The Grace in Which We Stand (Rom. 5:1-11)

The Grace in Which We Stand

(Rom. 5:1-11)

The work of salvation has been accomplished only by Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection. It is our faith in Christ, what we know and believe about Jesus from the scriptures, that has changed us from sinner to saint. That salvation that God chose to reveal to us, has changed our condition from the condemned nature of a sinner to that of an accepted child of God. It is Jesus Christ alone that has made this possible. It is nothing we have done, it is awesome power of God through Jesus Christ that has saved us. It is God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that has saved us. Today, we will explore “the grace in which we stand”.

I. Justified (declared righteous) v. 1a - “Therefore, having been justified by faith”.

The term “justification” means to be declared righteous. How is it that we who are unrighteous (sinful) can be declared righteous? Well, a good clue to this is that it says here that we are declared righteous by faith. We are declared righteous by our faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior. The reason I know this is that the word “therefore” here in verse 1 is referring to something that Paul has already mentioned previously. And if we look at chapter 4, in the final verses we can understand how we are justified by faith. The whole chapter talks about how Abraham was justified (declared righteous) by his faith in the promises of God (Rom. 4:3 - “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” and 4:9 - “For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness”). Abraham put his faith into the revealed plan of salvation God showed him in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:8 - “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand”). We just like Abraham are justified when we put our faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. If we look at the final verses of chap. 4 we can understand that better, 4:20,22-25 - “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God; And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification”. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins by His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Is 53:4-5 says this about Christ, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed”; this shows the work of justification by Christ's death. Dr. John MacArthur wrote in his commentary on Romans, that through the work of justification by Christ: “God credits the believer's sin to Christ's account, He can credit Christ's righteousness to the believer's account. God could not have justly credited righteousness to Abraham had not Abraham's sin, like every believer's sin, been paid for by the sacrifice of Christ's own blood. Before the cross, the believer's sin was paid in anticipation of Christ's atoning sacrifice, and since the cross the believer's sin has been paid in advance”. This is how we are justified (declared righteous), by faith in Jesus' finished work of salvation. “Faith is never the basis or the reason for justification, but only the channel through which God works His redeeming grace. Faith is simply a convicted heart reaching out to receive God's free and unmerited gift of salvation”. ---John MacArthur.

II. Peace with God. v.1b - “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Because we are justified by faith, we can now have peace with God through Jesus Christ. This peace is something we possess at the very moment we put our faith in Christ. This peace comes from the fact that we are saved and justified in Christ. The fact of the matter is that when we were lost sinners, we were hostile and against God; we were enemies (Rom 8:7 - “the carnal (sinful, fleshly) mind is enmity (hostile) against God”. Because we have been justified by Christ, we now have peace with God. We are now reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, v.10 - “when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”. Jesus took upon Himself the full force of God's fury on the cross, that we as sinful humanity should have deserved. Because of our sinfulness we were against God, we were His enemies and undeserving of His grace and mercy he showed us through His Son. All of us who trust in Christ as Lord are no longer enemies of God and under His wrath, we are now at peace with Him through Christ (Col. 1:19-22 - “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight”). Being reconciled to God will bring peace with God. Because we are justified by faith, the immediate consequence of that justification is peace (reconciliation) with God. This peace or reconciliation has been made forever between the believer and God. We are eternally at peace with God. We cannot fall out of favor with God because we saved, justified, and reconciled because of what Christ has done in our behalf, by His death and resurrection.

Christ not only brings peace to the believer but “He Himself is our peace (Eph. 2;14)”. The knowledge that we have peace with God should strengthen our assurance that we are eternally secure in Christ.

