Completing Our Faith

INTRODUCTION:

Last week we looked at the life of Abraham and the ultimate test that God had brought into his life.

For those of you who are just now joining us, Abraham is one of 3-4 characters in the Bible that is absolutely foundational to understanding the redemptive plan of God for the world.

He’s the O.G “founding father” of the Judaism, Islam and Christianity. All of the three major monotheistic religions in the world all trace their origins back to Father Abraham.

We’ve been tracing the major events of his life and last week we saw his “ultimate test” of faith which threatened the life of his one and only son Isaac.

When God first called Abraham he had promised him that if Abraham would “trust” God then the Lord would “bless him.”

The Lord promised Abraham a particular land, many descendants and to use his life to bless all the nations of the earth. A big promise that required big faith.

Throughout Abraham’s life we’ve seen the Lord reaffirm this promise. The language God uses in Genesis 15 and Genesis 17 is that of a covenant.

The language of covenant is really central to both the Old and New Testaments. The biggest chapters in the redemptive story are marked by “covenants.

There was a covenant established with Adam and Eve in the Garden.

There was a covenant established with Noah before the flood.

We have the covenant of Abraham in Genesis 15, 17 and 22.

We have the Mosaic covenant in the giving of the 10 commandments.

We have the Davidic covenant given to King David.

And we have the New Covenant in the Lord Jesus Christ

The greatest promises of God are covenant promises.

A covenant is a binding commitment between two parties where stipulations are laid out for each party and correspondent blessings/curses.

Covenant of Grace/Works?

After Abraham’s ultimate test of faith we the Lord “reaffirm” his covenant promises to Abraham.

The reason I want to spend an entire sermon on this reaffirmation is because there are some important differences between the language in Genesis 22 and the language in prior chapters.

The language around God’s covenant promise raises a question that the church has been wrestling with for thousands of years.

Where and why Christians land on this question is the reason behind many of our spits, debates, denominations and theological traditions.

The question revolves around what we looked at last week; namely, what does God really want?

Another way to ask it, “Are the covenants of God conditional or unconditional?”

Are they unilateral (one way only) or bilateral (two way?

Do they depend on God on our us? God’s grace our our effort?

The greatest promises of God are covenant promises. The question is whether we receive them by grace through faith or by works through effort?

Church History

This is not a new question or a new debate. It was this question, raised 500 years ago, that led a group of reformers to separate themselves from the Roman Catholic Church.

The Catholic view at that time was that you were saved by grace through faith but that in order to stay in right standing with God you needed to add to your faith certain works.

Corruption had also entered into the church so that if you didn’t have the will to live a moral life you could just pay for grace of God and have it applied to your account or the account of somebody you loved.

You can imagine where that system ended up. It was absolutely terrible.

The church was in obvious need of reformation and Martin Luther was the catholic monk who famously nailed his 95 theses to the wall and started a movement that changed the church forever.

The protestant reformers advocated for five solas:

sola scriptura

sola fide

sole gratis

sole Chirstos

sole de gloria

If you’ve ever wondered why there isn’t just “one church” like we saw in the book of Acts or why there are so many different denominations, these five solas and how one interprets them play a big role in separating people from each other.

A THORNY TEXT:

You might be asking what does this have to do with Genesis 22 and the life of Abraham.

Let’s read our passage and then I’ll try and answer that question.

Genesis 22:15–19 CSB

15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.” 19 Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.

At first glance you may read this promise from God and not think twice about it. When I read it, however, I noticed two things.

First, there are many promises mentioned in this text that were mentioned earlier in chapters 12, 13, 15 and 17.

BLESS: In Genesis 12 we saw God’s commitment to “bless Abraham” and through Abraham bless all the nations through his descendants. (Gen 12:2-3)

We see that same language in chapter 22.

SAND/STARS: In Genesis 13 we saw God’s promise to make Abraham’s descendents as many as the sands on the seashore. In Genesis 15 it was as many as the stars in the sky.

We see both analogies used in Genesis 22.

KINGS/ROYALTY: In Genesis 17 God promises Abraham that “kings” would come from him.

We see similar language in Genesis 22 of his descendants possessing the city gates of their enemies.

LAND: Finally in Genesis 12, 13, 15 and 17 we see the promise of land to Abraham’s descendents. All of that is also referenced in Genesis 22.

