LIVING BY FAITH

The Source of Faith

At this time, Abraham was 140 and Isaac was 40. Abraham had been following the Lord for 65 years. He had left his home and all that he had known and travelled around 1,000 miles to the land of Canaan. Since that time he has travelled to Egypt and throughout the land of Canaan. He had seen wonderful blessings and very great trials. Yet through it all, one thing was constant. God was with him.

No one can or will come to God apart from God’s work in their hearts. God had clearly been at work in the life of Abraham.

Romans 3:11 “no one understands; no one seeks for God.”

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””

John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

We are saved by grace through faith, not of works. Even repentance and faith are gifts of grace from the Lord.

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,”

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

Romans 2:4 “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (See Acts 11:18)

The Increasing of Faith

The Word

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Trials

James 1:2–3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

Discipline

Hebrews 12:10–11 “For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

The Work of the Spirit in our hearts

Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The Completion of Faith

Those who have truly repented and believed will persevere in their faith.

Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

James 2:17–18 “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Abraham had steadily grown in his trust in the Lord. We see evidence of that everywhere. We see here his trust in God to fulfill His promise. We see his willingness to follow the Lord’s plan, even though it is more difficult. We see his unwillingness to be influenced by pagans. We see him wanting God’s will for himself and his family. And we see how his faithfulness has influenced the lives of his household.