ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED
This lesson we will look at a small part of Abrahams life.
We will see into Abrahams heart.
We will see how Abraham was justified long before the birth of Christ.
Romans 4:1 says; What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found
according to the flesh?
In the last lesson we learned that we are not justified by the law or by ones works
We are justified by Jesus Christ or our faith in Him.
Christ had not been born in Abrahams days.
But Abraham believed the prophets when they told of Christ and Him coming to
earth.
Abraham also had something else going for him.
Abraham had a heart for God.
This is the one reason why God justified Abraham and was given Gods righteous-
ness.
God sees into all of our hearts and what He finds in our hearts can make the dif-
ference between heaven and hell.
Isaiah 51:2 says; Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For
I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him.
Abraham had great faith in God.
Although he and Sarah were not without sin.
They loved God and looked to God for everything.
God made Abraham a promise that he would be the father of many.
Abraham and Sarah up in the years and didn't know how that could be, but they
stood on that promise.
God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and he is the father over many nations.
James 2:21 says; Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered
Isaac his son on the alter?
Actually Abraham was not justified by works.
It is written that no man shall be justified by works but by the grace of God
through faith.
Abraham had faith that God would not allow Isaac to die and if He did He would
ressurrect him from the dead.
Abrahams faith in God is why God justified Abraham.
Romans 4:2 says; For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to
boast about, but not before God.
It is written that no man can boast before God.
God owes us nothing but we owe God everything.
How can we boast when all the good things we do is God working through us?
Salvation is a gift from God that we don't have to pay or work for.
It is Gods gift to each and every one of us if we will have faith is Jesus Christ.
If you boast to man that will be your only reward.
Don't look to man for approval, look to God and seek His will for your life.
If you must boast to man, tell them how awesome our God is and give Him all
the glory and honor.
Abraham did just that, through his faith in God he was justified by God.
Romans 3:20 says; Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in
His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
In this verse you can see plainly that deeds are good things but they won't save
your soul.
You can only be saved by faith in Jesus Christ.
Once you are saved then you must start to serve the Lord and seek His will for
your life.
The law shows us how we have sinned and what we should avoid.
Romans 3:27 says; Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of
works? No, but by the law of faith.
Abraham had faith in God that is the reason God justified him.
That is not to say that Abraham did not do works for God.
The dfference is that the faith came first and then the works.
Romans 4:3 says; For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and
it was accounted to him for righteousness.
God made Abraham a promise and he believed God.
In return God gave Abraham righteousness.
Abraham didn't have to follow some law or ritual like circumcision in order to be
made righteous.
Neither do we, but we must have faith in Jesus Christ is Gods only Son.
Genesis 15:6 says; And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for
righteousness.
This verse simply confirms what Paul spoke to the people in Romans.
My friends get it from your heads to your hearts that the only way to receive
righteousness is through our faith in Jesus Christ.
For it is written, "Jesus is the way, the light, and the truth."
Jesus is the only way we can make it to heaven.
We have all fallen short of the Kingdom of God, heaven.
Romans 4:4 says; Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace,
but as a debt.
Like dI said earlier in this lesson we owe God for everything.
From our jobs, where we live, our families, our cars, food on the table, and the
list goes on and on.
Wlhen you give your heart, mind, and soul to the Lord your life changes.
As we learned in an earlier lesson God forgives our sins and the debt that we owe
Him when we ask Jesus into our hearts.
WOW, that is an awesome thing when you think about it.
If we live for hundreds of years on this earth we would never be able to pay the
debt we owe to God.
Our God is a great, and loving God.
Romans 11:6 says; And if by grace, then it is no longer of works, otherwise
grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; other-
wise work is no longer work.
Grace and works are two separate things.
By grace we are saved through faith.
Once we are saved we will want to serve the Lord.
This is where the works come in.
Gods plan for our lives requires us to do some sort of work in the Body of Christ.
The thing is it doesn't feel like work anymore.
Like my writing these lessons.
It is my hearts desire for the Lord to work through me and do these lessons.
Wlhen you find out what Gods will is for your life begin working in it.
Before you know it, you will love what you are doing and it will no longer feel like
work..
God is amazing when you get to know him.
The scriptures I used in this lesson are: Romans 4:1-4, 3:20, 3:22, 11:6,
Genesis 15:6, James 2:21, Isaiah 51:2.
My prayer is that who ever reads this lesson, the Lord gave me, will get this les-
son from your mind to your hearts. Faith is the only thing that can save our
souls. I pray that you will get the word in your hearts. That you will never
forget how much God loves you.
God bless you and yuour family, may the Lord keep you close to Him.
PRAISE GOD OUR FATHER, JESUS OUR SAVIOR, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
THAT LIVES WITHIN ALL CHRISTIANS.
