The other day I asked that Bible program to do a search for the words “the … of Abraham.” I inserted a wildcard symbol in the statement and set it in motion. In less than a second it gave me forty references to thirty-nine verses. Then I made a comparison of those references.
I found that the most common reference was to “the GOD of Abraham.” If you stop and think about it, that is a wonderful set of words. It is a great and wonderful thing for anyone to be called “a CHILD of God” or “a saint of GOD.” But consider the tremendous honour to have it said that Jehovah is “the GOD of us.” If it wasn’t Biblical statement it would be blasphemous, because it almost elevates the man above God. What would it mean if two acquaintances were talking together and one of them said, “The God of David Oldfield has promised him eternal life.” “The God of Lee Knowles created the universe.” “The God of Shirley Little is more gracious and kind than the god of Osama bin Laden.” “The God of Jason Byre is eternal and unchangeable.” It is a prodigious blessing to be identified with God, but the practical blessings are almost better when God is identified with us. Such was the case of Abraham – more than a dozen times.
Other answers to my search spoke about “the FAITH of Abraham” and “the BLESSING of Abraham.” There were references to “the SEED of Abraham,” “the CHILDREN of Abraham,” and other statements of that sort. But it never said anything about the subject of our morning’s message – the VOCABULARY of Abraham.
In our Sunday School class over the last month, I’ve mentioned something about which I have been curious. What language did Adam speak, and what language did the Lord use when he spoke to Adam? When the Lord talked with Adam in the Garden was it in some sort of human language received with ears as well as the heart and mind? Or was it something which the Lord communicated directly to the heart of the man without the use of other means? If it was with human language, was it Hebrew, or was it something completely different and lost today? Was it an Heavenly language which we will automatically know when we awake in our glorified bodies? And then, did Noah speak the same language as Adam, when he came off the Ark with this three sons? At Babel, when the Lord confounded the languages, did He create new languages for everyone, or did the family of Seth get to maintain the ancient language of Eden? And when did each of the subdivisions of the three families of Noah obtain their distinct languages? Was it immediate, or did those changes occur over time? I think that these are interesting and fascinating questions, but perhaps never to be fully answered. The reason that I bring this up, is because of some of the vocabulary of our scripture here in Romans.
There are two basic religions in our world, and they have been around since before Abraham. There is the religion of man as he tries to rebel against the Lord. And there is the religion of God who graciously saves sinners and permits man to fellowship with him. Even though there is an overlap of vocabulary between those two religions, there is a distinct dictionary possessed by each. The Lord’s religion tries very hard to guarantee the definition of each of its special words, but the religion of man and Satan often redefines those words in order to make their doctrine as deceptive as possible. For example, “salvation” is a word dear to the heart of the Christian, but lots of false religions use that word too. And what are “justification” or “conversion” to a Roman Catholic or Mormon? Are they what Paul meant them to be? Unfortunately, even the saints of God are guilty of redefinition when it comes to Biblical terminology. Many Christians, in their attempt to appease the world, try to modify or ameliorate words that are offensive to the unbeliever. This is not only foolish and wrong, it is wicked and blasphemous.
Our message this morning will not be particularly memorable and exciting, but I hope that it will be helpful.
But as the faith of Abraham and Jacob evolved into the religion of the Jews, their definition and use of God’s Law evolved as well – or perhaps we should say “devolved.” In some ways, in the minds of Israel, the Law began to replace the God who first gave it. Rather than worshiping the Lord with all their hearts, strength and minds, they began to elevate the Law. Rather than humbly looking towards the Lord’s holiness in faith and trust, they began looking toward all of God’s rules and regulations, but they did so with pride in their meager accomplishments.
By the time that the Lord Jesus came into the world, the religion of man had become fully established. Christ told people that the rabbis were correctly teaching the Law – but applying it incorrectly. Matthew 23 – “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
Without going any further, let’s remember what Paul has already said about the Law. Romans 3:20 – “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The law is holy, just and good, but it was never designed to replace God or enable a sinner to become god. The law was given to man to prove his sinfulness in order that he might turn to the Lord in faith and repentance – as Abraham and David did.
Another word which applies to the religion of man and Satan is found in Romans 4:15. “The law worketh WRATH: for where no law is, there is no transgression.” Of course there isn’t a month that passes when today’s servants of God don’t use that word “wrath.” After all, it is found over 200 times in the Bible. And Paul uses it about a dozen times in this book. Romans 1:18 – “For the WRATH of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” Romans 2:5 – “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself WRATH against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Romans 2:8 – “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and WRATH.” Romans 5:9 – “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from WRATH through him.”