III. This grace in which we stand. v.2 - “through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

from what we have looked at, we can understand that because we have been reconciled to the Father through trusting the Son we have access into that grace in which we stand. Before we put our faith in Christ, sin denied us access to God. Sin would prevent us from ever enjoying the presence of God, from ever hoping to have salvation, and from ever having a true relationship with Him. The believer can now approach God because of what Christ has done for us. Our standing (our position) with God has changed through Christ. Once unrighteous but now righteous in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21 - “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”). This standing in the grace of God never changes even though our circumstances on this world change daily our position of salvation in Christ does not change. Nothing can change it, nothing can take us out of God's hand of salvation (John 10:28-29 - “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand”). The grace in which we stand shows us the completeness and fulfillment of Christ's salvation (Phil. 1:6 - “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”). The act of saving us, of keeping us saved, and completion of salvation is solely in the hands of the One who has provided that salvation. We are incapable by our strength or our will power or by our good works to save ourselves; we do not have the strength or power to do so. It says in 5:6, “when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”. We are utterly and totally and completely dependent on Christ to save us and to keep us saved. Once we are standing in the grace we can never leave that place. What we can do is begin to live and operate in grace. Another thing we can do is to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. The hope that we receive from being in God's grace is not a wishful hope of this world but that know so assurance of hope in God. Knowing that once we are in His grace through faith in Christ, we are eternally in His hand of grace. It says in Col. 1:13, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed (transferred, translated) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”. By awesome power of God through the saving power of Christ we are now declared righteous in Christ, reconciled to the Father, and permanently standing in God's grace. Now that should be grounds for us to glorify and rejoice in our God. But the question I want to leave you with today is this, are you standing in grace today? Do you have the joy of knowing the God of this universe through a saving relationship with His Son Jesus Christ? If not, today you can enter into His grace through faith in Christ.

Hell: Warning to the Wicked (Rich Man and Lazarus: Luke 16:19-31)

Hell: Warning to the Wicked

(Rich Man and Lazarus: Luke 16:19-31)

Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”. We all have an appointment with our eternal destiny and it’s determined where we will go on this side of the grave. Last week we looked at Heaven and the great wonders and reward of that place for the redeemed of God. Today, we will talk about the eternal punishment for those who have rejected the salvation of our Lord. The place of eternal punishment is Hell and Jesus taught more on Hell than any other teacher or preacher or prophet in the Bible. Jesus taught about Hell more than He did on love. Today we look at this passage with a solemn heart and read this warning to the wicked.

I. Two men (vv. 19-21 - “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores".)

A. The rich man - a nameless rich man clothed in the finest garments and lived in the most luxurious surroundings. He had all that he could desire and lacked nothing.

B. Lazarus, the poor beggar - homeless, hungry, diseased, friendless. He was laid at the rich man’s gate so that he might receive the scraps that were left from the rich man’s table. His only friends were the dogs that came and licked his sores.

C. The differences - The beliefs of that day, particularly of the Pharisees, was that those of earthly blessings were those who had the favor of God and the poor and sick were those who were receiving the punishment of God and were sinful. So Lazarus was seen as a sinful man suffering for his sins and the rich man was being blessed by God. Being rich doesn’t mean your righteous and being poor doesn’t mean your pious. Rich or poor has nothing to do with the condition of your soul. Being rich or being poor has nothing to do really with this passage but how the choices on this side of the grave will affect our eternal destiny. That’s the real principle of this passage.

The rich man passed by Lazarus every time that he left his house and did nothing to relieve this man’s suffering (Deut. 15:7 - "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother"), what he did was a direct violation of scripture and it showed the true condition of his heart; he had no regard for the law of God or the condition of his fellow man.

II. Two Destinations (vv. 22-23 - “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”)

A. Death finds both (v.22) - We all will face death (Heb. 9:27 - …it is appointed unto men once to die…), no one is exempt when it comes to death. However rich or powerful you are on this earth, no matter your social status, we all face an appointment with death. Death doesn’t discriminate or care how much or how little you have. We see that both of these men experience death, but the difference we see is their destination after death.

B. Beggar finds the Bosom of Abraham(Heaven) (v.22) - the beggar finds himself in the comfort and reward of Heaven. He wasn’t rich in the things of this world but was rich in God (James 2:5 - Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?). The poor beggar was rich in the things of God and found his reward in Heaven. We find the treasure of eternal life in the Father through faith in the Son.

