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Blessed with Abraham

Blessed with Abraham

Words of Faith 5-22-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Galatians 3

[6] Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." [7] Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. [8] The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." [9] So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

       Those infiltrating the churches of Galatia claimed to have the Old Testament on their side. After all, they represented the Law of Moses. They were looking to Moses as the original teacher of the ways of God, in the Law. It stood to reason that a true Christian would have to submit to these original teachings as the foundation of faith.

         In response, Paul went back even further. Let's go back to Abraham. Truly the faith of Judaism begins with Abraham, who was called out from his people to walk with God and be the father of the nation that would be God's people. Let's go back to him.

       If we go back to Abraham, we see precisely the same walk of faith that Paul had preached throughout Galatia. How was Abraham justified? He was justified by faith-- he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). The "father of the faith" found righteousness in precisely the same truth that Paul was preaching to the Gentile world.

         The infiltrators argued that the rite of circumcision should be required of Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. But Abraham was justified as righteous, by faith, before the covenant of circumcision was ever introduced to the Jewish people. How could this be necessary now, but was not necessary for Abraham?

         It makes sense then that those who live by faith are not somehow defectors from the heritage of Abraham but are, in fact, children of Abraham! In fact, the Scripture prophesied that the righteousness of God would be extended to Gentiles who trusted God by faith. This was always the plan of God. To step back under the Law of Moses, once a person has been justified by faith in the work of Christ, would be a huge mistake. Make no mistake about it.        

         So we are blessed with Abraham. We are not some sort of new religion. We are not a new idea or something tacked onto the plan of God as an afterthought. Those who live in the era of Christ and His church are very much a part of the plan that started with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. What is more, we are blessed to be a blessing. We are to give the light of Christ to be a light to the nations.

         Does this mean that the Law of Moses has no meaning? Certainly not. We will see that the Law was the tutor that would bring us to grace. The Law also represents the righteousness of God that He writes upon our hearts as part of the New Covenant. But it could never, and will never, justify us. We can only find righteousness in the same way that Abraham did. We are blessed with him.

 

     Father God, thank You for Your magnificent plan. I rejoice in knowing that You knew me before I was born and You have always had a plan for my life. I rejoice in knowing that I am blessed along with Abraham as I trust You and by faith, receive Your righteousness. In Jesus' Name.

 

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

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