I have been learning a lot about faith lately. My friend Andrew quoted Tony Evans when he said, "Faith is trusting that what God has said is true." That quote is very simple but so rich. My wife (that's still so cool to say) are trying to finally read through the Bible in a year. I'm not so concerned with the year thing. I just need to do it. So I am in Genesis studying about Abraham and the man of faith he was. God told Abe to go. Abe faithfully went. God made a covenant with Abraham saying that his number of offspring will be like the stars in the sky. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham had a son when he was very very old. God is faithful. God tests Abraham and tells him to go kill his son. The same son Abraham waited so long for. The same son that through whom were Abraham's offspring going to come. Abraham faithfully took his son up the mountain, bound him, took the knife and God stopped him. God faithfully provided a sacrifice that was not Isaac. So this is where I am right now. God is faithful and Abraham is faithful. I was reading Romans 4 and something that jumped out at me was,
"No distrust made him [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness."
(Romans 4:20-23 ESV)
There's more:
"But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
(Romans 4:23-25 ESV)
God has said that this is the way of salvation.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
(Romans 3:23-25 ESV)
I am chief doubter because I think this is too easy. Why would God make it so easy? I want to make it harder and think that there is more I have to do. But if God said this is the way, then this is the way.