Which Is It? Faith or Works?

Genesis 22 revisits and restates all of the great promises of God to Abraham.

But there’s one big difference between the prior promises and the ones mentioned in Genesis 22.

Prior to Genesis 22 the focus was on Abraham’s faith. Later on, however, the focus seems to be on Abraham’s obedience.

In Genesis 15 it was because Abraham “believed God” that he credited him with righteousness. (Gen 15:6)

In that same chapter the Lord seals the covenant relationship in blood through a covenant sacrifice.

But instead of having Abraham walk through the alley of sacrificed animals the Lord comes down in a flaming torch and smoking fire pot and walks through the pieces himself while Abraham is in a deep sleep.

The implications were that God’s covenant with Abraham was a covenant grace - NOT a covenant of works.

Abraham’s righteousness before the Lord was because of his FAITH and not because of his obedience.

But in Genesis 22 the emphasis doesn’t seem to be on Abraham “faith” as much as it is on his “works” or obedience.

“Because you have done this thing….I will bless…” (Gen 22:16-17)

“the nations will be blessed by your offspring…because you obeyed my voice” (Gen 22:18)

So which is it? Do the promises of God rest on our faith or on our obedience?

To frame it a different way, “is salvation a result of our faith our our works?”

The trouble with answering that question is that church history has been split with different people trying to answer that question in different ways.

The Pilgrims Progress

I think the one fact that EVERYBODY agrees upon is that the Christian life is much more than a solitary moment when somebody puts their faith in the Lord Jesus.

Sometimes people talk about salvation in it’s past, present and future tenses. We were saved, are being saved and WILL be saved.

Becoming a Christian isn’t a one-time decision but a life long journey.

That’s why so many people have been helped by the little book by John Bunyan, “Pilgrims Progress.” We love it because it powerfully illustrates how salvation is a process that has hills and valleys, triumphs and failures.

I think most people understand that salvation can’t be earned by our efforts.

As the book of Ephesians says, “we are saved by grace through faith and not of works so that no man could boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)

The reformers were right to say we’re saved by “grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.”

Everybody agrees we’re saved by faith alone.

But what about works? Eph 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 CSB

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

What role does our obedience play in the process of salvation?

As one person put it, “We saved by faith alone but saving faith is never alone.”

Assuming we can’t earn our salvation through works is it then possible to then “keep” our salvation through works? Do we improve our salvation through works?

There is some kind of necessary connection between faith and works.

The New Testament Treatment

The Bible teaches both. In fact, the New Testament uses the life of Abraham to teach BOTH of these truths.

Which is a general interpretive principle when dealing with a thorny text like Genesis 22.

The best commentary on the Bible is the BIBLE.

I want to show you two passages in the New Testament by two different authors that highlight either side of this debate.

Romans 4 Passage

Romans 4:1-5

The first passage is from the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. Romans 4:1-5

Romans 4:1–5 CSB

1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.

One of the words that gets repeated in this text is the word “justified” or “justification.”

It’s a big fancy theological term that means to be in right relationship with somebody. It’s similar to the word “made righteous.”

One of my old pastors would use the phrase “just as if I’d never sinned.” I like that. You’re in right relationship with God.

Justification = Right Relationship “Just as if I’d never sinned.”

How does this happen according to the Apostle Paul? NOT by works. Otherwise, righteousness is not a gift but something owed.

True righteousness is a gift of God’s grace received through faith.

James 2 Passage

The second passage I want us to look at is James 2:21-24

James 2:21–24 CSB

21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Same word: justification. But this time the justification comes by works and not faith alone.

It’s almost as if Paul is emphasizing Genesis 15:6 whereas James is emphasizing Genesis 22:16-18.

Church History Treatment

So which is it? Is our right standing before God a result of works or a result of faith?

Well, if you survey the history of the church a lot of people tended to choose one side or the other side.

They would prioritize all of the Bible verses that supported their view and minimize the verses that taught the other view.

So church history has been full of debates and schisms and confusion around this topic.

I’m going to give you the two most common ways that people have tried to resolve this tension and then I want to close with how I think we should understand it.

I’m going to use the terms Roman Catholic and Protestant but I need to qualify that not every Roman Catholic holds this view nor does every Protestant hold theirs (at least not consistently.) A flaw of human condition.

