After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." Genesis 15:1
I love the image of God being our shield - and being his child is a great reward.
God also promised to give Abram a son in his old age.
"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness - This I conceive to be one of the most important passages in the whole Old Testament. It properly contains and specifies that doctrine of justification by faith which engrosses so considerable a share of the epistles of St. Paul, and at the foundation of which is the atonement made by the Son of God: And he (Abram) believed האמן heemin, he put faith) in Jehovah, ויחשבה לו vaiyachshebeita lo, and he counted it - the faith he put in Jehovah, to Him for righteousness, צדקה tsedakah, or justification; though there was no act in the case but that of the mind and heart, no work of any kind. Hence the doctrine of justification by faith, without any merit of works; for in this case there could be none - no works of Abram which could merit the salvation of the whole human race. It was the promise of God which he credited, and in the blessedness of which he became a partaker through faith.
I also believe the people of the Old Testament were saved by faith and not works. No one was perfect, no one could save themselves by their good works back then or now.
5 comments:
Great post...so thankful for learning more. Thank you very much. God is definitely my greatest reward, and I hope to continue to increase in faith.
I love how this post took me to faith this morning. That will be with me the rest of the day.
He is our shield and buckler amen..I was reading Psalm 91 this morning
Wonderful post Belle. Thank you.
Thank you all my friends! It encourages me to see you like these posts. I wasn't too sure when I started them. God bless and keep us all in the hollow of his hand.
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