01-50 Sola Fide
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Genesis 15:1-6
Genesis 15:1-6
We’re back in Genesis this morning and see for the first time in the Bible the words “believed” and “righteousness.” This is the first account of the conversion of a sinner by faith in God (not that it didn't’ happen earlier). This is the introduction of what has been called the hinge of salvation—sola fide (as the Reformers called it)—justification by faith alone.
Martin Luther said this is the article on which the church stands or falls. “When the article of justification has fallen, everything has fallen…This is the chief article from which all other doctrines have flowed…It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour.”
Puritan preacher Thomas Watson “Justificaiton is the very hinge and pillar of Christianity. An error about justification is dangerous, like a defect in a foundation. Justification by Christ is a spring of the water of life. To have the poison of corrupt doctrine cast into this spring is damnable.”
Did these guys (and Reformers like Calvin, John Knox, Ulrich Zwingli, Theodore Beza, ktl) overstate the importance of sola fide? Not at all—it is a most profound truth b/c justification by faith is God’s answer to the most basic of all questions pertaining to religion: how can one become right with God? We are not right with Him in ourselves—this is what the doctrine of sin teaches. As sinners we are in rebellion against God and if we are against God we cannot be right with Him. This is why sola fide is such a critical truth.
28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”
24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
The Reformers saw this as the issue which Rome rejected and by which it condemned itself by introducing the poison of corrupt doctrine to the spring of salvation by grace thru faith. Their thinking went like this:
Justification by faith alone is essential to the gospel
The gospel is essential to Christianity and salvation
The gospel is essential to a church’s being a true church
To reject justification by faith alone is to reject the gospel and to fall as a church
The emphasis on justification by faith alone did not originate in the NT. Heb 11 explains that from the very beginning, a person is justified (becomes right with God) by faith alone. (Abel, Enoch, Noah). The first time the article of sola fide is introduced in the Bible is here in Gen 15.
6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
This issue is so important bc if you’re wrong about justification, you’re outside the kingdom of God. If you’re wrong about sold fide—you are on the broad path to destruction regardless of the kind of life you are living (you could be the most caring, kind, loving, gentle, giving person)—but if God has not reckoned your faith as righteousness—justified you on the basis of faith in JC alone, then you are not right with Him. So this is a vitally important truth and you want to make sure you get it right.
I would like to highlight 4 details of this narrative that culminates with Moses lifting high this key article: sola fide.
I. The Vision
I. The Vision
Moses begins the ch “After these things...” This is a way to introduce a new subject while loosely keeping the chronology in our minds. He is referring to the events of ch 14 (capture of Lot, Abram’s pursuit and rescue of Lot, and his meeting with Melchizedek—king of Salem). After this the Lord came to Abram in a vision.
Visions and dreams were common ways of the Lord revealing Himself to the patriarchs. But a vision is different from a dream. Dreams involved a visual image whereas visions involved a word of God spoken to these individuals. We see that here: a vision--saying.” And what follows is God speaking to Abram.
The first thing God tells Abram “Do not fear.” Now, Abram has just returned from an overwhelming victory against very powerful kings. He was fearless in the rescue of his nephew. Some have suggested that now Abram might become the target of others leading to a potentially dangerous situation.
When God would manifest Himself (either in visual form or in audible voice) it was natural for fear to strike the heart of man. The most common response was to fall flat on one’s face (when confronted by the glory of God)…God would reveal to Moses that no one can see God and live. So fear would overtake those who were most fearless…but God assures Abram that His word was a message of grace not judgment.
There were 2 reasons why Abram should not fear:
“I am a shield to you” The basic idea is “to cover” God would be Abram’s covering—to shield Him from danger. And so to those connected to God (who have a relationship with Him) there is a security that is often expressed in Scripture:
24 The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
David understood the security that belongs to those who are under this divine guardianship:
3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
Abram had no cause for fear b/c God was his security. The 2nd reason not to fear:
“Your reward shall be...” I like the way the NIV/KJV/NKJ translates this phrase (grammatically it is this way in Heb)— “your very great (exceedingly great) reward.” God was not only Abram’s shield/security but God was also Abram’s reward—one that was very great indeed.
Abram already had one tremendous reward (from Pharaoh in Egypt). He refused another reward from the king of Sodom. Now God had already promised Abram innumerable descendants (13:15-16). The writer of Hebrews assures us that the advanced ages of Abram and Sarah were not a hindrance to them believing that God would fulfill His promise—so they trusted God “by faith...”
Abram had no need to fear. Even though the promise of a child had not yet been fulfilled, God tells him that the reward for trusting God would be very great. What greater reward is there than God Himself?