C. Rich man finds himself in Hell (v.23) - the rich man received the just reward for a life without God. This is the reward for those who reject the Gospel of Christ and the salvation of God. The rich man had all that he desired on this earth and neglected the condition of his soul. He laid up treasure on earth and was not rich towards God. He was spiritually bankrupt and found himself suffering in Hell.

III. The Reality of Hell (vv.23-26 - “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”)

A. Why did Jesus teach so much about Hell?- The answer is found in this verse, 2 Peter 3:9b - ‘[God is] not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’; Jesus taught about Hell to warn mankind about the reality of eternal punishment in Hell. Jesus warns men because He loves them. We are all called to tell men about the good news of the Gospel and also called to warn man about the bad news of Hell. This is our responsibility and it should even more motivate us to tell a sinful world about the salvation of our souls through Jesus Christ. We would not even believe in such a place if Jesus had not repeatedly taught and warned about it. He spoke of hell more than anyone else in the Bible, and for a good reason. People probably wouldn't listen if anybody else tried to teach about hell. Christ had to be the one who taught about hell. We cannot conceive of eternal damnation. Christ emphasized hell in His preaching. If you don't think that is true, then you haven't paid attention to His ministry. Let me give you some examples from scripture where He teaches about hell.

1. MATTHEW 5:22, 29-30

Read what Jesus said about hell in Matthew 5: In verse 22, He said, "...whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." He then said in verses 29-30, "...if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."

2. MATTHEW 8:12

Here, He said that "the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

3. MATTHEW 11:20-24

"Then began He to upbraid the cities in which most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not." Jesus condemned people who did not repent of their sin and said they would go to hell (vv. 21-24). Those were serious words from our Lord.

4. MATTHEW 12:36-37

Jesus said, "But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

The Lord constantly taught about hell. He talked about it in Matthew 23:14-15, 33; 25:29-30, 41, 46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 6:24- 26; and 12:5. Also, here in Luke 16, where he gives us a little description from the condemned’s point of view. Preachers and teachers today must not ever forget to teach about Hell. It cannot be ignored or forgotten or denied. But people don't do that today. It is convicting that we say so little about hell. The truth about hell is so terrifying and awesome that if the Lord had not taught about hell, we would not believe it existed.

B. Description of Hell

1. Place of unending torment and misery - in verse 23a it says that he was conscious and in torment. He was alive and aware of his misery for what he had done to be there. We suffer here on this earth but we know that suffering and pain will cease either by healing or death. But in hell the torment and misery will never cease. If we knew we had a million years to suffer for sins we would have a comfort of knowing that one day it would end, but in hell it is an eternal punishment without hope of ever ending.

A. It is a place of darkness (Matt. 8:12 - But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; Matt. 22:13- Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.) Darkness that is utterly total and complete. It emphasizes the eternal separation of the unsaved from God’s presence of mercy and grace. It gives the understanding of their torment of their hopelessness and helplessness. The closest example I could give is when I went on a tour of a cave and at the end of the trail there was a place where we sat down and the lights were turned off. There was a total absence of light and I could see absolutely nothing. But this is only a small degree of the darkness of Hell.

B. It is a place of fire and flames (v.24) - Not only was he tormented in the misery and torment of eternal punishment for his sins, he was also tormented in flames of fire. I always wondered how hell could be so utterly dark and yet have flames. There is such a thing as invisible flames and they are invisible due to pure gases igniting it and there are special fire detection equipment made to warn and find it. God uses both darkness and fire to describe the torment of the damned.

The Bible gives us two insights into how people will respond in hell. One is in this passage in Luke 16, where the rich man who went to hell cried, "...Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame" (v. 24). The other is a statement Jesus frequently made, saying that in hell "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mt. 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Lk. 13:28). Hell is not going to be a place of fun; it is going to be a place of weeping, screaming, grinding of teeth, and unrelieved torment.

