Abraham -- BY THE GRACE OF GOD ARE YOU SAVED

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Date Posted: 15:29:35 05/17/00 Wed
Author: seedsower
Author Host/IP: proxy1-external.twsn1.md.home.com / 24.4.252.16
Subject: Abraham

The Man Called Abraham:

Go with me to another time and day and take a look at the man called Abraham. The name Abraham is a Hebrew name meaning �father of a multitudes.

� Abraham was a man who was counted by God for his faith. He was the father of the Hebrew nation.
His original name was Abram meaning, � high father or father of elevation.�

Abraham was a descendant in the ninth generation of Shem who was the son of Noah. He was from the city called UR. Abraham was unlike other Chaldeans in his land.

He was not an idolatrous worship. Abraham was a man of faith who looked to the Jehovah God. Jesus talked about Abraham, who we know is referred to throughout the Bible as the exemplar of faith.

In particular, his faith was demonstrated by the way he lived in the reality gap, i.e., the gap between promise and reality. Abraham is know as the man of faith, but also how he acted as �a forerunner and a shadow, pointing forward to Christ

Abraham was called by God to leave his home land and go to a land called Canaan He was to leave a land he was comfortable and head for a new land he had not heard. In
faith, Abraham obeyed the call of God.and headed to his new land.

Canaan is believed to be of Hurrian origin meaning � trader or merchant.� The new land was know as the bridge between Mesopotamia and Egypt and between the Mediterranean
and red sea. This new land today is Israel.

Abraham was faithful and he trusted God and headed to Canaan. � How many of us will obey God and head into a new land or a call to serve Him in a place unfamiliar to us?� I regret to tell you, I have been there in a place of call and I was no �Abraham�.

Faith
"Jesus on the cross (Eph. 2:8). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). It is by faith that we live our lives, "The righteous shall live by faith" (Hab.
2:4; Rom. 1:17).

Abraham was loyal and faithful to God.When God ask Abraham to take his only son Isaac and make him a living sacrifice I can imagine the hurt and struggle he faced in obeying
God. But Abraham gather the fragots upon which he was to offer up his son as a burnt sacrifice and headed of with Isaac to obey the call of God . I wonder what was the
feelings of Abraham and even Isaac during this event before God?

A lesson can be learned in reading about Abraham. A lesson in faith and God�s love for all mankind. You see, Abraham�s offering of his only Son Isaac seems a prophecy in fact of the sacrifice of the Redeemer by his father, while the return of Isaac from the pile of fragots upon which he lay may be regarded as a forecast of the resurrection.

Indeed beneath the whole story seems buried the mystery of the great sacrifice that was to take place two thousand years later on Calvary.

God spared Isaac and the Lamb that was given by God to die in the place of Isaac was a pitcure of Christ who would shead His blood for all mankind. What is your faith? Have
you received Christ as Lord and Savior? You may even be a Born Again Christian who may need to exiamine your walk before God.

Abraham was faithful in all to God and obeyed inspite of his feeling. I am sure Abraham thought when he was ask to leave his home land.

I am sure he thought when ask to sacrifice his only Son. But the Bible says that Abraham was faithful and because of his faith, God renewed the covenant promise with Abraham gave to him and Isaac a great nation.

Measuring my own faith to that of Abraham�s I fall short. I remember a time when my faith was tested and God in my cry to him gave me these verses to hang on to:

Ps 37:1-5 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green
herb.Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.(KJV)

I did not keep my commitment to God, but He did give me my hearts desire even when I failed to commit my way unto Him. I wonder if I had stood in faith in my testing like
Abraham if God would have revealed a greater promise to me?

Even in my failures God so loved me that He gave His only Son to die in my place so that I would not suffer His wrath . No I do not deserve His grace, but in Christ, I have been made worthy. Our justification is not by any good woks that we do.

To be justified is to be made righteous. It is a divine act where God declares the sinner to be innocent of his sins. It is not that the sinner is now sinless, but that he is "declared" sinless. This justification is based on the shed blood of Jesus, "having now been justified by His blood..." (Rom. 5:9). When God sees the Christian, He sees him through the sacrifice of Jesus and "sees" him without sin. This declaration of innocence is not without cost for it required the satisfaction of God's Law, "...without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22).

By the sacrifice of Jesus, in the "one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men" (Rom. 5:18, NASB). In justification, the justice of God fell upon Himself--Jesus. We receive mercy--we are not judged according to our sins. And grace is shed upon us--we receive eternal life. This justification is a gift of grace
(Rom. 3:24), by faith (Rom. 3:28) because Jesus bore our guilt (Is. 53:12). We are still flrsh and blood and we are not sinless. We oftrn find ourselves in sin.

I know that I have sin and I do sin. I am not saying that we should continue in sin. I aonly saying � We in the flesh do sin. When we do and relize our sin,� WE� must repent to have a proper relationship with God. � Now, there is another term I would present to you fora
clear understanding to those who keep hanging on to guilt of past sin.

The word and term I share with you is �Santify� : To sanctify means to be set apart for a holy use. God has set us apart for the purpose of sanctification not impurity (1 Thess. 4:7) and being such we are called to do good works (Eph. 2:10).

Christians are to sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts (1 Pet. 3:15). God sanctified Israel as His own special nation (Ez. 37:28). People can be sanctified (Ex. 19:10,14) and so can a mountain (Ex. 19:23), the Sabbath day (Gen. 2:3), the tabernacle (Ex. 20:39), and every created thing is sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4:4).1

Sanctification follows justification. In justification our sins are completely forgiven in Christ. Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit makes us more like Christ in all that we do, think, and desire.

True sanctification is impossible apart from the atoning
work of Christ on the cross because only after our sins are forgiven can we begin to lead a holy life.

Conclusion: It is my hope to never burden you with just reading. I hope to give you reading that will have you search scripture and to grow in the faith.

I also would share the ideal and hope that you do the same to me. I am a brother in Christ who seeks to fellowship with others who seek the bread of life.

I fully believe in the sharing of our faith with one another, �We� can and will grow closer as a family in God.By doing this, we become better equipped to face the spiritual battles of this world.

I never would want to present myself as a teacher, for this not my calling. My endeavor of hope is, �That I be sharing the gospel with the lost and to encourage you to do the same.�

I enjoy studying the word of God and writing down what it is I have learned and then sharing my understanding with all who will read that which I write. But I do encourage
you to measure every thought scribed by me to that of the Word of God.

Now, may God bless each of you real good. I also would like to thank Mathew Slick in the use of his theology pages which have been a real bleassing to me. I encourage you to go and take a look for yourselves.

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND RESEARCH MINISTRY
Contact CARM by email or at www.carm.org
Copyright by Matthew J. Slick, 1998. All rights reserved
Most of this site is assembled in the Apologetics Notebook

In Christ,
Vernon

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