Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
February 23, 1986
Saving Faith
Genesis 15:1-6 (NIV)
Many people have been asking me about our trip to the Holy Land. I always tell them it was great! That's a little short on details but it will do until I give our slide show in a few weeks. We saw a million things, walked a thousand miles and brought back lots of loot, especially olive wood camels. We started out paying $5.00 for each one. By the end we were getting three for a dollar. Our hotel table was overflowing with camels.
When it came time for us to leave we stuffed them in our suitcases and headed for the airport. The security check was very thorough. This young, blonde Norwegian asked us to open all our suitcases for her. She looked at me and said, "Why do all you tourists buy so many wooden camels? Israel doesn't even have any camels!"
Now that isn't quite true. Arab hustlers on the Mount of Olives give genuine camel rides that weave around the buses. When you come to our slide presentation you'll see just how graceful Pauline Rice looks on a camel. But camels really belong to another period, the period of Abraham. Israel had far fewer people then but there are still many places where you can picture Abraham wandering about with his herds. Abraham would have had a very lonely existence. This is why God's promises were important to him.
In Genesis 15 God reaffirms those promises. The chapter begins with a vision, one that focuses on words instead of images. In this vision God gives Abraham the greatest promise of all - "I am your shield." If you are going to be protected by anyone you can't do better than God Almighty. But the Lord didn't stop there. He goes on, "and your very great reward." This means that a personal relationship with God is rewarding in itself. If he also gives you health, prosperity and happiness, then these are just icing on the cake. But many translators think it should go - "I am your shield and your reward will be great." This fits in well with Abraham's response because he questions how his reward is ever going to work out.
Back in chapter 12 when Abraham was much younger, God promised him many descendants. Nothing had happened. He had no sons, he didn't even have daughters. That's why he says in verse 2; "What can you give me?" It is interesting that he mentions Eliezer here. Archeologists recently discovered tablets in the Middle East that throw light on this verse. According to these tablets, if a man had no son by his wife his estate went to a son by his concubine. If he had no children at all he had to adopt a servant and let the estate pass to him.
Abraham had thought God was promising a real son, not a makeshift heir. In verses 4 and 5 the Lord reassures him. To illustrate how many descendants Abraham will have, God tells him to look at the star-filled sky. This didn't prove anything - it was just a promise. Verse 6 is the key to the whole passage. It is also one of the most important sentences in the entire Old Testament:
"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
Abraham did nothing more than to take God at his word and God accepted him because of his faith.
Every religion has to answer this question - How do you get right with God? Practically every religion comes up with a list of do's and don'ts. Jews have 613 laws to obey, such as kosher food laws. Every hotel in Israel severs kosher food. This means you have no meat for breakfast. For lunch and dinner you can have meat but no dairy products because the law of kosher says meat and milk products cannot be mixed. Follow all of these laws and God will accept you.
Moslems only have five things to obey. They must believe in only one God, they must pray five times a day, give charity, fast once a year and make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime. If they do all these things, when they die they will go to the great paradise in the sky.
Even some Christian groups emphasize earning God's favor. Roman Catholics can never have assurance of their salvation because salvation depends on a lifetime of obedience. If they are good up to the end they will be saved. In the meantime, they can only hope for the best. I think the average American takes this same approach: be good and hope God is in a generous mood. This is a long way from Biblical faith. Turn to Romans 4 ... Paul uses Abraham as the perfect example of how someone is accepted by God. Starting at verse 2, according to the David Holwick version:
"If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to brag about -- but not before God. What does the Bible say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him to be right with God.' Now to everyone who works, their wages are not credited to them as a gift but as something that is owed them. However, to the person who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as a right relationship with God."
You don't have to become godly so God will accept you. He takes you just as you are. The only requirement is that you believe. No one can earn salvation. You can only receive it as a gift.
There remains one difficulty. Just what does it mean to "believe?" Prisons are filled with people who believe God exists. Ninety-six percent of all Americans have some kind of belief in a god. Would they all be saved? James 2 gives the answer. It also refers to Abraham and Genesis 15 but with a different twist. In 2:14 James says:
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?"
James goes on to describe a situation where someone who claims to be a believer ignores someone who needs help. In verse 17 he concludes:
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
This seems to say that faith is not enough. Verses 19 to 24 also seem to knock faith:
"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that -- and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,' and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."
Both Paul and James point to Abraham. Both quote Genesis 15:6. But Paul says Abraham was justified by his faith, and James plainly says it was by his works. What appears to be a contradiction reveals the true meaning of Biblical faith. For James, genuine faith produces action. They cannot be separated.
Some people distinguish between genuine faith and mere mental faith, where you believe a fact is true but it does not affect you. I used to think James 2:19 was about mental faith but a closer look shows this is not the case. Even with demons, belief produces action. They believe there is one God and this belief causes them to tremble.
Both Paul and James teach that Abraham was accepted by God when he believed. He didn't earn salvation - but James goes further. Abraham believed God's promise and he conducted his life from then on as God directed him. His faith affected his life in a dynamic way.
But what about people who don't seem to be affected? Many people claim to be Christians. They know the clichés - "I believe in God. I have accepted Christ as my personal savior." But something is wrong. They have no zeal. No burning desire for others to be saved. They don't really care about other people. I often wonder if such Christians have really made a commitment to begin with.
True faith bears fruit. Other people will be able to tell a difference in you. Can they?
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Typed on July 15, 2005, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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