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  A Faith That God Calls Righteousness  

"For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
Romans 4:3       Read this whole scripture.

Abraham believed God! What a powerful verse of scripture, and there for all eternity as a testimony of a God pleasing faith. This is the bottom line of salvation. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is..." (Hebrews 11:6)

Jesus asked a question that has haunted me for many years, "...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)  There is much more to faith than most christians think. Scripture says we must confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, but it also tells us that we must believe in our heart. (Romans 10:9)  It is here where most professing christian fail.

Confession is an easy thing in sunny weather, but it is during the storms of adversity that genuine faith is tested for what it is. Do you believe in your heart during these dark times? Abraham did, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Righteous faith is deeper than the theologians head knowledge of God, it is a personal relationship with the Creator.

1.) Abraham "...believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." Nothing was impossible with Abraham's God. In the desert Israel "...limited the Holy One of Israel" (Psalms 78:41),  as a result, "...they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:19)  I've heard great men preach the "power of faith," then lean on the arm of the flesh when the storm came to them. They confessed faith, but did not believe in their heart that God "calleth those things which be not as though they were."

2.) In his darkest hour, Abraham "...against hope believed in hope..."  All visual evidence of hope was gone, yet Abraham trusted God and hoped in whom he could not see, "and it was counted unto him for righteousness."  This is God's own hand testing the metal of our faith to see if it is genuine or not. Is it not after all, "...the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

3.) "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead..."  Abraham never allowed doubt a foothold in his heart. His faith never became weak from looking at the circumstances. Abraham knew that "...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)  Intimate fellowship with God was the key to strong faith. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified..." (John 15:7-8)

4.) "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief..."  God spoke to Abraham and made a promise, and he believed that "God is not a man, that he should lie..." (Numbers 23:19)  He trusted in the Word of God.

5.) A preacher friend of mine said, "if you don't tell what God has done for you, after awhile, you won't believe it yourself." Abraham "...was strong in faith, giving glory to God;".  History and tradition was passed along through word of mouth in Abraham's day. He would gather his family and friends together and tell of the wonderful works of the Creator, being careful to give all the glory to God alone. This increased his faith and theirs. As the hymn goes, "Tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love", see if it does not increase your faith.

6.) "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."  Through many years of fellowship with God, Abraham was fully persuaded that God could do what He promised, he believed that "all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen..." (2 Corinthians 1:21)

The word persuaded in the original Greek is plerophoreo (Strongs #4135) which means, completely assured or convince of, to fully know or be persuaded, to make full proof of. It was God Himself who persuaded Abraham, God gave him full proof that He was able to fulfill every promise made. Abraham was convinced by God through his intimate fellowship, and as a result, "straggered not in unbelief."

This is the faith that God counts as righteousness. A faith that is intimate with the Creator. Abraham's intimacy with God produced love and trust, as in a good marriage. When the time of testing came, Abraham's love and trust for God produced a faith that acted upon genuine heart knowledge of God, Abraham obeyed without question. "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20) The word works here literally means, to act. (Strongs #2041)  Faith without action is dead, but when we act upon our faith, it is counted to us for righteousness.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven..."  There is more than just a confession of faith. The prerequisite to righteous faith is, "...he that doeth the will of my Father..."  This is a faith that is acted upon.

Jesus made it quite clear what faith was based upon when He said, "I profess unto them, I never knew you..." (Matthew 7:21-23)  There was no intimacy, no fellowship, no abiding in Him. And as a result, their faith was based on confession only, they heard of Him, but never knew Him.

The only faith which God counts as righteousness, is that which is based upon heart knowledge, genuine intimacy, an ever abiding in, and with God Himself. "But without faith (obedience based on knowledge) it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is..." (Hebrews 11:6)  If we all really believed as we confess, we would certainly act more godly, and the church would certainly be more influential in the world. You discern for yourself, "...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

— Randy Munter    Editor and Webmaster

Unstaggering Faith
By Charles H. Spurgeon   (1834-1892)

"And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to perform." (Romans 4:19-21).

IT was God’s purpose that Abraham should be a surpassingly excellent example of the power of faith. He was to be “the father of the faithful,” the mirror, pattern and paragon of faith. He was ordained to be the supreme Believer of the patriarchal age, the serene and venerable leader of the noble army of Believers in Jehovah, the faithful and true God. In order to produce so eminent a character it was necessary that Abraham’s faith should be exercised in a special and unequalled manner. The power of his faith could not be known except by putting it to the severest tests. To this end, among other trials of his faith, God gave him a promise that in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed, and yet for many a year he remained without an heir.