The Catholic View

The Roman Catholic view doesn’t ignore what Paul is saying in the book of Romans. It’s really hard to ignore when it’s written so clearly and frankly.

They give their nod to the apostle Paul. They would even call it salvation or justification.

Where they depart from the protestant view is that they create an additional “layer” of justification (after salvation) that depends upon our works.

Catholic View = Justified by grace through faith. Then works add to your justification.

So you can “add” to your salvation in that your works - post conversion - supplement the justification by grace you received at conversion.

But think about that for just a moment. Does that really make sense with the meaning of the word “justification?”

If justification means “blameless” or “just as if I’d never sinned.” Is that really something to which you can add?

You cannot add to perfection. The very idea of completion means you can add no more.

Problems

I mentioned earlier about the Protestant Reformation and their critique of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Council of Trent reigned in some of the corruption, excess and theological error but they didn’t reform on the question of justification. To this day they maintain the idea that you add to your justification post salvation with works.

This is what underlays the sacraments as means of God’s grace. Baptism, communion, marriage, confirmation, confession and ordination all convey the grace of God in a way that contributes to your justification.

This is also what underpins the Catholic idea that you can LOSE your salvation. You can fall from grace by committing certain mortal sins or by failing to get your life in proper order before you experience death.

The reason they maintain this view is because of all of the verses in the New Testament that talk about the need to endure to the end and the importance of works completing or accompanying your faith.

The problem is that way of thinking about faith and works doesn’t really work out logically or theologically speaking.

It fails to deal with the passages of Scripture that speak of our security in Christ and inability to fall away from grace. If God establishes our salvation how is it that we can wreck it through our own foolishness?

The Protestant View

The Protestant View took a different approach.

They also keep the language of justification. Like the Catholic View they say we are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (5 solas).

So they give their nod to Paul. And they even give a nod to James and acknowledge that works are important.

But after they’ve given that nod to James they mostly describe salvation with an emphasis on God’s grace received through faith and less of an emphasis on works.

This emphasis on faith is where we came up with the idea of a “sinner’s prayer.”

The sinners prayer is this idea that you can just say a prayer, confess certain truths about being a sinner, separated from God and that you want to repent of that sin and have Jesus come live in y our heart as savior and Lord.

If you say that prayer then you’ve checked your box, you’re good to go, your safe from hell and you never have to worry about losing your salvation.

I’m not saying this idea doesn’t have merit.

The Bible is replete with passages that teach on eternal security and the prevailing grace of God. Where sin is great God’s grace is greater! Romans 3:28

Romans 3:28 CSB

28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

The Protestant View is very careful not to ADD TO justification with works.

But what do we do with James 2?

To deal with this issue of the importance of works many Protestants have developed a view that’s similar to the Catholic view they just use a different word.

That word is “sanctification.”

Protestant View = Justified by grace through faith. Works add to your “sanctification” .

So in reality, many Catholics and many protestants land in the same exact spot, they just use different words to articulate it.

But I don’t think either of those views is what the Bible teaches.

Problems

The Bible uses the term “sanctification” all the time but I don’t think it ever teaches that you “add to” your sanctification in a meritorious way.

In fact, this view is behind why many Protestant traditions get really legalistic with the Law from the Old Testament.

They break the Old Testament Law into the ceremonial law, the civil law and the moral law. They’ll argue we’re no longer under the ceremonial stuff or civil stuff because we aren’t Jewish.

But they’ll enforce the moral law of the Old Testament and measure a person’s sanctification based on how well they adhere to God’s standard.

This is how we get into debates over tattoos and whether or not we should tithe 10%, obey the sabbath and so on and so forth.

It’s also behind the legalistic approach to Christianity that says you need Jesus to get saved but if you want God to stay happy with you AFTER you get saved you better get to living a moral life.

In fact, the word “sanctification” doesn’t even mean “becoming more moral.”

The word means “holy” or “set apart.”

It’s true that as we mature in Christ we begin to separate ourselves more and more from this world and the things of this world.

So sanctification is a “process” in that way.

But the Bible also talks about sanctification as a point in time. (1 Cor 6:11; Heb 10:10)

Sanctification is something the Spirit accomplishes at the point of salvation and then progressively through a process as we live the Christian life.

But we don’t ADD to our sanctification through our works.

