The Faith of Abraham

Paul speaks in Romans 4 about Abraham believing God. The amazing thing is not just that he believed, but what he believed. God promised Abraham, an obscure, little-known, nomadic Hebrew shepherd, that he would inherit the world (Romans 4:13), and Abraham believed it. That is amazing!

God later told Israel that they would be heirs to the promise made to Abraham beginning with the land of Canaan. They refused to believe it. God loathed them for their unbelief and killed them in the wilderness (Psalm 95:10 ESV). Israel never did fully believe the promises of God. However, Paul teaches us that the promise made to Abraham has come to fruition in Christ, and the church shares in the promises made to Abraham (Galatians 3:14). Thus, Paul sees the Gentile mission in the New Covenant era as the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. Again, Israel, this time as first-century Jewish Christians, did not believe God and rejected the Gentiles' inclusion in the church. Paul makes it clear that Israel's failure to accept the Gentiles is an indication that, again, they did not believe the promise made by God to Abraham that all nations will be blessed in Abraham. It was simply a matter of faith vs. unbelief.

So, how about the church today? Do we believe God? Do we believe that all nations belong to Him? Do we believe that the kingdom is coming upon the earth, and that all of the enemies of Christ shall be defeated as He rules in heaven, seated upon the throne of God? Do we believe that Jesus is defeating all of His enemies now through the evangelistic endeavor of the church? It is very important that we believe, but it is also very important what we believe. If we are to be the children of Abraham, then we must believe what Abraham believed. We must believe that the church is called to be the heir of the world. And we must see this as the motive and impulse of evangelism. Our evangelistic efforts must be built upon this faith. God has promised us the world: do we believe it?