Abraham Has No Orphans – by Eliezer Gonzalez
May 14, 2015 2531
So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. – Gal 3:5–7, NIV.
When the Jewish Pharisees claimed to be the children of Abraham, Jesus told them that they weren’t. Instead, in a very politically incorrect way, he told them straight out that they were children of the devil (John 8:33–44).
In the book of Romans, and again in Galatians, Paul takes up this theme of whose children we must be. In Rom 4:11, Paul tells us that Abraham “is the is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.” In Gal 3:7, Paul tells us that it is “those who have faith who are children of Abraham.”
The children of Abraham are all those who believe God, and to whom, through that faith, they are credited with the righteousness of God. The contrast in these passages, if you read the context, is always between the works of the law and faith. On what basis do you expect to be accepted by God? In this, the works of the law can play no part. It is all through faith, and by the grace of Christ.
The Gentiles who believe have been “grafted in” to Abraham’s family by Christ (Rom 2), so that now we may all be Abraham’s children and heirs of the glorious promises that were made to him and fulfilled by his Seed – the Lord Jesus himself.
The story of Abraham is a fascinating one. We might count more failures of faith in his life than of faith itself. Yet God saw Abraham at his best, and not at his worst. And God saw Abraham’s faith as one that in spite of everything still managed to hang on and to grow until that great final test on Mt Moriah – a foreshadowing of Calvary.
Abraham’s faith wasn’t a static genetic attribute he was born with. Instead, we see God teaching Abraham faith throughout his entire life. Abraham’s faith was more of a hanging onto God than God relying on Abraham respond in the right way all the time.
That sure goes give me a lot of hope. Because I count myself as one of Abraham’s children. I too am learning to believe, to hang on to Jesus as my only strength, my only hope.
Abraham’s family is a big family, but you know what? Father Abraham has no orphans. Everyone can be part of his family! And the way to be adopted into the family is to believe in God and receive the righteousness of Jesus credited to your account.
– Eliezer
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