Sanctification, like justification are both gifts of God’s grace and are not “supplemented” by our works.

UNDERSTANDING FAITH

So how ARE we to think about the relationship between faith and works when it comes to God’s covenant promises and covenant love?

The answer lays in a proper understanding of faith actually is.

Richard Dawkins is famous for saying “faith is believing something in the absence of any evidence.” That’s not faith, that’s wishful thinking.

Faith - traditionally understood - isn’t so much about “outer edge” what we “cannot know.” Faith isn’t dealing with that extends beyond the horizon of our knowledge.

Faith is concerned with the “inner core” of our knowledge. Our faith consists of the base assumptions for how we understand the world and make sense of everything.

And in THAT way - EVERYBODY has faith. Even the ardent skeptic has faith because they are viewing the world through a particular set of assumptions.

That means the most important question about our faith isn’t whether or not we “have it” but the object on which it rests.

The quality of your faith will be measured by the object of your faith.

Moreover the actions of your life will be determined by the object of your faith.

When you think about faith in THAT way then it becomes obvious how faith and works cooperate together.

Faith and Works are two sides of the same coin. One side focuses on the inner conviction of the heart. The other focuses on the external expressions though your life.

One of the ways you can determine the object of your faith is by looking at the way your faith is expressed through action.

The reason James can say that we are “justified by our works” is because our “works expose the object of our faith.”

If you say you have faith - but there are no visible expressions of that faith in your life - it’s not because you don’t “have” any faith. It’s that your faith is resting in something other than what you say.

In that way - faith without works in dead.

So was Abraham justified by faith or by works? The answer? Yes. But that’s not the interesting question.

The most important question isn’t whether Abraham had faith. But why the object of Abraham’s faith made him righteous in the eyes of God.

Abraham wasn’t justified because of his faith but because his faith was properly placed.

So in whom or what had Abraham placed his faith?

We can’t answer that question through Genesis 22 alone. If you remember last week, the whole drama of Genesis 22 was pointing to and even greater act of redemption that would take place through the ultimate promised son.

That’s been the driving organizing principle behind the whole book of Genesis. The seed of the promise. The offspring that would crush the head of the serpent.

The promised son who would reverse the curse and restore humanity’s relationship with God and creation.

Isaac advances that seed but is not himself the messiah.

That seed continues from Isaac to Jacob and from Jacob to Judah and on and on until it terminates in Jesus.

Jesus is the ultimate offspring of God’s covenant promise in Genesis 22.

In fact, it’s unfortunate that the CSB translates the word offspring as plural when it’s really singular. Let me show you in the ESV.

Genesis 22:17–18 ESV

17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

That offspring isn’t just talking about King David and God’s covenant with him. It’s pointing to an even greater David and greater covenant through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is through Jesus that God establishes a New Covenant. A covenant that extends beyond the Jewish people to every true child of Abraham whether Jew or Gentile.

This is what Paul articulates in Galatians 3. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, the promised son.

JESUS is the promised son in whom Abraham had placed his faith. And Jesus is the promised son in whom we believe for salvation.

Galatians 3:7 CSB

7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons.

Galatians 3:16 CSB

16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.

Galatians 3:29 CSB

29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.

And Jesus isn’t just our “justification” as though he gets us started but we finish it out. Jesus is also our sanctification and righteousness and redemption.

It’s through his sinless life of obedience that the conditional elements of the Abrahamic covenant are fulfilled.

As Paul said in 1 Cor 1:30

1 Corinthians 1:30 CSB

30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption

Proving Your Faith

Which means if you’ve really put your faith in Jesus then it’s going to express itself visibly through works of obedience.

That’s the nature of faith. Faith is always working. Faith is always expressing itself because it’s the nature of faith to do so.

The question isn’t whether or not you have faith.

The question is, whether your faith is properly placed.

What does your life say about where your faith is placed?

Have you truly put your faith in Jesus? Who is you’re only reliable pathway for being brought into right relationship with God.

If you look at your life and there is no evidence whatsoever that Jesus is king of your heart. Then maybe this morning you need to stop “trying” to fix yourself or “add” to your salvation and just surrender yourself completely to him.

God sent his one and only son into this world to die for your sin so that you would not perish but have ever lasting life.

If you’ve not responded to Christ by faith, please do so before it’s too late.