What the Bible says about Abraham as Father of the Faithful

Genesis 22:5

The word lad means "a boy, a young man." How old was Isaac at this time? The Hebrew word translated "young men," although plural, is the same as the word for "lad." The Jewish historian Josephus gives his age as 25, while rabbinic tradition says he was 36. Other commentators suggest he was 33. Because Isaac's life parallels the life of Christ to such an extent, that he was 33 years old at this time feels right.

Abraham tells his servants, "We will come back to you." Was he lying to them so as not to let Isaac know what was happening? It seems unlikely. Abraham is known as the "father of the faithful," and he had had the time to think the whole situation over. He knew that for God to deliver on His promises, Isaac would have to live. Hebrews 11:19 says Abraham acted as he did, "accounting that God was able to raise him [Isaac] up, even from the dead." He knew with ironclad certainty that God would resurrect his son. This in no way diminishes what Abraham had to do, for he still had to kill his own son! How many of us have that kind of faith?

Mike Ford
Abraham's One God

John 3:16-17

As the great and almighty Sovereign of the universe, the Father was positioned to dictate how He would work out the purpose He envisioned, bringing many sons and daughters into His Family. In His love for us, He chose to set the supreme example by sacrificing what He loved most "that the world through Him might be saved" (verse 17).

And His Son did the same. Philippians 2:5-7 informs us that the One who became Jesus Christ did not cling possessively to His power, glory, and equality with God, but readily consented to humble Himself to be incarnated as a lowly servant, a human being. Beyond that, "being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself [again] and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). As He told the Jews in Capernaum, He would sacrifice His flesh, His precious life, "for the life of the world" (John 6:51). To cover the sins of those who would believe in Him and provide access to the Father—and thus a relationship with Him—Christ, in faith, was willing to give up everything.

The Father and the Son have not been the only ones to sacrifice. In the long history of God's people, sacrifice has been a constant. Abel and Enoch both gave their lives for God's way and truth. Noah sacrificed many years and his reputation to build the ark, not to mention all the relationships with relatives and friends that were lost under the waters of the Flood. Abraham sacrificed his home in Ur to live in tents, and then God required him to slay his heir, Isaac, the son of promise. In Abraham, we not only have a type of God the Father's own sacrifice, but we also have the supreme example of sacrifice among God's people. He is "the father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11), whose faith we follow.

Consider what Moses sacrificed to obey God. In his speech to the Sanhedrin, Stephen recounts that "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds" (Acts 7:22). He had education, experience, position, wealth, and all the advantages of life in Pharaoh's court. Hebrews 11:24 suggests that, more than these other things, he was in line to become the next King of Egypt, as the title "son of Pharaoh's daughter" indicates. But the verse asserts that he refused the title, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward" (Hebrews 11:25-26).

The Bible is full of similar examples of men and women of God who were called on to sacrifice their ways of life and their desires to follow God. Judges, kings, prophets, apostles, and lay members alike had to give up their carnal plans and aspirations in this world to walk a different path, one of the Spirit, following a purpose that others could not see. This life of sacrifice remains as the general course of Christian living.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
This Life of Sacrifice

2 Corinthians 13:5

How do we obey this call to test ourselves, to know whether we are in the faith? In a classroom, we take a test, and the grade we receive measures the level of our success or the lack thereof. What method of measurement can we use to test our faith to see where we stand?

A good place to start is to see how God measures faith. There is no better example than that of Abraham, the "Father of the Faithful" (Romans 4:11, 16). Notice his defining moment shown in Genesis 22:12, "And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me'" (emphasis ours throughout). How did God measure Abraham's faith? By his obedience. As Genesis 22:18 notes, all the blessings that followed were "because you have obeyed My voice." Abraham proved his faith by obedience.

God measures our faith based on what we do—our obedience—not by our feelings, the emotions we express, or our words. So, just as God knew the depth of Abraham's faith by his obedience, we can know the depth of our faith by the level of our obedience.

In nominal Christianity, many think that all one needs to do for salvation is to believe—"eternal security" is the name of this doctrine. Many scriptures seem to support this idea (e.g., Mark 9:23; John 3.16, 36; 6:40, 47; 8:24; 11:25; 20:31; Acts 10:43; 13:48; 16:31; Romans 1:16; 10:9; I Corinthians 1:21). However, notice the Greek word for "believe" in each of these verses, psiteuo (Strong's #4100). This same word appears in I Peter 2:7: "Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.'"

By using "but" in this verse, Peter makes a strong contrast between belief and disobedience. He shows us that the opposite of belief is disobedience, implying that those who believe are obedient, and those who disbelieve are disobedient. Belief leads to obedience, and disbelief leads to disobedience. So, as in Abraham's case, obedience is the test we can use to measure our faith—our belief.

We see this same idea in James: "Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?" (James 2:22). The apostle suggests that doing what God commands—works—is the evidence of the right kind of faith. Faith that does not lead to obedience is not perfect faith, which is in keeping with I Peter 2:7, which says that believers are obedient and disbelievers are disobedient. Therefore, New Testament belief is not just a feeling but also a deep commitment to God evidenced by obedience. To emphasize belief and exclude its required result, obedience, is to leave belief a hollow shell that has no life or saving power.

To reinforce the point that belief/faith and obedience are directly connected, notice the Greek word apeitheo (Strong's #544). The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible defines it as "not to believe, to disbelieve implying disobedience." To illustrate this, the epistle of Romans in the King James Version shows that, in terms of this word, "disbelief" and "disobedience" are interchangeable. In Romans 2:8 and 10:21, apeitheo is translated "do not obey" and "disobedience," respectively. While in Romans 11:31 and 15:31, this same word is rendered "not believed" and "them that do not believe," respectively.

It is also interesting to note that in Hebrews 3:18, the King James Version translates the phrase in which this Greek word appears as "to them that believed not," yet the New King James Version renders it as "to those who did not obey." The translators see the terms "disbelief" and "disobedience" as synonymous. Together Peter, Paul, and James show that a true Christian cannot have one (true faith/belief) without the other (works/obedience).

While Romans 4:1-8 shows that obedience itself does not save, Scripture reveals that obedience is the evidence that we have the right kind of belief that does save. An analysis of the underlying Greek words and their use by the Bible's writers and translators provide us with a more complete understanding of the word "believe." Therefore, when we see it in the New Testament, we should mentally read it as "believe and obey." John 3:16 is a good example: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him [and obeys] should not perish but have everlasting life." When fully understood, this promise of everlasting life is not to those who hear and believe but rather to the doers, to those who also obey (Romans 2:13; James 1:22).

Pat Higgins
How Can We Measure Our Faith?

Galatians 3:9

Those people—and only those—whose lives are centered on the same faith as Abraham will be justified in the same way that he was and receive the same spiritual blessings that he received and will receive. This faith will be the dominant character trait, and because it is one that will be manifested in the way they live their lives and do the works they do. We are created unto good works, and God ordained beforehand that we should walk in these good works as our chosen way of life (Ephesians 2:10).

When a person has this same faith that Abraham had, which was manifested by his works (James 2:20-26), he will also be justified by God in the same way—the only way man has ever been justified.

David C. Grabbe