2. There are no second chances after death (vv.24 -26) - we see the rich man asking for any minor comfort or relief but we see Abraham answering him telling him that he was receiving his just punishment for his sins and even if it were allowed they could not come to him and he could not go to them because of a great gulf fixed between the two. We see in scripture that God is a merciful and loving God who wants to save sinful and condemned mankind, but God is also holy and just so he must punish sin. God gives mankind all the opportunities to receive Christ as Lord and savior through the hearing of the Gospel and putting their faith in Christ on this side of the grave and after death there are no second chances (it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment), when we die we all go to an eternity--will it be eternal life or eternal death.

3. Degrees of punishment - there are different degrees of punishment for the evil that unsaved man does in his life. The unrelieved torment in hell will be experienced by different people in varying degrees. Hell will be horrible for everyone there, but some people will suffer more than others. Hebrews 10:29 says, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant...an unholy thing...." In other words, those who received full knowledge of what Christ did for them but still rejected Him will receive more severe punishment in hell. In Matthew 11, when Jesus condemned the people in the cities that rejected Him, He said, "...it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee" (v. 24). Hell won't be tolerable for anyone, but Jesus was saying that it will appear to be more tolerable for the people of Sodom (who hadn't seen Christ's miracles and heard His words) than for those who had witnessed His miracles and heard His words.

IV. Place to Warn Others About (vv. 27-31 - “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”)

A. Warn Them (vv.27-28)- The rich man asked that Lazarus be sent back to warn his five brothers. The horror of that place was of such enormity that he wanted to warn his brothers so that they would never know this place personally. We as Christians should desire to tell others about Jesus so none of our loved ones or friends would ever go there. The unimaginable horror of that place should sway our hearts to tell everyone about Jesus Christ and his salvation. Never should we ever think or say that anyone should “go to hell!”. We see the urgency and desperation of the rich man that no one should go to hell. We need to be that compelled to tell.

B. Abraham’s reply (vv. 29-31 - “Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”) This reply seems to be harsh but we must see the reality of his statement. God sent his Son to die for our sins on the cross and rose again from the dead so we might have eternal life. When we tell others about this Gospel it is enough given for this world. Romans 1:16-For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. God has given us salvation through the Son and given the world the message of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. God works His powerful conviction by the proclamation of the Gospel. He deals with the heart of unsaved man through it. ‘Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God’. No other way but through hearing the Gospel and putting your faith in Christ.

We must be motivated and compelled to tell someone about Jesus just by understanding there is an eternal punishment in Hell for the lost. We have the answer and the remedy for their sin and their condemnation that is found only in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Sermons from Galatians - Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham (Galatians. 3:6-9)

Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham

(Galatians. 3:6-9)

6/7/09

The theme of Galatians might be summed up this way: we are justified by faith in Christ. Because Paul over and over again tells us in Galatians it is by faith we are saved and not by works. We are saved, justified, reconciled and redeemed by faith in Christ alone. There is no religious works, good deeds, or any human effort that can save us. In this passage today we will see from the scriptures how that we are saved through faith in Christ and not through any external works of the flesh. We will see that the Old Testament saints were saved and justified through faith just as the New Testament saints were. Today we will see that we are only justified by faith.

