“Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6, LXX “The just shall live by faith in Me.” Habakkuk 2:4, LXX
EVERYTHING THAT GOD DOES IS BASED ON TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. NOTHING THAT GOD DOES IS ARBITRARY. GOD DOES NOT WAVE A MAGIC WAND. HIS WORD AND DEED IS TRUTH, REALITY, AND LIFE.
WHEN GOD TOLD ABRAM THAT HIS BELIEF IN GOD’S WORD TO HIM COUNTED AS RIGHTEOUSNESS, GOD WAS NOT JUST MAKING SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT INTO SOMETHING THAT IS. GOD WAS STATING A FACT. ABRAM’S FAITH IN GOD WAS RIGHTEOUSNESS. IT WAS THERE IN THE BOOKS, SO TO SPEAK. GOD’S ACCOUNTING IS ACCURATE AND BASED ON TRUTH AND FACT.
ALL THROUGH THE BIBLE, THERE IS A DISTINCTION MADE BETWEEN GOOD WORKS AND GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS. THIS TRUTH DOES NOT DENY THAT WE CAN PERFORM GOOD DEEDS WHICH ARE MUCH BETTER THAN BAD DEEDS, AND THAT GOD ACKNOWLEDGES THEM AS SUCH. ALL GOOD COMES FROM GOD, BUT GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS LIFE!
THIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOOD WORKS AND THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COMES FROM GOD ALONE IS NO LITTLE THING. ABRAHAM’S EXPERIENCE SHEDS LIGHT ON THIS BASIC VITAL TRUTH.
NOTICE THAT IT IS BETWEEN CHAPTERS 15 AND 17 OF GENESIS THAT ABRAM BECOMES ABRAHAM. WHEN GOD FORMED ADAM OUT OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND, HE BREATHED INTO ADAM’S NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE, AND ADAM BECAME “A LIVING SOUL.” Genesis 2:7 KJV TWENTY ONE GENERATIONS LATER, IN THE PERSON OF ABRAM, THAT SOUL OF MAN RESPONDED TO THE WORD OF GOD AND ABRAM BECOMES ABRAHAM. THE “AH” MEANS “FROM GOD” OR “OF GOD.” WHAT DID ABRAHAM RECEIVE FROM GOD? THE POWER AND LIFE TO BRING FORTH A SON.
ABRAM WAS GETTING OLD AND HAD NO SON AND HEIR . HE SHARED WITH GOD HIS DISCOURAGEMENT. THEN GOD BROUGHT ABRAM OUTSIDE AND TOLD HIM TO LOOK UP AT THE INNUMERABLE STARS OF HEAVEN, AND TOLD HIM THAT SO WOULD HIS DESCENDANTS BE. “ABRAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Genesis 15:6, LXX
SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENED TO ABRAM AS HE LOOKED UP AT THE STARS AND BELIEVED THE WORD OF GOD TO HIM. AS ABRAM BELIEVED GOD UNDER THE STARS THAT NIGHT, HIS FAITH IN THE LIVING GOD BROUGHT LIFE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS TO HIM. HIS LIVING SOUL WAS LINKED, IN SOME WONDROUS WAY, TO THE BEING OF GOD WHO IS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LIFE. “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH IN ME.” Habakkuk 2:4, LXX
ABRAHAM’S FAITH IN GOD THAT NIGHT HAD TO DO WITH A SON FROM HIS OWN BODY AND HIS DESCENDANTS FROM THAT SON. BUT GOD ALSO HAD WONDERFUL THOUGHTS THAT NIGHT. GOD WAS THINKING OF HIS OWN SON. HOW DELIGHTED HE WOULD BE WITH ABRAHAM’S FAITH, FOR IT WAS THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM THAT CULMINATED IN THE VIRGIN MARY RESPONDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD, “MAY IT BE DONE TO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD.” Luke 1:38, NASB
ABOUT TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER, GOD SENT HIS MESSENGER GABRIEL TO A VIRGIN IN NAZARETH, A DESCENDENT OF DAVID, JACOB, ISAAC, ABRAHAM, AND ADAM. GABRIEL TOLD MARY THAT SHE WOULD BECOME PREGNANT AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON WHOM SHE WOULD NAME, JESUS. MARY ASKED THE ANGEL HOW SUCH A THING COULD HAPPEN AS SHE WAS A VIRGIN. GABRIEL EXPLAINED TO HER THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD COME UPON HER AND THE POWER OF THE MOST HIGH WOULD OVERSHADOW HER, THEREFORE, THE CHILD TO BE BORN WOULD BE HOLY AND CALLED THE SON OF GOD. Luke 1:31-35, NET
