Abraham Believes God (Gen. 15:6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06/22/2006

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Abraham Believing 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 15:6

            Message of the verse:  “6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” 

           

            This is not only one of the most important verses in the OT, but in all of the Bible, as it shows the way all people are saved who will ever be saved in the history of mankind.  Paul quoted this verse two times in his writings and James quoted it one time in his writings.  In Galatians three Paul focuses on the believing aspect of this verse, and in Romans four he focuses on imputing aspect of this verse, while James quotes this verse to show that Abraham did good works to prove his salvation (James 2).  In Hebrews 11:8 we see that this verse speaks of the “faith” aspect.

           

            Abraham had obeyed the Lord whenever he and his family left Haran to go to the Promised Land, but now after the Lord spoke to him in the first part of this chapter he put all of his faith and trust in the Lord and it was counted to him as righteous.  God imputed righteousness to Abraham’s account and thus Abraham became a true believer.  It must be pointed out that this righteousness that Abraham received was through no merit of his own, but exclusively from the Lord just as it is whenever anyone is saved from their sins.  Paul points this out when he writes the letter to the Romans.

           

            The text says that Abraham believed the Lord, and I believe that this is the same way that everyone is saved, by believing the Lord, however it is the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes of all who believe including Abraham, so, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter two and verses eight and nine, that no one will be able to boast about their salvation for it was a gift from God.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Paul wrote in one of his letters that just as a believer has received Christ Jesus they ought to walk in this very same way.  I have received Christ Jesus by grace through faith as a gift from God and this is how I am to walk in my Christian life, by grace through faith.  It is all about God as His Holy Spirit leads me and guides me through this pilgrim life here on planet earth.

The Word of God has truly been refreshing to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord in all circumstances of my life, to give to Him all circumstances of my life, and all that I have, because all that I have has been given to me by the Lord in the first place.