Rev. David Holwick C Abraham #3
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey (23rd cancelled due to snow)
January 30, 2005
Genesis 15:1-6
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I. How's your credit?
A. Multiple credit offers the Holwicks get in the mail. [hold up example]
1) They want to give us credit. Lots of it.
2) No interest on balance transfers.
3) Cash back!
4) Lousy sermon illustration, because I am sure none of you
can relate to this, but we get 3 or 4 of these EVERY DAY.
B. Credit leads to debt:
We carry $1.7 trillion in personal debt.
National government debt last night: $7,628,128,257,499.57
That's $25,818.41 per American.
The National Debt has been increasing at an average of
$2.05 billion per day since September 30, 2004. [1]
C. There is only one credit that can undo any debt.
1) Abraham shows us the way.
II. God appears to Abram again.
A. A new vision (more verbal than visual).
1) Don't be afraid.
2) I am your shield.
3) I am your reward. (or, you reward will be great)
B. Abram's complaint.
1) Reward - where's my kid? 15:2
a) Sovereign Lord - he affirms that God can do anything.
b) So why hasn't he?
2) Eliezer will inherit my estate.
a) Eliezer was a servant.
b) Ancient documents from Nuzi confirm arrangement of
servant-adoption by childless couples.
3) Repeated by Abram for emphasis.
C. God's reaffirmation.
1) Explicit promise of a biological heir.
2) Visual confirmation - a view of the stars.
III. Abram's shows his faith.
A. He believed the Lord.
1) Form of word indicates continued or repeated action.
2) Faith was Abram's normal response to God's word.
3) Believe - to rely on, trust in, accept as true.
B. God credited it to him.
1) Credit means "to be considered as" even if it is not
exactly true.
2) Same expression used in Leviticus 17:4 - those who
sacrifice animals outside the temple area are
considered murderers (even though literally they
are not).
3) God considered Abram to be righteous because of his
response.
C. As righteousness.
1) Normally this refers to moral conduct.
2) Those who are righteous are accepted by God.
3) Here, Abram is not "doing righteousness," but God gives
him credit for being righteous because of his faith.
IV. The Apostle Paul and Abraham.
A. Issue - must Gentiles become Jews first, then Christians?
1) Some believers with a Jewish background expected converts
to be circumcised before they could be baptized.
2) This was not popular with the converts!
B. Paul points to Abraham. Romans 4:1-5; Galatians 3:5-8
1) Abraham was considered righteous when he believed.
a) It was before he did anything, even circumcision.
b) The Law (obeying Ten Commandments) cannot save you.
2) Faith is the key.
a) When we believe, we are saved.
b) When we believe, we become heirs of Abraham.
C. Fifteen centuries after Paul, Luther inherited his insight.
1) The church had been corrupted to the point that some
were offering salvation (indulgences) for money.
Pretty much like the man in Edmonton, Canada, who sells
"guaranteed admission into heaven" for $16.35.
The man's web site says the certificate works without
"need for confessions or penance."
Police consider it a scam. [duh] #26506
2) Luther responded with "grace alone."
a) Salvation is God's gift to us and we cannot earn it.
b) It is all God's doing.
V. Correction by James.
A. Issue - is it just a matter of saying you believe?
1) Faith without actions is dead and cannot save. Jam 2:17
2) Demons "believe" but it doesn't save them. Jam 2:19
3) Justification is faith plus works.
B. A different application from Abraham.
1) He was considered righteous for what he did. Jam 2:21
a) But sacrifice of Isaac is referred to.
2) His actions completed his faith. Jam 2:22
VI. This pastor's quandary.
A. I believe salvation is God's action.
1) We must respond (believe, have faith) but God saves.
a) I get to heaven because of Jesus, period.
2) Works-righteousness is a dead-end.
a) 51% of Americans believe "being good" will get them to
heaven. (Barna poll)
b) Morality is important to God, but we cannot be moral
enough to enter on our own.
Comments by university president David Dockery:
Salvation is not a transaction where God does his part
and then we come along and do our part.
It's not a 50-50 deal.
Rather, it is all a gift -- grace through faith.
Faith is not our part of the deal.
Faith is the empty-handed instrument that brings us to God.
The result of faith is transformed lives that are
God's workmanship.
These changes are the fruit of God's marvelous grace
at work in our lives, not the cause of it.
It is all because of what God has done for us in Jesus
Christ...
By grace alone,
through faith alone,
for his glory alone.
That is the good news of the gospel.
#4892
B. I also believe salvation is more than uttering some words.
1) Too many go nowhere with their faith.
Ask Aunt Josephine's relatives, and they'll say she was
once saved, always saved.
The reason: she walked the aisle at age 8.
She may not have darkened the church doors in recent
years.
She may not have read her Bible in 50 years.
But at least she was baptized.
Many Baptists nevertheless say with certainty those
fruitless Josephines are saved and assured of heaven.
But, is this the biblical teaching on genuine salvation
and perseverance?
Is this understanding of baptism and "making a decision"
any different from the sacramentalism of Catholicism?
Not really.
According to authors Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Caneday,
Catholics may say, 'At least they were baptized,'
while Baptists may say, 'At least they came forward.'
In both instances the physical act may be understood as
saving.
We must beware of understanding faith as something that
was expressed once and then no further fruit is evident.
#19649
2) Abraham believed, and the rest of his life reflected it.
a) Our response matters: morality, spiritual growth, etc.
b) It is not like I have to contribute half, but faith is
more than words, or a one-time decision.
3) James is correct -- real faith is a living faith.
a) Do you think you are safe because you raised your
hand at a revival 40 years ago?
b) What is the evidence of your faith now?
c) God's free credit is nothing to take for granted!
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
# 4892 "Salvation Is Not A 50-50 Transaction," Laura Rector, Baptist
Press (with Goshen.net) http:/www.baptistpress.org, Oct. 7, 1999.
#19649 "Are One-Time Decisions Enough?" Bryan Cribb , Baptist Press,
http://www.baptistpress.org, August 6, 2001.
#26506 "Heaven On The Cheap, Guaranteed," Randy Cassingham, This Is True,
January 23, 2005.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Study notes
John Gibson
I. Eliezer adoption reflects ancient practice.
A. Abraham is expressing despondency and doubt.
B. This is context for 15:6, "Abraham believed God."
1) Paul uses it to support salvation by grace in Rom 4:3
and Gal 3:6.
2) James also uses it in Jam 2:23.
a) He adds that faith apart from works is dead. Jam 2:26
II. Controversy.
A. Early church. Must Gentiles become Jews before converting?
1) Paul overstates his case and neglects Law.
2) James redresses the imbalance.
B. Reformation. Luther and grace alone.
1) It was a correct response to indulgences but also overstated
the case.
III. The real contrast of the passage.
A. Not between faith and works, but faith and no faith.
B. Abraham's faith is his conviction that things will turn out
God's way, against all evidence to the contrary.
1) He apparently recovered his faith because of vision.
2) Lack of censure confirms issue is struggle of his faith.
Allen Ross
I. Abraham interpreted God's reward as a son, and wonders what
happened to that.
A. Eliezer would automatically get the inheritance by ancient
law. (He wasn't necessarily legally adopted)
1) Play on words: Eliezer and heir.
B. God's answer is the stars of heaven, and explicit promise
of a biological son.
II. Abram believed.
A. Not a result of verses 1-5. (grammar invoked)
B. "and" indicates a break in narrative.
C. ...
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