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
5 I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”
The eternal reward that belongs to everyone who has been saved by grace thru faith:
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
If you have believed on the LJC—God is your very great reward. God is not just the giver but He is the gift. This is very personal, then, to every individual who has trusted Christ for salvation. God/Christ is your reward—and if this is true, how great is that reward? So this is the vision.
II. The Question
II. The Question
vv 2-3
Abram is not expressing doubt here but trying to wrestle with what God has promised on at least 3 prior occasions up to this point. God has promised to make Abram a great nation (12:2), then He promised to give the land of Canaan to his descendants (12:7), and to give it to his descendants forever (13:15-16)—everything he would set his eyes on. But to this point, Abram was sterile, Sarah was barren, no children had been born to them. So Abram tries to answer his question according to human wisdom… since I have no offspring, will Eliezer of Damascus (the son of acquisition—the one to inherit all the possessions), will he be the heir? The question is prompted by Abram’s belief that God will fulfill his word but also by the legitimate concern of physical obstacles—namely there were as yet no children.
Now, Abram is very careful how he addresses God here… “O Lord God” In Heb it is adonai, YHWH. Abram, while raising his question does not doubt or even come close to impugning the character of the God who is the sovereign master. Abram knows he is the servant and he has complete respect and reverence for God. But he is still just a man—with questions as to how God would fulfill His promises.
If God is going to fulfill His promise He must provide what is required.
III. The Affirmation
III. The Affirmation
vv 4-5
God is often demonstrating HIs compassionate, tender, loving care. God is patient in His dealings with people and Moses wants you to pay attention: “then behold.” That’s what that means—pay close attention to what happens next. The Lord is going to speak a 2nd time give Abram the affirmation of what He has already promised and also to strengthen Abram’s trust in God’s provision. The Lord told Abram that Eliezer would not be a surrogate heir. Eliezer was born in Abram’s household but had no physical connection to the patriarch. So He was telling Abram to wait: “this man will not be…one will come from your own body (lit inward parts).”
This is the affirmation that Abram will indeed have a child. Again, the prospect of Sarai having a child was very dim. She was advanced in years and so the arrangement that she devises with her handmaiden seems at first to comply with the revelation God is giving here. We’ll see the tragedy of not patiently waiting upon the Lord to bring the fulfillment of His promise in the next chapter.
To show Abram the validity of this affirmation the Lord takes Abram outside (he was probably in his tent when this vision came). He tells him to look to the heavens…count stars”
Depending on where you are at night (how much light from cities/towns, moon, haze, etc.) you might be able to see with the naked eye up to 5000 stars. We know there are at least 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone and there are upwards of 2 trillion of galaxies. That’s a lot of stars. This is not the point. Though it would be a very difficult task to count the stars, the point the Lord is making to Abram is that the number of Abram’s descendants would be innumerable (beyond the ability to calculate).
Now, did God keep His promise?
17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
4 “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
When God was ready to strike the nation on account of the worship of the golden calf, Moses’ entreaty:
13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
After the years in Egypt, the wandering in the wilderness:
10 ‘The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.
22 “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
The Lord wanted Abram to patiently trust God to bring the fulfillment. “So shall your descendants be.” The fulfillment rests in God alone. In fact, God was waiting for Abram and Sarai to be as good as dead so that there would be no question as to who gets the credit. The same is true for us. This is truly what faith is...
Warren Wiersbe:
Be Obedient Chapter Four: The Dark Night of the Soul (Genesis 15)
One of the basic lessons in “the school of faith” is: God’s will must be fulfilled in God’s way and in God’s time.
IV. The Justification
IV. The Justification
vs 6
This is one of the most important verses in the Bible. This is to the OT what Jn 3:16 is to the NT. Again, Moses is careful about the progression here: “then.” God had made the promise to Abram. He had affirmed that promise using the illustration of the stars in the heavens. “Then...” here is Abram at the crossroad. He (like all of us) has a choice to make. Will he follow his own reasoning and darkened understanding, or against his reasoning, will he believe/trust the Lord?
Moses tells us that at this point (the point of Abram’s regeneration) that “he believed in the Lord.” Abram didn’t just believe the Lord but he believed “in” the Lord—that is, he put his trust in the Lord even above the insurmountable obstacle that would interrupt the promise—old age and impotency. Everything was against Abram from the physical standpoint. He was old, his wife was old. This is why Paul says:
18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
Abram believed in the Lord. Now, the Heb term “believed” is lit “Amen” and it is where we get our word “amen” from. WH Griffith Thomas says “Amen in Scripture never means a petition (may it be so) but is always a strong assertion of faith (It shall be so or it is so).” Abram says “amen” to the promise of the Lord. He is at this crossroad and having heard the promise of God his trust in the Lord simply says “it is so.” God will do it. Abram is resting on the promise of God and His character to fulfill that promise, overcoming every human impossibility.