THE ONE WHO HAD GIVEN ABRAHAM THE POWER AND LIFE TO BEGET HIS SON ISAAC, CAME INTO OUR WORLD AND RACE THROUGH A DESCENDENT OF THAT SON. GOD’S SON, JESUS, CALLED HIMSELF “THE SON OF MAN.” IT WASN’T MAGIC. IT WASN’T OUT OF NOTHING. JESUS IS ALMIGHTY GOD’S OWN SON, BEGOTTEN OF BOTH GOD AND MAN! IN JESUS, THE HOLY LIFE OF GOD, THE ETERNAL WORD, THE LOGOS, BECAME HUMAN FLESH AND BLOOD. ABRAHAM’S DESCENDENT, THE VIRGIN MARY, GAVE GOD A SON. ALMIGHTY GOD IS NOW A MEMBER OF THE HUMAN RACE, IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US! INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, MARY EXCLAIMED TO HER COUSIN ELIZABETH, “MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD!” Luke 1:46, NKJV
THROUGH THE INCARNATION, GOD’S LIFE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS BELONGS TO THE HUMAN RACE. GOD’S SON, OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, IS FOREVER THE SON OF MAN. GOD’S ETERNAL LIFE IS NOW WITHIN OUR REACH, THE REACH OF FAITH.
WE MAY ASK AS MARY DID, “HOW CAN THIS BE,” HOW CAN I RECEIVE GOD’S LIFE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS? JESUS SAID, “UNLESS YOU EAT THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN AND DRINK HIS BLOOD, YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOURSELVES.” John 6:53, NET WHEN JESUS SAID THAT, MANY WHO FOLLOWED HIM TURNED AWAY. THEY SAID, “THIS IS A DIFFICULT SAYING! WHO CAN UNDERSTAND IT?” John 6:60, NET
THEIR REACTION WAS SIMILAR TO NICODEMUS’ WHEN JESUS TOLD HIM, “UNLESS A PERSON IS BORN FROM ABOVE, HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” John 3:3, NET NICODEMUS RESPONDED BY THINKING ONLY IN TERMS OF PHYSICAL BIRTH, GOING BACK INTO HIS MOTHER’S WOMB. JESUS SAID TO NICODEMUS, “IF I TELL YOU ABOUT EARTHLY THINGS AND YOU DON’T BELIEVE, HOW WILL YOU BELIEVE IF I TELL YOU ABOUT HEAVENLY THINGS?” John 3:12, NET TO THOSE WHO WERE OFFENDED BY JESUS’ REFERENCE TO EATING HIS FLESH AND DRINKING HIS BLOOD, JESUS SAID, “WHAT IF YOU SEE THE SON OF MAN ASCENDING WHERE HE WAS BEFORE?” John 6:62, NET
ONLY BY FAITH CAN WE GRASP THE SPIRITUAL TRUTHS THAT JESUS HAS REVEALED TO US. JESUS ANSWERED THOSE WHO WERE OFFENDED BY HIS WORDS, “THE SPIRIT IS THE ONE WHO GIVES LIFE; HUMAN NATURE IS OF NO HELP! THE WORDS THAT I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU ARE SPIRIT AND ARE LIFE.” John 6:63, NET THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH COMES BY FAITH IN THE RIGHTEOUS ONE OF GOD.
ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS FOR AN EARTHLY SON. WHEN ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, HE RECEIVED THE POWER TO BEGET A SON. WHEN WE BELIEVE IN GOD’S SON, JESUS, WE RECEIVE THE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE LIVING GOD. “AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS, (AND DAUGHTERS), OF GOD; TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME, WHICH WERE BORN, NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD.” John 1:13, KJV
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH IS THE REAL THING. IT IS OF THE VERY BEING OF GOD, THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LIFE. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COMES FROM GOD IS LIFE INDEED.
“I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL, FOR IT IS GOD’S POWER FOR SALVATION TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES, TO THE JEW FIRST AND ALSO TO THE GREEK, (GENTILE). FOR THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS REVEALED IN THE GOSPEL FROM FAITH TO FAITH, JUST AS IT IS WRITTEN, ‘THE RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH WILL LIVE.'” Romans 1:16-17, NET
Rosemary E Hyslop December 24, 2021