YOUR FAITH AND ABRAHAM - PART 2

SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER 2021

Our faith is very important to God. The story of Abraham receiving the son of promise by faith testifies that without faith, it would've been impossible because of his age and circumstance. So this instance communicates to us that our faith speaks volume in God's sight because it carries the flavour of pleasing God. In other words, it is impossible to please or approach God without faith (see Hebrews 11:6).

Reference: Galatians 3:6-7 New International Version (NIV) 'Just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore understand that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham."'

The Bible says that those who are of faith are children of Abraham. Which faith? This question is important because we don't all have faith in Christ. Faith here is a doctrine. Notice the rendering, "Those who are of faith..." This doctrine is the belief system that denotes having confidence or trust in the true living God. It is faith based on believing the Word of God and the teachings of the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine...' (NKJV). So the Scripture is profitable for this doctrine which governs our Christian life. In fact it is the well-known doctrine of justification by faith.

Therefore, faith here is not a commitment to the practice of the Buddha's teaching. It's not faith in Islam or in any other religious group but in Christ, and the origin and nature of this faith is divine because we received it at the point of salvation. It is the God-kind of faith, and the substance or inner knowing is communicated to us by the Spirit. Through this faith, we have been made righteous and restored into a lasting relationship with God. And its exactly the way God was pleased to credit Abraham's faith as righteousness. So it is always by our faith and not by works, because God is a rewarder of faith.

Galatians 2:16 (NIV) reads, "know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified." Faith in Christ has nothing to do with the works of the law. However, this faith in itself is a spiritual law, and Paul wants us to put the knowledge of this faith into a conscious understanding. So he says, "Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7). Again watch this: 'Those who have faith are children of Abraham', which means their faith as a "spiritual law" establishes them as Abraham's children.

Finally, Galatians 3:29 reads, "And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you" (NLT). Beloved, we are all children of Abraham because of our faith in Christ. And here's the golden news: God's promise to Abraham and our fathers has been fulfilled in Christ. Therefore, in Christ, we have access to all of them. This is according to Acts 13:32-33 (NLT): "And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus..." Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:13-14; Hebrews 11:11; Romans 8:17.

Guided Prayer: Thank you Father in heaven for counting me as the precious descendant of Abraham, the lineage of great wealth and abundance of blessing, because of my faith in Christ. Lord, I love you because you see me through the lens of Christ and have declared me justified as your righteousness based on faith. My personal intense trust in Christ is peculiar and its the life-sustaining principle of my Christian walk. Therefore, I have all the benefits of Abraham's blessing and they have taken root in my life. I'm rich, wealthy, prosperous, progressive and successful and I'm flourishing financially. I'm very blessed with profusion of material things and I function as a blessing to my generation in Jesus' Name, Amen!