Abraham, Faith, and Salvation

Genesis 15:6.  Abraham believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Abraham had doubts.  Lots of them.  And they were quite logical.  How could he have a family at the age of 100?  How could God fulfill promises of an heir?  And how could one man hope to establish a nation among other powerful city-states in a "wild west" context in Palestine around 2000 BC?

Well, none of it really makes any sense, except Abraham heard that still, small of voice of God.  And he believed.  And then lived life based on that belief.  He had a conversation with God and walked in relationship with God long before the Law was ever established.  He was saved without the Jewish religion.

Paul and James both pick up on this verse and make significant statements on salvation by faith in Christ based on it.

In Romans 4, Paul makes these observations:

• Faith in God brings credit for righteousness.  It can never be earned.
• Abraham was saved before he was circumsized.   Therefore, circumcision cannot save, nor can ethnicity.
• Because Abraham depended on faith (God) and not works, God could insure that the promises would come true--because those promises were based on God's work not Abraham's.
• Abraham was a good as dead (unable to have children, and thus no hope), and yet faith gave him hope (and life).  Thus, having faith is like being resurrected from the dead.

In Galatians 3, Paul makes some similar points.

• Abraham was saved by faith, not the law.
• The Spirit gives life, whereas the Law simply points out that we are already dead.
• Since God made a covenant with Abraham before he made the Law, the first covenant is greater than the latter.
• The covenant of God was also mediated by God himself, making its argument and foundation more complete and greater than the Law, mediated by God through Angels to Moses.
• Without faith, we are all prisoners.  Faith in God sets us free from the restrictions human religion. 

And James 2 adds the following:

• Abraham acted on his faith, and thus his faith was a living faith. 
• He was called God's friend because he not only claimed faith but walked in that faith.

Genesis 15:6 plays a vital role in our understanding of how God saves us.  Faith--without the Law, land, immediate fulfillment of promises, organized national religion, human intermediaries--is all that is required.

Are you living by faith today?  Are you trying to make it all happen yourself, or are you depending on the God power and grace to do miraculous things?   Are you claiming in faith, but not walking with the One who saved you?

Remember, faith is life and freedom.  Trusting in God is the heart of hope.  Let Abraham be an inspiration today: he was far from perfect, but so very close to God because he heard the voice, obeyed, and walked where God led.