The promise, when originally given, startled Abraham, but he did not doubt it. We read that he laughed—laughed with holy joy at the thought of so great and unexpected a blessing! It startled also his wife Sarah. She did, however, doubt it—when she laughed it was the laugh of incredulity. The fulfillment of the promise was long delayed. Abraham waited with patience, sojourning as a stranger in a strange land, having respect unto the covenant which the Lord had made with him and with his unborn seed.

Not a shadow of doubt crossed the mind of the holy Patriarch. He staggered not at the promise through unbelief and though he came to be 100 years old, and his wife Sarah was almost equally as advanced in years, he did not listen to the voice of carnal reason but maintained his confidence in God. Doubtless he had well weighed the natural impossibilities which laid in the way, but he overlooked the whole and being fully persuaded that if God had promised him a son the son would certainly be born, he entertained a holy confidence and left the matter of time in the hands of the Sovereign Ruler.

His faith triumphed in all its conflicts. Had it not been that Sarah and Abraham were both at such an advanced age there would have been no credit to them in believing the promise of God. But the more difficult, the more impossible the fulfillment of the promise seemed to be, the more wonderful was Abraham’s faith and he still held to it that what God had promised He was able to perform! If I may so say, there was in Abraham’s case a double death to stand in the way of the promise—not one difficulty in itself insuperable, but two—two absolute impossibilities.

And yet, though one impossibility might have been enough to stagger any man, the two together could not cause his faith to waver! He considered not the natural impediments. He allowed them no space in the account—they seemed to be less than nothing in the presence of the truth and power of the Almighty God. The Most High God had given a promise, and that fact overrode 10,000 adverse arguments! His was that noble confidence of which we sing —

“Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone.
Laughs at impossibilities
And cries, ‘It shall be done!’ ”

By such unquestioning confidence Abraham brought glory to God. It glorifies God greatly for His servants to trust Him—they then become witnesses to His faithfulness—just as His works in creation are witnesses of His power and wisdom. Abraham was a noble instance of the power which the truthfulness of God exerts over the human mind. When under all discouragements he still “believed God.” His heart said of the living God, “He cannot lie. He will perform His promise.” While glorifying God, Abraham reaped a present consolation to himself and in the end he had the joy of receiving the promise. His early laugh of joy was remembered and commemorated in his son Isaac, that child of promise, whose name was “laughter.”

The Patriarch himself became one of the most honored of men, for it is written, “Him that honors Me I will honor.” Brothers and Sisters, this is the point to which I want to bring you—that if God intends to make you or me, any one of us, or all of us together to be distinguishing exhibitors of the Divine Grace of faith—we must expect to be passed through very much the same trials as Abraham. With regard to the object upon which our faith is exercised, it is most probable that we shall be made to feel our own weakness and even our personal death. We shall be brought very low, even into an utter self-despair.

We shall be made to see that the mercy we are seeking of God is a thing impossible with man. It is very probable that difficulties will rise before us till they are enough to overwhelm us! Not only one range of mountainous impossibilities, but another will be seen towering up behind the first till we are pressed beyond measure and led to an utter despair of the matter as considered in ourselves. At such a crisis, if God the Holy Spirit is working with mighty power in us, we shall still believe that the Divine promise will be fulfilled. We shall not entertain a doubt concerning the promise! We shall remember that it remains with God to find ways and means—and not with ourselves. We shall cast the burden of fulfilling the promise upon Him with whom it naturally rests.

Go on, then, in steady, holy, confident joy, looking for the end of our faith and patiently pleading until we reach it. The Lord will honor and comfort us in so doing, and in the end He will grant us the desire of our hearts, for none that trust in Him shall ever be confounded, world without end.

Let us, this morning, firmly lay hold upon this general principle, that God will empty us of self completely before He will accomplish any great thing by us, thus removing from us every pretext for claiming the glory for ourselves. At such seasons of humiliation it is our privilege to exercise unabated faith, for the fulfillment of the promise is not imperiled, but rather may be looked upon as drawing near. May the Holy Spirit guide us while we endeavor to apply the general principle to distinct cases.

First, we shall view it in application to the individual worker for Christ. Then, secondly, we shall take it in connection with the Church associated or Christian service. Thirdly, we shall apply it briefly to the case of a pleader wrestling with God in prayer. And, fourthly, we shall show its bearing upon the case of a seeker, showing that he, also, will have to feel his own natural death and utter helplessness, and then faith will find all needful Grace stored up in the promisegiving God.

Continued >>

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