I. Spiritual Children of Abraham (Gal. 3:6-7 – “just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”) – Paul uses Abraham as an example of a relationship with God through faith. The Judaizers were trying to use Abraham as an example that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised, to take this outward sign, to share in the blessings of Abraham. They were in effect saying that unless they were participating in the religious rituals of the Jews then they were not of the “sons of Abraham”, that they did not have a relationship with God and not truly saved. Just what was the promised blessing God made to Abraham? Genesis 12:2-3 – “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” and Gen. 22:18 – “"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”, through the promised seed, Christ, will all peoples, all tribes, all tongues, and nationalities can be blessed. The Bible says in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham “believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”, this verse is what Paul is quoting to the Galatians 3:6 to refute the false teaching of the Judaizers. Paul was saying that Abraham wasn’t seen as right standing with God because he was circumcised, but that Abraham was justified by his faith in God. It was 14 years after Gen. 15:6 that Abraham was circumcised and that just shows that the external sign of circumcision was not what justified Abraham in the sight of God. Paul in Romans 4:3, 7-10 says this about Abraham being found righteous, 3- “What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."; 7-10- "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!” From the O.T. scriptures Paul shows us that Abraham was found righteous before God because of his faith in God. The Judaizers, like many of the Jews, confused the outward mark of circumcision as a means of salvation. Circumcision was only a sign established by God to identify His chosen people with Him and show their separation from the pagan and idolatrous world around them. Circumcision was only an outward sign and had nothing to do with the spiritual work of salvation and justification. It is almost the same with water baptism is only an outward sign of identification of believers with Christ and not a means of salvation. It only has meaning if you have a salvation relationship with God. The Jews were very proud of that they were the racial offspring of Abraham and because of their physical descent it made them acceptable to God. When the Pharisees made claim that they were the offspring of Abraham to Christ in John 8, He told them that they were of their father the Devil. They had put their trust in the racial heritage and the religious works of Judaism and did not put their faith in God. Jesus put it into perspective just like Paul did, it’s not the result of your physical lineage (family or race or nationality you’re born to) or your religious works, if your faith is not in God then you’re not in the spiritual family of Abraham. Abraham is the spiritual father to anyone who by faith receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that’s what Paul is saying here in Galatians 3:7. Just as Abraham was the example for justification by faith (Rom. 4:3 – "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness”), so we must be like Abraham and believe God by faith to be justified (Rom. 4:5 - But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness).

II. Gospel to Abraham (Galatian 3:8-9, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”) Let’s look at verse 8, it says that the Gospel was preached by God unto Abraham. That’s an unusual statement that Abraham heard the gospel. You see when God revealed Himself to Abraham, He revealed to Abraham the complete fulfillment of that promised blessing, Jesus Christ. For we see that in Gal. 3:16 it says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” God revealed Christ, the crucified Savior, to Abraham and he believed God. If that is hard to believe then let’s look at the very words of Christ in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. You see the O.T. saints and the N.T. saints all had to put their faith in Christ. The promise God made in His covenant to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and one can only be a partaker of those promised blessings by putting their faith in the One who fulfilled the covenant. If you look at Heb. 11 you will see that all the O.T. saints put their faith in Christ, 11:4- By faith Abel, 11: 5- By faith Enoch, 11: 7- By faith Noah, 11: 8- By faith Abraham, 11: 20- By faith Isaac, 11: 21- By faith Jacob, 11:22- By faith Joseph, 11: 23- By faith Moses, etc., we see all these O.T. saints were justified by faith, Heb. 11: 6 sums it up nicely- “But without faith it is impossible to please him (God)”. It doesn’t matter which side of the cross we are on even if it’s before or after Christ came to earth, salvation is found only in the Cross of Calvary. Even though the O.T. saints might not have known the specifics about Jesus, there was enough revealed to them to put their faith in the future sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The O.T. covenant looked forward to the cross while the N.T. covenant proceeds from the cross. Their faith pointed to the cross while ours points back to the cross. It was said of the O.T. saints in Heb. 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises (fulfillment in their lifetime), but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them (believed what God revealed and promised in Christ), and embraced them(faith in Christ produced salvation)”, this verse speaks of their faith in the promise of Christ’s work of salvation and because of this they were justified. We who are under the New Covenant it is said of us in Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”. We are saved, justified, reconciled, and redeemed only through faith in Christ alone. Whether it is from the perspective of looking forward to the cross or whether looking back to the cross, the only thing that matters is that there is the finished work of Christ on the cross. The shed blood of Jesus Christ covers both sides of the Cross. That is what saves us and nothing else.

By looking at the accomplished work of Christ on the cross we that no matter if it was Abraham by faith looking forward in anticipation of Christ or all of us looking back in faith to the Cross, it doesn’t matter where we are at but that we by faith believed in the only One who can save us. Because of Christ being the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and Abraham believing and putting his faith in God for the future fulfillment by his obedience to the command and word of God we can share in the same spiritual blessing with Abraham. That blessing is a personal relationship with God through Christ. And just like Abraham, we are justified by faith.