Abraham’s Faith

How can we have assurance of being right with God? We are sinners. We have so much fear, disappointment, and bitterness. How can we know that God hasn’t forsaken us? Does He really accept us as we are?

You’d Never Believe it!

Once, after Shabbat classes an 11-year-old boy was asked by his mom what he had learned that morning. “Well,” he replied, “our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines to rescue the Israelis from the Egyptians. Moses led them to the Red Sea and then ordered his engineers to build a bridge. After they all crossed, they saw the Egyptian tanks coming, so Moses radioed the Israeli Air Force and they sent jet fighters, who bombed the bridge and saved the Israelis.” His mom looked at him sideways and said,” son, is that really the way your teacher told the story?” “Not really,” the boy admitted, “But if I told it her way, you’d never believe it.”

Are Struggles Unbelief?

Regarding salvation, Yeshua Himself explained to His own mystified disciples, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). So it was with Abraham. Though Abraham believed God he was confused about God’s promise of a seed, so he cried out to God and told Him that his only heir was his servant Eliezer (Gen. 15).

During this narrative, we find a profound theological statement regarding Abraham: “and he believed the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). If Abraham was struggling, then it seems that having struggles with God is not a sign of unbelief. Yet, what about the fear and disappointment? How can we be sure that God is with us and has a plan for us? How can we have assurance of being right with God? Is it through heroic torah-obedience? No, but if I told you what the Scripture does say, you might never believe it!

In what ways did Abraham believe God?

The assurance that we are made right with God is the same assurance that Abraham had. How does God deal with our fears? We will consider three things about how Abraham believed God:

His faith was personal. He did not merely believe about God, but in Him.

His faith was propositional. Believing in the person of God meant faith in the promises of God.

His faith was practical. Belief necessitated action.

Faith is Reliance upon God’s Promises

Abraham had faith in God. His genuine faith was seen in his responses to God’s promises. This idea is highlighted in the text with the first word “and” (the letter vav in Hebrew) at the beginning of the verse. This conjunction “and” ties it to the previous verse, where God directed Abraham to look to the night sky and said, “So shall your seed be” (Gen. 15:5).

Faith is a response to God’s promises, not our own imagination of what we want. Abraham’s life of faith is seen in 3 periods of growth in Genesis:

The period of his calling, Gen. 12-14

The period of his covenants, Gen. 15:21

The period of his confirmation, Gen. 22-25

Abraham, the father of Faith

In the Covenant, we are informed in Genesis 12 that Abraham had been saved by faith when he first believed. “By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out” (Hebrews 11:8).

The primary salvation truth found in Genesis 15:6 marks each of the three periods of Abraham’s life, and it is used in the New Covenant to characterize each period in his faith development (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jacob 2:23). Romans 4:1-25 is Paul’s commentary or Midrash on Genesis 15:6 that portrays Abraham as the father of faith.

Believe in God

The text in Romans states that he believed the Lord: He believed the Lord for many descendants (Gen. 15:5). He believed the Lord for one Glorious Descendant. The word “seed” in Genesis 15 is in the singular because it was pointing to Messiah. As Yeshua observed, “Abraham was glad to see My day, and he did see it” (John 8:58). For within the promises made to Abraham was the essential truth that Messiah was the goal of them all, even as Adam was assured in Genesis 3:15. Indeed, Yeshua is the very righteousness to which all torah (Law) would witness (Romans 3:21; 10:4). The demons believe God and tremble, but we believe in God and trust.

When are we relating to God?

He believed the Lord apart from any natural means and that all would be accomplished through the power of God. Faith is trusting God despite the circumstances. It is not weakened or diminished by them. Faith trusts God’s power without denying our inability or wavering with inner disputes over the immensity of the promise. Abraham never denied his own ability, but trusted in what he believed God could do! Rather, he was strengthened in faith, as he gave glory to God, and he was confident and fully persuaded in the character of God as well as His power. This faith was credited to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:22).

Like Abraham, we are to contemplate that our bodies are as good as dead because of sin. As Abraham believed that the God who created the stars could create seed and life from him and Sarah, so also we are to believe that this God who created life was able to raise Yeshua from the dead (Rom. 4:23-25). The whole Scriptures assure us that we are relating to God only when we are relying on His promises.