David Bahn – Reflections

Hebrews 11:17-22

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ¹⁹  He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. ²⁰ By faithIsaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph,bowing in worship over the head of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

What promise from God compelled Abraham to obey when God called him to sacrifice Isaac? God told Abraham to take Isaac, his son, his only son, and sacrifice him on the mountain God would show him. (The whole story is found in Genesis 22; it is truly worth reading.) God did not say, “Go and get ready to offer Isaac and I’ll give you and him a last minute reprieve; you’ll not have to go through with it.” But God had promised that Isaac would be the one to carry on Abraham’s line (Genesis 21:12). Abraham held onto that promise for all Isaac’s life. Abraham believed God could do more through his obedience to the most radical command of God than he could save by refusing to obey.

This is the serious business of faith. We tend to think of faith as only a passive receiving mechanism. We receive the gift of salvation through faith. We embrace the promises of God through faith. But faith is clearly more: it is the substance of living obedience. It is foolish to say, “I have faith,” and refuse to obey God. It is silly to think of faith as the means by which we receive the promises of God while refusing to align our lives to those promises.

Faith is a serious undertaking. While it is a gift of the Holy Spirit – something we cannot muster up on our own – it is also an act of the regenerate will. In other words the interplay between God’s work in our hearts and our active involvement in that work is an elegant dance. Thus the admonition, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Galatians 2:12-13). God calls for faith and gives it all at once. We don’t gin it up; we embrace the promise. Embracing the promise always involves action. Sometimes that action is heroic (Abraham and Isaac).  More often the action is much more common, though no less challenging: forgive an offense, repair a broken relationship, resist temptation. These are works of faith and we are called to the serious business of faithful living every day.

Our faith may not be perfect, but we have one who perfectly embraced the goodness and faithfulness of God. Jesus did that for us, and sends us the Holy Spirit so that we may embrace his forgiveness when we fail and live in his grace and power through obedient faithfulness each day.