FREE IN CHRIST - PART 1
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· 4 viewsThis faith is expressed in radical obedience.
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God’s covenant with Abraham.
God’s promise shows us the necessity of faith.
God’s promise shows us the necessity of faith. Remember, Paul is writing to a church where there were some false teachers; they were called Judaizers, and these were adding requirements to salvation.
God’s promise shows us the necessity of faith.
last week, Paul introduced the doctrine of justification by faith alone at the end of Galatians 2, and then he starts to defend it in Galatians 3 and 4.
God’s promise shows us the necessity of faith.
He starts where any true Jewish person would with Abraham. Remember the Judaizers are teaching that circumcision is necessary for salvation and circumcision began with Abraham.
just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
This is taken from Genesis 15:6
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
Where is he quoting from?
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Let’s go back to Abraham and let’s see how Abraham received the promise of God.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Now, don’t miss it. Abraham had done nothing to deserve this. For all we know, Abraham was a pagan guy who was not seeking after God. This is initiated by God.
By grace alone, God blesses His people.
So, here’s the first part of the covenant with Abraham that I want to highlight here. By grace alone, God blesses His people. It’s not based on what Abraham had done, but based on the initiative and the grace of God, God makes this covenant with Abraham.
By grace alone, God blesses His people.
This covenant has a problem. How will Abraham become a great nation without any offspring. Abraham has no male children and he and his wife are old.
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
By grace alone God blesses His people, and that grace is expressed in radical promises.
How will a 99 year old man and his 90 year old wife accomplish this promise. The point of the story is this. . .
It’s not what Abraham or Sarah bring to the table; it’s what God is bringing to the table by His grace.
He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
It’s not what Abraham or Sarah bring to the table; it’s what God is bringing to the table by His grace.
God is saying, “Abram, I will bless you. No matter whether you fail, I will pay the penalty. I will make myself accountable to pay the penalty should you fail. I will absorb the cost .”
It’s not what Abraham or Sarah bring to the table; it’s what God is bringing to the table by His grace.
This is a one-sided covenant. Unbelievable. This is God’s way of saying, “I will be torn apart if you fail. If you fail, I will take the consequences. I will take the penalty. I will do it.”
It’s not what Abraham or Sarah bring to the table; it’s what God is bringing to the table by His grace.
Abram had no idea the cost of this oath of grace, but centuries later, a darkness came down again. Right? It was so great and so dreadful that it put out the sun at noon. Because Mark 15:33 says,
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Then he said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” What happened to Jesus?
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
Cut off. That’s covenant language. When he says, “My God, my God …” what is he saying? “I’m in the dark and I’m alone and you’ve cut me off.” Why?
If you believe in me not only will I not fail but your failures are not going to get in the way of me blessing you.
This is God saying, “I’m going to bless you unconditionally. If you believe in me, if you enter into this relationship with me, not only will I not fail but your failures are not going to get in the way of me blessing you.”
Through faith alone, God’s people receive His blessing.
Now, the question is, how will he receive the blessing of God? The answer leads us to the second part of God’s covenant with Abraham. By grace alone, God blesses His people; through faith alone, God’s people receive His blessing.
Abraham did not do a thing. Instead, he believed something. More accurately, he believed Someone; he believed God.
just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
The same picture that’s used, that we talked about last week when the righteousness of Christ was credited to us, same picture here; righteousness before God credited to Abraham based not on what he has done, but based on what he has believed. Abraham believed God.
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
It’s not until Genesis 17 that Abraham is circumcised. Further supporting that justification is by faith alone.
The accusation: Well, what about the way we live?
The accusation comes in, “Well, what about the way we live? Doesn’t that lead to loose living; people just doing whatever they want?” The reality that Scripture teaches is that’s not the case.
Those who know they have been saved by grace alone through faith alone live radically different lives than the rest of the world, because they realize they are not just saved by faith; they live by faith.
This faith is expressed in radical obedience.
In Genesis 12 Abraham is justified by faith and this faith led him to leave everything and follow the Lord. He goes into a foreign land where he’s living in tents. He’s trusting God to lead him every step of the way. This is radical living by faith.
This faith is expressed in radical obedience.
In Genesis 22 Abraham finally did have that son that God had promised: Isaac. So what does God say to Abraham?
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
This faith is expressed in radical obedience.
Did you notice something a little fishy there, that at least causes us to pause? Because we’ve been talking all along about how this was all by grace through faith, and God says to Abraham, “Because you did this, because you were obedient, now I’m going to bless you.” Doesn’t that seem to be a disconnect?
This faith is expressed in radical obedience.
Does this mean that now Abraham’s earning the blessing of God by what he does? The answer is, “Absolutely not.” Instead, he’s living by faith. It’s the same picture. He’s got a promise from God; he’s got trust in God; he’s believing in God, and his life is the outworking of that kind of faith. It’s not trying to earn salvation; it’s living by faith.
who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
People who live by grace through faith live radically different lives than the rest of the world...completely different lives.