The difference one word can make…
“…Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Galatians 3:6
Watch this….miss this one thing and we view the entire gospel with a skewed understanding…
It doesn’t say that Abraham’s belief in God is what gave him a righteous standing. It was because he BELIEVED GOD.”
The difference is colossal. Consider this:
“You believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” James 2:19
Belief Requires Action
Anyone can believe IN God. But believing God–having real faith–requires ACTION. (“Faith without works is dead.”) When Abraham believed God, it was proven by the way he lived his life. He acted on his belief of who God is and what God said.
“He went out, not knowing where he was going” —Hebrews 11:8
Do we act with that kind of obedience? Faith in God changes the way we live–it just does! It affects everything.
Believing When It’s Hard
And not just that, He believed the hard things. God commanded Abraham to do the hardest thing, hands down, that any human has ever been commanded–to take the life of his son. (And we complain about what God asks of us?) Abraham believed Him. No questions. No looking for anyone else’s opinion on the matter. Just raw obedience to what seemed grossly unfair.
There is a new gospel running rampant because we don’t like unfair. Incapable of holding a just God and a merciful God by the same hand, we change His Word. And this new poison-gospel is sweet to swallow.
Truth peppered with a few lies–Christians being deceived just like Adam and Eve were.
Remember? The serpent didn’t make up a ridiculous story, it would have been too obvious. He just asked questions mostly (Did God really say?), until their thinking was just slightly off track, a subtle deception, and then THE FALL.
We must believe GOD. We must believe what He says, who He is, what He has promised, and how He instructs us to live. Be so discerning about what you hear! We must be thinking Christians!
The grace of the gospel has been stripped of its power because we have stripped God of His character. We try to serve a mutually exclusive God and Jesus. “Jesus is only love and God is fierce, and doesn’t like sin, so we’ll just keep Him hidden in the dusty pages of the Old Testament because that makes me feel better”.
No! Jesus and God are the same and He can only be Love because He is Just! And I can only be accredited with righteousness by believing that. My sin is an affront to a Holy God. It’s written all through the pages of Scripture. If I believe anything else, I believe no gospel at all.
My guilty record has been wiped clean because of His shed blood. But that acquittal changes me. It changes everything.
I run out with new life and I shudder to remind him of the nails by my indifference to sin.
I obey Him because I love Him. I love others because I love Him.
May the reality of Who God is awaken my faith to action. To walk blindly if I’m asked, to risk ridicule if it means such. For in that kind of reckless abandon is the only safety to be found.
22 comments
Gosh Kelly, SO powerful! And true; you just shoot straight to the heart. The Isaac story is uncomfortable all right, and God knows it. But it always reassures me to know that Abraham knew God would take Isaac’s soul right to heaven (he was not just some mindless altar-offering) and that Isaac too knew-and freely accepted-what was happening.
Thank you, Jennifer. “Shooting to the heart”…I like that; it’s what the gospel does!
Could the new Rob Bell book have prompted this awesome post? Ugh, makes me sick to my stomach how many he is deceiving with his non-gospel message.
This post really made me think. Love it.
Some of Bell’s stuff is pretty cool.
One problem…*some* of every false teacher’s stuff is pretty cool…that’s why they are so deceiving. There are many teachers who disagree on points of theology–most of us disagree on some points. But when a pastor/teacher is preaching another gospel–one that denies the most basic tenets of the Christian faith, I think it is dangerous, at best, to give him any credence as far as spiritual teaching goes.
I don’t know all the details, so I’m not sure what he’s teaching that’s considered false. What you say is correct, of course, and there’s one man I find very deceitful that many love, and who still manages to make some cool stuff while corrupting so many others. Bell’s book “Drops like Stars”, contributed to by others, is very good.
Rob Bell has recently revealed himself a full-fledged universalist. There was a big kerfuffle on the Internet recently about Justin Taylor’s response to Rob Bell’s forthcoming book on Hell. You can Google it and find plenty if you’re interested.
Ugh! I’ll have to make my Bible Study friends aware of this.
This gives me lots to think about. Have you read the book Radical by David Platt? Pretty thought-provoking and convicting also. Have a good night!
I was thinking the same thing. The book Radical was so compelling. The way Platt explained how we have corrupted the message of Grace was quite sobering.
It’s so true that we don’t like “unfair”…but God’s justice is so much deeper, richer and real.
Recently I was talking to the head of a Christian child care center who told me about how she “ministered” to the many single moms who brought their children to the center; she emphasized the love of God and never talked about sin (!!). How “unfair” is that? Even as a rebellious unbeliever I needed to be told what it was that I was railing against in my own life; what it was that led me to the point of despair….and then GOD was MERCIFUL.
Jill Farris
http://www.jillcampbellfarris.com
If we don’t understand that we are sinners, God’s grace and love is totally meaningless. The modern gospel of “God has a wonderful plan for your life” is so hollow.
Btw Ginger, thanks a lot for having that Christian movie-reviewing website linked on your blog. I love it.
Wow, amazing. I just posted a VERY similar post a few days ago. We must think alike!
http://blessedhomemaking.blogspot.com/2011/03/wishy-washylukewarm.html
Wow–we were thinking alike–love it.
THANK YOU for sharing that!! Wonderful post. I think at times, I fall into a tendancy to be comfortable with a “belief in God”. It is so merciful of Him to give us these reminders through wonderful people such as yourself that it is much more than that. When we let our guard down, it is very easy to listen to these very cool false teachers. We need to be on our toes, seeking God, drinking in His word so that we can move forward, grow, doing His works and being about His business…REAL faith is ALIVE!!
Thanks again!!
Thanks so much for the post. It is right on. I think it simply get down to a THUS SAITH THE LORD… Then we choose whether we follow or not. Count the cost.
Our night service today was about Rob Bell’s new book. We are praying that he would repent so that all who follow him would come to understand the true God of the Bible…that is a LOT of never-dying souls in need of the Truth. Have you seen this interview? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg-qgmJ7nzA Thank you for taking the time to stand firm in the truth!
AWESOME POINTS!!!! (standing and clapping)
Until you know God’s voice and obey in utter joy (even though I have obeyed with pouting), you can never know true freedom! He is so merciful and great that He gives us glimpses even when we are not sold out. But the sold out life? Liberating!
Good stuff…thank you!
Sarah
I love this! Do you mind if I print this out and give it to my sister? She believes in God so she thinks she’s ok, doesn’t understand the difference. You explain it so much better than I ever could to her.
This is wonderful insight <3 Much appreciate your devotion to Truth!