As I read this it occurred to me that Abraham didn’t even have any law from God yet, through his relationship he decided to believe and have faith. He needed to believe that what God said was true and he did it. It was all on his relationship with God and his time he spent listening and believing. If we would forget all the laws and just dive into God’s word and pray our relationship would fill us and we would never need to worry about the law.
Verse 16 says, “So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.” We shouldn’t think of things we can’t do but focus on who God is and that Jesus has given us eternal life through Him. When we truly believe that faith will be seen by our actions then we will desire to live like Christ. Can we say, we believe we have eternal life? Then death shouldn’t scare us. Can we say we believe God loves us? Then we need to believe it and live in love. Can we say we believe that Jesus said “come to me all who are weary?” Then we need to open our bibles and our hearts and come to Him. Faith is seen by us doing what pleases God not just doing things to check off a box. It also isn’t something that we have when life is good but we struggle with when life is bad.
Verse 20 says, “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.” Can we mature in faith? Yes it just said Abraham’s faith grew stronger, so the more we pour into God and learn the more our faith has a chance to grow. A fellow employee at Christ Church of the Valley, Cheryl Ley, shared this in a meeting and it really fits with what Abraham showed with his faith. “It’s not knowledge that is power, its applied knowledge because if you do nothing with your knowledge you are no better off.” (Author paraphrase) It’s not the knowledge that Abraham had, it’s the belief he had that what God said was true.
I love verse 18 which says, “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping – believing that he would become the father of many nations…” As followers of Christ we need to always turn to God and cultivate our faith by learning and living like Christ. In Christ we have so much and when we take the time to understand all that God has shown us we can live fully by faith just as Abraham has shown us. Amen