Abraham's Faith (Faith Accounted for Righteousness)

Every person who truly believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is interested in having what we might term "saving faith."  The Bible is clear we need such faith in order to have salvation for Paul tells us "by grace you have been saved through faith." (Eph. 2:8 NKJV)  If you omit the faith you omit the grace.  We are “justified by faith." (Rom. 5:1 NKJV)

The only question then to be resolved is the nature of the faith that saves.  We know its object (Christ) but need to know the characteristics of saving faith.  In Rom. 4 Paul says Abraham "is the father of us all" with the reference to all who believe. (Rom. 4:16)  He says in Galatians, "only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham." (Gal. 3:7 NKJV)  And, then finally, "So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham." (Gal. 3:9 NKJV)  If we can learn the nature of Abraham's faith and then copy it in our own lives we too will be blessed.

In Romans 4:3 Paul talks about Abraham's faith quoting a scripture found in Gen. 15:6, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." (NKJV)  The context in Gen. 15 is God's promise to Abraham that "one who will come from your own body shall be your heir" (Gen. 15:4 NKJV) and that his descendants would be as the stars of heaven, impossible to count them for their number (Gen. 15:5).  Abraham believed that and it was "accounted to him for righteousness." (Gen. 15:6 NKJV)

It is easy here to be led astray by carelessness as a student of the Bible and come to the false conclusion that up to that point in time Abraham was a lost sinner and this is the first time God accounted to him his faith for righteousness.  This was not a conversion experience for Abraham. 

The truth is Abraham believed God, walked with God, and was in obedience to God long before this event, a thing which we now set out to affirm from scripture.  Bear with me for a few paragraphs for this is important.  Stephen in Acts 7 said, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.'" (Acts 7:2-3 NKJV)

Note that God had chosen Abraham for he could have just as well have appeared to any one of thousands of other men but he chose Abraham telling him, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen. 12:2-3 NKJV)

Note that God actually "appeared" to Abraham at that early stage of his historical record (Acts 7:2).  He was 75 years old when he departed Haran for Canaan (Gen. 12:4).  When he arrived in Canaan the Lord appeared to him again, promised to give the land to Abraham's descendants, and Abraham built an altar to the Lord there (Gen. 12:7).  From there he moved on to Bethel where it is said, "he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord." (Gen. 12:8 NKJV)

Thereafter Abraham went to Egypt for a time and then returned to Canaan to the place of his first altar to the Lord and it is said at that time that again "Abram called on the name of the Lord." (Gen 13:4 NKJV)  After Lot had separated from Abraham the Lord God spoke again to Abraham and said, "All the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever." (Gen. 13:15 NKJV)

We next read of Abraham building another altar after having moved to Hebron (Gen. 13:18) and then read of Lot's captivity and rescue by Abraham and later of his meeting with Melchizedek king of Salem ("priest of God Most High" – Gen. 14:18).

Finally, we come to chapter 15 where "the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." (Gen. 15:1 NKJV)  Note that this is stated in Gen. 15:1 and is before Gen. 15:6.  This will be the vision where God tells Abraham that he shall have a son from his own body who will be his heir, that his descendants will be as the stars in multitude being impossible to count (Gen. 15:4-5), and where it is said, "And he believed in the Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness." (Gen. 15:6 NKJV)

What has been the point in following through all of this chronologically?  It is to point out that Abraham had long been a man of faith and had been so for years before it was ever said in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham's faith was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham had been walking with God by faith and God had been communing with him, talking with him, and making promises to him for years.  I want to emphasize that and then ask a question.  Do you believe, based on your reading of Gen. 12, 13, and 14 and the first verse of Gen. 15 that Abraham was a lost sinner condemned in God's eyes before Gen. 15:6?

As the writer of the book of Hebrews said it was "by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country." (Heb. 11:8-9 NKJV)  By the time Isaac was born Abraham was 100 years old (Gen. 21:5).  He had left Haran at the age of 75.

When God said to him, "I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward" (Gen. 15:1 NKJV) that was before it was said of Abraham that God counted his faith for righteousness.

The point Paul was making was not that this was a conversion experience for Abraham in Gen. 15:6 but rather that Abraham was saved, as all are, by faith that God counts for righteousness.  That is true for a man or woman at any and all points of time in life if that person is a saved individual.  It was just as true of Abel, Enoch, and Noah (men before Abraham's time) as it was for Abraham.  All three of these men are listed along with Abraham in what we often call the Bible's hall of fame for faith chapter--Hebrews 11.

