faith, but James continues to explain his point:
(22) Do you see how faith worked with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
Abraham had the faith first, and because of his great faith, he was able to do what he did, with regard to being able to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God. As much as I enjoy a good chronological study, this particular study fails a little in that we don't get the benefit of reading what James had said up to this point, which more fully explains the point he was trying to make:
What does it profit, my brethren, though a man says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them those things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? So also faith alone, if it does not have works, is dead. A man may say "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God, you do well; the devils also believe, and tremble. - James 2:14-19
Wow! This should give lukewarm Christians great pause! People who believe that just believing in God, just believing in that "salvation" moment when they went down the aisle and accepted Jesus into their hearts, and yet do not live as Christians, and continue to live worldly lives contrary to the word of God, are given a rude awakening by the brother of Jesus. So-called Christians today may say they believe, but James says that by a Christian's works, you will see his true faith. Indeed, Jesus said, "By their fruit you will know them."
(23) And the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
The scripture being referenced above is Genesis 15:6 which says, "And he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness." Later in scripture, 2 Chronicles 20:7 refers to Abraham, God's friend.
(24) You see then how a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
James concludes, at least, he concludes in this chronological study (he goes on with another example in his letter), that a man is justified by his works and not by only his faith. Paul had concluded that a man was justified by faith without the works of the law. This is why it is so essential to know the entire word of God in context! Both are correct and are not at all contradictory! It is a person's faith in Jesus Christ that justifies him/her before God, but you will know that a person is truly a follower of Christ by his/her works! Anything less than that, taking only one part of that out of context, is to distort the whole meaning, as Satan, who also believes in God and Jesus Christ, does, as evidenced by his deceptive temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:6 and Luke 4:10-11.
In my conclusion, I have to now admit that this was a good chronological order after all, as it sums up what true faith in Jesus Christ really means in its entirety!
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