Friday, June 16, 2017
Genesis 15:6 And [Abram] believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
ABRAM'S FAITH, A TYPE OF OUR OWN (5)
Abram bared his soul to God and found welcome relief. He now believed that God would bring life to the dead womb of Sarah.
This passage of our text has been called the most important verse in the Bible. It stands out like a mountain peak, forming the great divide between all other religions and the one true religion of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul makes this verse the very keynote of his theology. The New Testament books of Romans and Galatians are long and holy arguments in defense of the Christian teaching that BY FAITH a person is justified, saved, NOT by works.
Certainly all the great heroes of our Christian faith were NOT that on the basis of their works, or their noble character or good deeds--yet all were accounted righteous by God BECAUSE, in spite of their failings, they were found trusting in the promises of God, all of which have their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
We believe that God became man in Jesus Christ through the miracle of the virgin birth, that Christ died for our sins and rose again for the redemption of the world--all of which is more impossible to believe than that a barren woman (Abram's wife Sarai) would bring forth a son in her old age.
Yet this is the MIRACLE OF SPIRIT-WROUGHT FAITH, fellow children of Abraham!
All righteousness by works is vain,
The Law brings condemnation;
True righteousness by faith I gain,
Christ's work is my salvation.
His death, that perfect sacrifice,
Has paid the all-sufficient price;
In Him my hope is anchored.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 375:4)