If the word “wrath” is often preached in all of the Lord’s churches, why do I say that it doesn’t apply to the religion of Abraham and David? It’s because it doesn’t apply to Abraham and David or to their religion. It must be expounded and declared by the preacher of righteousness, but it doesn’t apply to the righteous. In writing to the saints of God in Thessalonica, Macedonia, Paul described them this way: “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which DELIVERED us from the WRATH to come.” God’s saints – those who have been born-again, converted – saved – have been DELIVERED from wrath. In Ephesians 5 Paul wrote – “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” Then he described a number of horrendous sins. He concluded this thought by saying – “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the WRATH of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.”
“Wrath” is a word which needs to be preached loud and often, but it is a word which applies unrepentant sinners and to their false religion. And we might say that same sort to thing about the word “transgression” in the same verse. “The law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.” Transgression of God’s law and holiness needs to be exposed, so that we can move on to the kind of vocabulary that properly belongs to David and Abraham.
As I said earlier, God’s good and proper terms are often employed by false prophets and Satan’s emissaries. For example, Roman Catholicism likes to speak of “grace,” but it’s not with the Lord’s definition. “Sacrament” is a term coined by Catholicism and still used in many of her Protestant children. My dictionary defines a sacrament as “a visible form of an invisible grace.” The definition that I grew up with is “a sacrament is a means of grace.” There are several “sacraments” including marriage, baptism and communion. It is believed in many human religions that through these church rites, the recipient or participant is doing things to earn or receive the grace of God. Unfortunately, these poor, deluded people have no inclination that their definition of “grace” is exactly, 180 degrees, opposite to God’s definition. There is no such thing as a “means” to grace; there is no way to earn grace, to merit grace, or to encourage God to give grace. This is one of the great themes of this portion of God’s word. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” “Now to him that turns to sacraments and other means of grace “is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.”
Grace is a word which belongs only to the vocabulary of God, and Abraham learned that language by faith. And “faith” is another of the terms properly used only by the spiritual children of Abraham. “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.”
Faith is not a work, an accomplishment, an exploit or something in which anyone can boast. Faith and pride are mutually exclusive, In fact, faith is very often a humbling thing. I suppose that someone may express joy in regards to faith, but it’s not really joy in that faith but rather in what the Lord does because of that faith. It might be likened to a bright sunny day during a January cold snap with the temperature at a minus 5 degrees. It might be pretty, and we might rejoice, but if it doesn’t make us warm, it loses most of its purpose. Faith is nothing unless the Lord warms, regenerates and reactivates our hearts. Faith is the means through which we enjoy the gifts of God’s grace. Faith doesn’t enlist, entice, enable or enroll the sinner in grace – through it we enjoy that grace.
Another of the great words of Abraham’s vocabulary was “promise.” “For the PROMISE, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the PROMISE made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the PROMISE might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.” To Abraham were given great and precious promises – unconditional covenants. That isn’t to say that the wicked and unbelievers don’t have divine promises. But their promises are not great and precious. They have promises of judgment and condemnation; damnation with fire and brimstone. Those are not words to be used to frighten people into obedience to the laws of human religion. Those are the promise of God to all who will not repent of their sin and cast themselves down before the Lord. Those are promises repeated over and over again throughout the Word of God. But usually we don’t use the word “promise” when it comes to evil or bad things – more appropriate is the word “commitment” or something like that.
But for the spiritual children of Abraham there are dozens of sweet and unconditional promises. Peter introduced his Second Epistle by speaking of these things: “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious PROMISES: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Paul even gave the Holy Spirit the title “Spirit of Promise” because that is how important this is to the overall plan and will of the Lord. Ephesians 1:11 – “In (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
“Promise” was a major word in the vocabulary of Abraham as it should be in ours. And so was “righteousness.” “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the RIGHTEOUSNESS of faith.” Righteousness is a state moral and spiritual uprightness – in other words – a sinless condition. The Lord is holy and righteous – sinless and separated from sin. But by nature man is a sinner and totally unrighteous – just the opposite of God. Anything that he possesses which he considers to be righteous is, in fact, as corrupt as a filthy rag. “There is none righteous, no, not one,” except the Lord, of course. This is one area where the religion of man is contrary to God – it is forced to accept unrighteousness.
But this is where God’s salvation comes into the equation. In the religion of man we might all be described as “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” And “what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
The language of God, language of Abraham and the spiritual children of Abraham, includes such words as “grace,” “faith” and “righteousness.” Is this the kind of language that you speak? Or perhaps a more appropriate question might be: are the things represented by these words found in you? “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Repent of your personal religion – and your sin. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”