Difficult Passages: Genesis 22:2

Abraham is Called to Sacrifice Isaac

There are quite a few difficult passages that have readers thinking or questioning the Bible. One of these passages starts in chapter 22 when God commands Abraham to sacrifice his one true son Isaac to Him (Gen. 22:2). Initially, the readers question this type of command from God to sacrifice a human since this is what the pagan gods of the land would require. Why on Earth would God command such a thing? As one unfolds the story though, the true meanings begin to leak out. The theme of faith, love, testing, obedience, and most importantly the shadow of what God would do Himself is displayed for all to see. God is simply giving Abraham and all of humanity a picture to understand that God does not require this of us, but rather this is what will be required of Him, to sacrifice His only begotten Son to atone for the sins of many (John 3:16; 8:56; Isa. 53:7). Here are some interesting facts to take away from these themes:

The Theme of Testing – This is the first time that the Hebrew word nsh is used to describe a test. Many times, in our lives, God will test us to see if we are in the faith and for us to know that our faith is real. God frequently does this to His children to refine them, to purify them, and for them to take deeper roots in Him. This theme is seen all throughout scripture (1 Peter 1:6-7; Dan. 3:16-18; Isa. 48:10; Jas. 1:2-4, 12; Job 1:22; 2:7; Ps. 66:10; Rom. 8:28).

The Theme of Love – Again, this is the first time that the Hebrew word hb is used to describe love. It is noteworthy to see that love is first described in Scripture between a father and a son. As the theme of love unfolds in Scripture, the readers will see the archetype of love culminates in the love that God has for His one and only Son whom He will offer as a lamb to be slain for many. How fitting it is to see this type of love described in the life of Abraham as a shadow of this type of love (John 15:13).

The Theme of Faith – Faith is the very thing that the Holy Spirit gives us in order to believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8). Faith has always been the key element in what saves a person and what is interesting is both Paul and James appeal to this very narrative to make their point about justification by faith and justification by works (Jas. 2:21-24; Rom. 3:28; 4:3). Furthermore, Abraham is listed as the greatest man in the hall of faith in the book of Hebrews and is given the most space in this chapter because of the faith he had in God to work out this test for God’s glory and his good (Heb. 11:17; John 8:56). 

The Theme of Obedience – All throughout scripture one will begin to see that without obedience, God will not rain down blessing upon His people. In fact, if God’s children are disobedient; judgement, chastisement, and the cutting off of the covenantal promises are seen in Scripture. Abrahams obedience is crucial here in this test and we see Abraham pass with flying colors never questioning God and he even wakes up in the early morning to go to accomplish this task that God has given him (Gen. 22:3). 

The Theme of Sacrifice – The theme of sacrifice is the highlight and purpose of this entire text. This sacrifice will be the epicenter in which God will later lay down the sacrificial laws to Israel to atone for their sins by the sacrifice of animals. This will be a picture or a type to make way for the future archetype, Jesus Christ, who will be the final sacrifice. What I love the most about this particular text in Genesis 22, is Abraham tells his son that God will provide a lamb for this sacrifice, but yet instead, God provides a ram. The narrator is pointing us that in the future, God will provide His lamb which will be His Son Jesus to be the sacrifice for the world (John 1:29; 3:16).

So, there you have it, one of the hardest texts in all of scripture to swallow but yet as one looks at it closely, it provides us with the greatest picture we can possibly see about faith, obedience, love, testing, and sacrifice. What glorious truths we find in God’s Word!

Paul's Faith vs Jame's Works

Paul's Faith vs Jame's Works

Is there a contradiction in the Bible? Some would argue and say, “Yes” there is one that I know of and it is that of Paul and James. Paul says, “ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28) and also “Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). James says something which seems completely opposite of Paul and says, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone [italics added] (James 2:21-24). So, the question, is a man justified by works or by faith?

What is amazing about these two men is that they both appeal to Abraham as their evidence of the point they are trying to make! Paul points out that salvation and justification is by faith alone and references Genesis 15:6 where James on the other hand points to the proof of that salvation in testing referring to Genesis 22:1. “The issue is the test: was Abraham's faith the living kind of faith that produces the obedience of faith or the dead kind that has no effect on life” (Piper, 1999). Paul taught the same proof of salvation being that the evidence is love (Galatians 5:6). John Calvin said, “It appears certain that [James] is speaking of the manifestation, not of the imputation of righteousness (Beveridge, 1966).

Paul’s point is that salvation is not earned by works and James point is the proof of salvation can be manifested and made know by your works. These two are not contradictory, but rather complementary. Just because one has lip service towards Christ does not mean that person is saved. A truly regenerated person will honor Christ with his lips but also back up his faith with love and works. This was simply the point James is trying to drive home that just because a person says he is a Christian does not mean anything! Even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19). “Genuine trust involves not merely the mind but the whole person. Paul and James agree that authentic trust in Christ results in good works” (Elwell, & Yarbrough, 2013; Eph. 2:10; 1 Thess. 1:3).