Paul continued:
19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.
He believed in the Lord. Many weeks ago I outlined for you 3 specific qualities of saving faith. You must have knowledge of the truth of the gospel, you must agree that it is true, and lastly—you must put your trust in that which is true. Delitzsch “unconditional trust in the Lord and His word, even where the natural course of events furnishes no ground for hope or expectation.”
At the end of Gen 15:6; Moses writes “he reckoned it...” Now, the term “it” needs an antecedent or the last object that comes before to define what “it” is referring to. What does God reckon as righteousness? Grammatically this is not in our text. So we actually need the rest of the Bible to help us understand what is reckoned or credited to Abram as righteousness.
This vs is quoted in 4 NT passages: Rom 4:3, 22; Gal 3:6; James 2:23. The contexts of Rom and Gal shows us very clearly that the “it” is the perfect obedience and righteousness of the LJC. It is His sinless life and substitutionary death that has secured righteousness for us by His active obedience under the Law and His passive obedience in complete submission to the Father’s will culminated in His suffering death on the cross.
By His life, death and resurrection, He has secured righteousness (His own perfect righteousness) for each person who trusts in Him. To reckon or credit that righteousness (of Jesus) to any sinner is what happens in justification. So we say “Sola Fide”—by faith alone. Not b/c of faith or on the basis of faith. But “by” faith—The object of faith is not faith itself but in the promise of God that He will justify, give you the perfect righteousness that you cannot earn or could never buy—it must be given as a gift.
Reckoned as righteousness is illustrated in the Bible several ways. Let me close with these simple illustrations of “reckoned it as righteousness.”
A Legal Illustration
A Legal Illustration
Justification is a legal matter, a forensic truth. Here, God appears in His role as judge and the sinner stands before the judgment bar of God in heaven. The books are opened as infallible proof of your guilt and every sin that has ever been committed has been recorded and admitted into evidence as you stand before the one who is the judge of the living and the dead. By yourself, you stand condemned, deserving eternal hell on account of your sin. But having been justified means that you have at your side—the Advocate, JC the righteous and the judge only sees the perfect righteousness of your Advocate and doesn’t see your sin at all.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The legal transaction has been made—the moment you trust JC for salvation, your sin (in its entirety) is laid on JC (who suffered at the cross and took the wrath of God as though He committed every one of those sins—yet not one), and at the same time—God took the perfect righteousness of His Son and put that on you and that’s all He sees. This is a legal matter and the gavel comes down and declares you “not guilty.”
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
An Accounting Illustration
An Accounting Illustration
This is what the term “reckoned” is referring to—financial transaction: means to count, to add up. As you are standing before the judge, the books are opened and they reveal your spiritual bankruptcy…your indebtedness on account of falling short of the glory of God. You would spend eternity trying to pay of the debt and you would never make a dent in what you owe God. Again, the ledger has been updated b/c the massive debt was transferred to JC and His immeasurable, infinite riches are put on your account...
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
A Clothing Illustration
A Clothing Illustration
In Rev we have an example of a group of saints that have been clothed in “white robes.” This is emblematic of the righteousness of JC which is wrapped around those who have trusted Him.
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
This is what justification—a robe of righteousness that is put around you—again, this is all that the judge sees.
A Market-place Illustration
A Market-place Illustration
The Heb term “righteousness” is tsedeq and it originally meant lit “to be straight.” It came to refer to honesty and justice. If someone went into the marketplace to buy something like a measure of grain, the merchant would take out a pair of scales. On one side there was a known weight, on the other side the grain would be added until the scale balanced. It is then said to be “righteous.” It perfectly meets the standard (being the weight).
The spiritual context is that you could never meet the standard that God sets before all creation. On one side is your life and all the sin (every thought, word, deed) an absolute mountain of weight—and the scale could never be balanced, not with all the good works, going to church, all your effort/morality— “deeds you have done in righteousness” (Tit 3:4-5). the scale can’t even move the slightest amount. The only thing that will—the perfect righteousness of LJC.
You’ve heard me talk about “imputed righteousness.” That’s all Gen 15 is talking about. Abram believed in the Lord and God imputed righteousness to Abram. At once, he was justified, regenerated, saved and at peace with God. Though Jesus had not yet lived, Rev says He is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. In the eternal purpose of God it was already a settled matter and so Abram putting His trust in the Lord, even though He did not know of Jesus, the perfect righteousness of the 2nd person of the triune Godhead was imputed to Abram—reckoned as righteousness/credited, put on his account. And this is the offer of God’s grace to you. Be sure that you have received it like Abram, by trusting in the Lord.