Does this mean that the promise of a son and Abraham's faith in that promise was of no particular importance?  Not at all!  Quite the contrary!

Abraham's faith was so strong that he believed God was able to do what appeared to man to be impossible.  The original promise to Abraham of a son (in Gen. 15) was made quite a number of years before Isaac, the son of promise, was born.  In the time between the promise and the birth of Isaac, Ishmael had been born and was at least 13 years old by the time of Isaac's birth.  Read Gen. 17.

God appeared to Abraham when he was 100 years old and again promised him a son (Gen. 17:15-21) and then appeared to him again only this time Sarah was within hearing distance and overheard the promise of a son also (Gen. 18).  She was 90. (Gen. 17:17)

By man's way of measuring the possible, it was an impossibility due to advanced age for Abraham and Sarah to have a son but Abraham believed God as did Sarah.  "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.  Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude--innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." (Heb. 11:11-12 NKJV)  Rom. 4:19 tells us Abraham "did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb." (Heb. 11:11-12 NKJV) 

A second instance of this man's faith in the impossible, believing only because God had spoken, is found in Heb. 11:17-19.

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 'in Isaac your seed shall be called,' concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense." (NKJV)

God had spoken, God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and thus Abraham's faith in God was so strong he was even willing to obey this command to offer up his son Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:2) while still maintaining faith in God's promise.  The promise was that in Isaac your seed shall be called meaning God would have to resurrect Isaac from the dead if he was going to be sacrificed as a burnt offering.  Abraham's faith in God keeping his promise was so strong he was going to sacrifice Isaac in full faith God would resurrect him from the dead.   

So what have we learned about this great man of faith that would be applicable to us today?  One lesson is that which we have just talked about--we ought to believe whatever God has said no matter what, no matter how incomprehensible or unreasonable to us the command or declaration he makes may be.

Faith requires obedience when a command is given.  A failure of faith always leads to a failure to obey which is the reason the children of Israel never entered the Promised Land.  "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Heb. 3:18-19 NKJV)  Had Abraham not obeyed would we be talking about his faith?  To ask is to answer.

What really matters for a man of faith is not what we think about what God has said but what he has said.  We can get to reasoning with the word of God to the point where we can convince ourselves that God did not really mean what he said in a commandment or in a statement.  Abraham just believed and obeyed no matter what.

A second lesson we learn is that faith comes by hearing God's word.  What Abraham believed was what he heard, what he was told by God.  He did not come to conclusions by way of human reasoning.   Men have faith today in all kinds of things not found in God's word and have convinced themselves it is of God.  What Abraham believed was what he heard.  What we are to believe today is what we read in the word of God--the New Testament.  That is how God talks to us today.  That is how we hear him today.

Personal opinion is passed off for faith in the time in which we live.  The "it seems to me" or "I can see no wrong in it" has replaced the book, chapter, and verse word of God in our lives and worship.  Again, this is not the faith of Abraham.  "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)  If there is no book, chapter, and verse for a practice it is opinion, not faith.

A last lesson I take from a study of Abraham's faith is that it was a perpetual faith.  It was not here today and gone tomorrow but was a continual walk with God throughout his life.  Sinless he was not for he was a man but he did believe God.

Many believe in God to save them but they don't believe God, don't believe parts of his word, don't believe some of the things he has said they should or should not do.  Is that faith like Abraham's?  When a person is like that can it honestly be said they believe in God if they don’t believe him, don’t believe his words? 

Faith in the case of Abraham was never a matter of does God exist.  He made himself known to the extent it was a matter of knowledge, not faith, as it related to his existence.  It was impossible to not believe that God was.   Faith came down to trust and obedience.  In the final analysis, is that not always the case?  Is that not the true measure of faith?

James says, "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." (James 2:23 NKJV)  James referred back to the same passage Paul did in Rom. 4:3--the passage being Gen. 15:6.  Paul used the passage in reference to a time prior to Isaac's birth while James used it in reference to a time some think to have been around 30 years later--at the time Abraham was prepared to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.  Whatever the exact time there is no doubt there were many years in between the two points of reference.

Well, when was Abraham's faith accounted to him for righteousness?  Who was right--Paul or James?  Since they both wrote by inspiration it is obvious both were right.  At any point in time in a man's life when he is believes and obeys what God has required of him he is a saved-by-faith individual.  He is a person whose faith is accounted for righteousness.  However, when more is required more must be believed and obeyed.  Time moves and is not static.

