“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed.” Romans4:16
In the letter of Paul to the Romans there is a tremendous testimony to the faith of Abraham, one which illustrates the fundamental quality of the faith that God will certainly honor. Paul writes: “He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” (4:20) Why is it that Abraham, who had no Bible, no church, no “congregration of believers” surrounding him, though he did have some of like mind, enable him to come to the place of believing God without doubting? James, in his epistle, speaks of the same quality of faith with regard to prayer: “…but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (1:6) Both James and Abraham were characterized by a faith that was not a staggering, or wavering faith? How can this be? Is this not fulness of faith the calling to all true believers? What is the secret?
The first element of unwavering faith is the object of faith, and one’s grasp of who God truly is. We do not know exactly how the Lord revealed Himself to Abram, when he lived in Mesopotamia, in a family whose patriarch was an idolater. What we do know is that God spoke to him, and that Abram recognized to a certain extent who He truly was. This is seen by the reaction of Abram to the words of the Lord, who told him: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.” (Acts7:3) The result of Christ’s revelation of Himself to Abram resulted in an obedience to leave all that he knew, in order to venture out to a place that he had never seen, and this ONLY according to the words of the Lord. So, for Abram, that which was the beginning of his faith, was the response to the revelation that God gave to him of Himself. Throughout the life of Abram, whose name was changed by God to Abraham, the issue of the revelation of Christ to him was allways central, even the very basis for his faith. The more that Abram saw, and understood of the nature and person of Christ, the more he believed. Also, greater implications of the calling of God were revealed to him. Did Abram exert perfect faith in the beginning of his walk with God? No. He failed several times, if not many. But the Lord was determined to make a man of faith of him, so that the entire world would be blessed. God never forsook him, but kept him, lifted him up when he fell, and encouraged him to go forward. One thing that is very noticeable in God’s dealings with Abraham, in making of him a man of faith, and that is the gradual bringing of Abraham to trust absolutely in the faithfulness of God. What does this mean, and how does it work out in the life?
The Apostle Paul answers this question of the progression towards an “unstaggering” faith, when he writes: “And being FULLY persuaded that, what He (God) had promised, He was able also to perform.” (Romans 4:21) What was it that brought Abraham to the undeniable certainty that what God promised, He was able to perform? It was the discovery that God was absolutely faithful, and that there was not only no dissonance between God’s word and His nature, but that when He spoke, He could only speak the truth. He could not lie. Now the enemy to faith is Satan, whom Jesus called: “the father of lies.” But this is not true of God. Abraham was brought face to face, by revelation, with the Lord Jesus Christ, who was absolute truth, and absolutely faithful. Thus, Abraham came to believe God above and beyond ALL that he saw, thought, or felt.
Dear Father, Reveal Thyself to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.