The Faith of Our Father Abraham

The Old Testament model of faith is the patriarch Abraham, called “the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11). We are commanded to “walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had” (Romans 4:12).

What did Abraham’s faith look like?

The call. The God of glory appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia and commanded him to leave his country, his people, and his father’s house, and go to the country God would show him (Genesis 12:1–3; Joshua 24:2,3). God made seven promises to Abraham, and Abraham took God at his word. As a true disciple, he sacrificed his city life and became a nomad, leaving everything to go to Canaan, a land he had never seen.

The pilgrimage. When he reached Canaan, Abraham lived in a tent as an alien. He refused to go back to Mesopotamia. “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country… For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:9–10).

The birth. God had promised to give Abraham children as countless as the stars in the midnight sky (Genesis 15:5). Again, Abraham trusted God over against circumstances. We are told in Romans 4 that he “faced the fact that his body was as good as dead . . . and that Sarah’s womb was also dead” (v. 19). Nevertheless, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations” (v. 18)

The test. When Isaac was a teenager, God tested Abraham’s faith by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering (Genesis 22). What a dilemma! Every circumstance seemed to weigh against Abraham obeying. And yet he trusted implicitly in the sovereign God who had promised him an heir. “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead” (Hebrews 11:19).

Abraham’s faith was a reasonable, reasoning faith.

Abraham’s faith was saving faith, obedient faith, living faith, vital faith—faith that responds to God in joyful, instant, and exact obedience.

If you would like more on this topic, we recommend Pastor P. G. Mathew’s sermon: “The Fiery Trial of Our Faith.”