Abraham was a saved man before he was required to sacrifice Isaac but what if he had failed to believe God and obey God when the command to offer Isaac was given?  A man can lose his salvation.  Our faith must always be strong enough to lead us to obedience to what we know God has commanded if it is to be accounted to us for righteousness.  Faith that will not obey is not saving faith.

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God's Willingness to Forgive

There are people who feel God is so full of loving kindness that he will readily forgive us of any and all of our sins if we just ask him. All we need to do is pray and ask. We may be kind of sorry about whatever transgression we committed, sorry about judgment at least, so feel we must ask God's forgiveness, but the truth is if the same set of circumstances were to arise again we would do the same thing all over again. Somehow we feel we were justified in the act we committed considering the circumstances. Nevertheless, we feel obligated to ask for forgiveness.

We tell ourselves the temptation was too great and thus God understands, even though he has said in his word through Paul the apostle, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Cor. 10:13 NKJV) We thus go on living pretty much the way we would have had we never obeyed the gospel, except that we go through the exercise of asking God's forgiveness from time to time. We never really repent from the heart.

I do not want to leave the impression that committing the same sin more than once implies that we have not repented. It can be very tough to resist the temptation of a sin that we are attracted to. If we could only commit a sin once, but then if we did it a second time God would not forgive us, who could be saved? However, remember, forgiveness is dependent on true repentance.

What I have been talking about is an attitude, an attitude of recklessness and carelessness, an attitude of almost indifference to righteousness, an attitude of no real commitment to battle sin. Just do it and then ask God to forgive and all is well.

I believe the Bible teaches that a man might commit the same sin many times and God would still forgive him, provided his attitude was right, the sorrow genuine, and the repentance true from the depths of the heart each time. So, we are not keeping count of how many times a particular sin might be committed and God still be willing to forgive, but we are talking about an attitude that is often found. Rest assured, if your sin breaks your heart and, as a Christian, you ask God's forgiveness, he is merciful and will forgive. If you are determined to fight the temptation when confronted again, even though you might fail, God will forgive.

Another attitude we sometimes see in men is the attitude that my sins are so great or so numerous, and perhaps my sins have hurt so many people, God could not possibly forgive me. Since we are talking about Christians, we are talking about those who have wandered away, become involved in sin, and have separated themselves voluntarily from their brethren. So, we see two groups—one feeling that God will forgive without a thought about my state of mind or spirituality, and the other thinking God will never forgive. Both are in error. I believe a study of Manasseh, king of Judah, could prove profitable for both groups.

I want to give you an account of a man so evil that we are horrified as we read about the things he did. I read from the English Standard Version of the Bible about King Manasseh of Judah as found in 2 Kings 21:1-12 and 16.

"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, 'In Jerusalem will I put my name.' And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.' But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel. And the LORD said by his servants the prophets, 'Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.'"

And then verse 16: "Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD."

What does one say about such a man? What can one say? Manasseh was the personification of evil. Can you imagine giving your son up as a burnt offering to an idol? Add to that, the Bible says he "shed very much innocent blood" to the extent he had filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another.

Why did God drive out the nations from the land which Israel was promised during the days of Joshua, often destroying from the face of the earth every man, woman, boy, and girl? We are told in verse 2 (2 Kings 21) it was because of their "despicable practices." (See also Deut. 9:4-5 and Deut. 18:9-12.) Yet, here we are also told that Manasseh did "things more evil than all that the Amorites did." (2 Kings 21:11 ESV)

He made the house of the Lord into a house for idol worship. There was seemingly no type of idol or heavenly body that he would not worship. The Bible says "he worshiped all the host of heaven."

And then we also have this: that he led many, many others into sin, for which they would be very severely punished. No matter what we may think about our own sin, I think most of us would do about anything and everything in our power to not be responsible for leading others into sin, for being the cause of their sin. I know we are that way with our children, but I also think we feel that way about others. No Christian desires to bring harm or hurt to others, and certainly not sin which, if unrepented of, would lead to their eternal spiritual condemnation.

If I repent of sin in my life and yet I have been responsible, say, for leading my children into sin of which they do not repent, how do I live with that? It would be tough.

Here we have a man, Manasseh, so evil that our human nature might well lead us to say that we don't want to see such a man saved. We want him punished. We almost hope God will not forgive him, for we want to see him punished. He deserves it.