McQuilkin and Copan (2014) sum up this difference beautifully, “The difference between Paul and James consists in the sequence of works and conversion: Paul denies that works have any merit for acceptance in God’s eyes before conversion; James is pleading for the absolute necessity of post-conversion works” (p. 166).

Paul and James or not contradictory but rather complementary on this issue. 

References

Beveridge, H. (1966) John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 3:17:12. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2: 115.

Elwell, W. A., & Yarbrough, R. W. (2013).Encountering the New Testament: A historical and theological survey(3rd ed.). Grand Rapids: MI. Baker Academic.

McQuilkin, R., & Copan, P. (2014). An introduction to Biblical ethics: Walking in the way of wisdom (Third ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 

Piper, J. (2018). Does James contradict Paul? Retrieved from https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/does-james-contradict-paul

Eternal Life

Eternal Life

“If a man dies, shall he live again” (Job 14:14 English Standard Version)? Eternal life has always been the question of humanity since the beginning of days. Death is the ultimate fear I believe in a man's heart, and it is natural for one to want to live forever. As we read through the Bible, many people have this same question in the New Testament. A rich ruler comes to Jesus and asks Him how he can obtain eternal life (Luke 18:18), the Philippian jailer asked Paul how can I be saved (Acts 16:30), and Nicodemus asked Jesus how does one become born again (John 3:4)?

Salvation means deliverance from the power and effects of sin (Barry, et al., 2016). It is a FREE, gracious undeserved gift from God and it is a gift that if we receive it by faith and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior then we have the promise from God that we are going to Heaven. Another way to put it is to have eternal life with our Savior.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:4-9; Acts 4:12). How does one obtain this salvation or eternal life with God? To simply put it, one must put their faith and trust in Christ and believe in the Gospel message (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10). The message is this; God created humanity to be perfect, but man fell by disobeying God and sinned (Genesis 3). This sin has separated us from a perfect and Holy God (Isaiah 59:2). No one is good, and all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23 & James 2:10).

To be reconciled to a holy and perfect God, atonement must be provided. That atonement can only be given by someone who has lived a perfect life and can substitute Himself to take the punishment of our sins upon Himself. This person who has done this is Jesus Christ, the God-man. He is the only one who could bore our punishment and die in our place that we would have life and be reconciled unto God (Isaiah 53:5; John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:20). One must believe in Jesus’ birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection to be saved (1 Corinthians 15:3-11). John Calvin put it this way, not only do we have to have knowledge of something and agree with that knowledge, but we must also trust it with our lives (1536/1845). Just because you have information about something and even agree with it doesn’t mean anything. You have to put your faith and trust into that belief. We read in scripture that even the demons believe and tremble, but we know they are not going to inherit eternal life with God (James 2:19). Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this” (John 11:25-26)? It is putting our faith and trust in Jesus’s work by which one can be saved and gain eternal life. Faith is to have self-denial and trust is surrendering your life to Christ to be selflessness (Merrick, 2015). The Gospel can be summarized beautifully by explaining the three R’s: rescue, redemption, and renewal (“Lecture 5,” 2017).

Regarding other worldviews, Christianity stands on its own. Many other faiths believe that you are granted eternal life by your good works. These good works have to outweigh your wicked works, and then one will be able to gain eternal life. Other faiths believe that once you die you just become one with God and there are even some worldviews which do not even believe that eternal life exists. Hinduism offers liberation, Islam offers mercy, and Buddhism offers peace (Lamca, 2015). These other worldviews only offer good advice, but Christianity offers good news (“Lecture 5,” 2017)! Christianity not only gives humanity a way of salvation, but it is also the only worldview that even offers salvation (Migliore, 2004). In Summary, how does one gain eternal life? Here are some key scriptures I think that helps define this question:

1. Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

2. John says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).

3. Peter said, “Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus” (Acts 3:19-20).

4. Paul said, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

References

Barry, J. D., Bomar, D., Brown, D. R., Klippenstein, R., Mangum, D., Sinclair Wolcott, C., … Widder, W. (Eds.). (2016). In the Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Calvin, J. (1845). Of faith. The definition of it. It's peculiar properties. In H. Beveridge (Trans.), Institutes of the Christian Religion (Vol. 3). Retrieved from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.iii.html. (Original work published in 1536).

Lecture 5. (2015). CWV-101: Christian Worldview. Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon University.

Merrick, J. (2015). The wisdom and power of God. In A. DiVincenzo (Ed.), The beginning of wisdom: An introduction to Christian thought and life. Available from http://lc.gcumedia.com/cwv101/the-beginning-of-wisdom-an-introduction-to-christian-thought-and-life/v2.1/#/chapter/6

Migliore, D. L. (2004). Faith seeking understanding: An introduction to Christianity (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Lamca, C. (2015). Intellectual obstacles to wisdom. In A. DiVincenzo (Ed.), The beginning of wisdom: An introduction to Christian thought and life. Available from http://lc.gcumedia.com/cwv101/the-beginning-of-wisdom-an-introduction-to-christian-thought-and-life/v2.1/#/chapter/8