| Isaiah 22:1-24:23; Galatians 2:17-3:9; Psalm 60:1-12; Proverbs 23:15-16
“Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, so understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons. Now the Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and foretold the good news to Abraham, saying ALL the nations will be blessed in you. So those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.” (Galatians 3:6-9)
“Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (3:11-14)
“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say seeds as though referring to many, but and to your seed, referring to one, who is Christ. And I say this: the law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.” (3:16-18)
Wow. For those of us who have been hung up on the Ten Commandments all of these years that faith thing is kind of a blow huh. Just think the original agreement was with Abraham, a man of faith, not Moses, a leader of the law. God says in Hebrews 8:10, that He would put His laws into our minds and write them on our hearts. That saves a lot of stone tablets and paper. We can clearly see that the law wasn’t intended to be in place forever, God’s heart is and has always been for a people of faith. And all people at that. We are all equal in Christ Jesus. We all have access to the blessings of Abraham. Sweet!
When we receive Christ and His sacrifice by faith, we internalize those laws in the sense that our hearts are changed, and we don’t want to sin or break these commands. Our heart is to do right by God and others, which is all that the commandments were anyway. The law was our tutor to show us what we should and shouldn’t be doing, and how impossible it was for us to uphold.
With faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit we don’t need a guidebook because we know truth by conviction. Does that mean that we are somehow supernaturally immune to failure? Not at all, but at least now we stand a fighting chance. We have weapons of warfare that assist us in our quest to know our God and to be all that He desires us to be, and faith is the key that unlocks the door.
PRAYER:
Lord, I pray that You will help us in Your Body to be people of extreme faith. I thank You for Your sacrifice that opened the door for me, a Gentile. I thank You Father that You made provision for us through the faith of Abraham, and I ask You to help us not disgrace You by treating Your grace and mercy lightly or by taking You and all You’ve done for granted. I know that faith and grace are not licenses to sin, but they are our way to stand in righteousness before You. Lord, I ask You to bring us deeper. We want to know grace and faith inside out, please give us revelation. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen. |