However, if we are honest, we all know the Bible teaches us that we all deserve to be punished. We deserve a beating (using the word figuratively); we do not deserve salvation; we ought to be punished for our sins. "There is none righteous, no, not one." (Rom. 3:10 NKJV)

Let us be honest and face the truth. I think in about everyone's life we often do things we know we should not and yet we do it anyway. We sin. John says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8 NKJV) John was writing to Christians when he said that.

David Lipscomb made a comment I believe is true. He said, "I doubt if any man ever lived a day without sins of omission or commission." (Questions Answered, by Lipscomb and Sewell, page 241) We often overlook the sins of omission. They can be as willful as sins of commission.

Solomon in his prayer of dedication of the temple, speaking to God of God's children, said, "if they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin." (1 Kings 8:46 ESV) That would include you and me. Solomon then asked that God forgive them upon their repentance (read 1 Kings 8:46-50).

You and I are no more deserving than Manasseh. We too often make ourselves out to be someone when we are no one. We are better than the other guy, so we say to ourselves. It is laughable when we do such a thing, for it is like two thieves comparing themselves. You are a worse thief than I am, for I only stole $100, but you stole $500. Well, big deal. The truth is if we could all load our sins up into a truck, every sin we have ever committed, we would not want anyone to climb up and look into the truck bed to see them.

I used to fear when I was young that there might not be any hope for me when I committed a sin that I was conscious of. I had read the Hebrews 10:26-31 passage and quite honestly misunderstood it. The Hebrews passage means exactly what it says, but at the point of repentance there is a change.

Until I repent I remain guilty of the willful sin of Heb. 10:26. However, when I repent I am no longer trampling the Son of God underfoot nor making light of his shed blood. At that point in time I am exalting Christ, the Son of God, and counting the blood of the covenant a wonderful, glorious thing, not a common thing. Instead of insulting the Spirit of grace I am praising it and giving God glory for it.

I ask you, why did Jesus die on the cross if he was determined to condemn us the very first time we committed a sin knowingly after our gospel obedience? He may as well have remained in heaven had that been the case, for who could be saved? If I believed that was the way it is, I would not even bother to type another line, for what would be the use. I would already be condemned without remedy, and that some decades ago.

Under such a scenario there would be no motivation for trying to live the Christian life. It would be one strike and you are out, so eat, drink, be merry, and get ready for hell. The New Testament teaches when we sin we can repent of our sin, seek God's forgiveness, and go on and live a life of hope. I am a willful sinner only as long as I am willfully sinning.

But, my original point was that you and I have been guilty, even after our conversion, of sinning, of doing things we know we should not do but doing them anyway. It does happen. The fleshly nature of man is weak. We should not despair. God will forgive. It is not hopeless. Let us take one more look at Manasseh.

As evil as Manasseh was, he repented and God forgave him. How great is God's grace? Can it be measured?

I read from 2 Chron. 33:12-13, "And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God." (ESV)

Manasseh had been taken into Assyrian captivity, taken to Babylon, where his afflictions led him to seek the Lord. When he did with his heart, God heard him. Was his repentance genuine?

The Bible says, speaking of his return to Jerusalem after his repentance, "And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel." (2 Chron. 33:15-16 ESV)

God said in the book of Ezekiel 18:21-23, "But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?' says the LORD GOD, 'and not that he should turn from his ways and live?" (NKJV)

David, a child of God by birth, wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Psalms 86:5 (NKJV), "For You, LORD, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You."

I don't know who is going to be in heaven as far as individuals go. I cannot name names. That is not my place. But I think of two kings, Solomon and Manasseh. One was a great king for a long while, but the Bible teaches that in old age he became an idol worshiper. The other was as evil a king as one can imagine, but in his later years turned to the Lord his God. When we come to the end of our life, how do we want to die? Do we want to be worshiping God and serving him? In what state will you and I die?

Manasseh was a child of God by physical birth into God's chosen people Israel under Judaism. You and I are God's children by means of the new birth. As God's child, we should never give up on ourselves or other Christians, no matter how far away we or they may stray. God will forgive if we will repent.

One final thought and then I close. Do you think Manasseh would ever have had his eyes opened and been led to repent had things continued going well with him and his people? Setbacks, problems, difficulties, and troubles in our life, if used properly, can lead us to where we need to be, if we will allow those things to humble us to the point of seeking God.

Seek God and he will forgive. You cannot be so bad but what God's grace will be sufficient for you. Seek God, for he is kind and gracious and a forgiving God who takes pity on his children. Praise his name.

"Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;"

(Psalms 148:11-13a NKJV)

Passages for further emphasis — Joel 2:12-13, Ezekiel 18:21-23 and 27-28

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