Faith: What We Learn About it from Abraham

Why is Abraham remembered as a man of great faith in God? The writer of Hebrews mentioned several specific reasons in Hebrews 11. He highlighted Abraham’s faith in verses 8-10, stating that faith compelled the patriarch to obey the Lord. This meant leaving his homeland, traveling to a land previously unfamiliar to him, and living as a foreigner in that land. The writer of Hebrews went on in verse 11 to speak of Sarah’s faith, in verse 12 to highlight the miracle of Isaac’s birth, and in verses 13-16 to affirm the character of those who believed Lord. Then he returned in verses 17-19 to write again about Abraham, indicating that faith made it possible for him to take steps to sacrifice Isaac to God. Abraham even believed God would raise Isaac from the dead to keep his promise to him.

We see in these verses in Hebrews 11 that biblical faith relies on God for one’s past, present, and future. Abraham’s walk of faith parallels that of all Christians.

• Abraham’s faith in God compelled him to obey the Lord and walk away from his past, including his surroundings, his homeland, and everything else he had known up to that point in his life. So, too, does saving faith compel followers of Christ to turn their backs on their past lives (see 2 Cor. 5:17).
• Abraham received God’s promises and obeyed the Lord, even though fulfillment of those promises had not been realized. Note how the writer of Hebrews described the impact of Abraham’s faith on his day-to-day experience: “By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise” (Heb. 11:9). Like Abraham, we as believers also dwell in this world with an awareness that we are foreigners. The apostle Paul reminded the Philippian Christians that “many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, but our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:18-20).
• Abraham trusted God for his future as well. Obeying God, he left behind the familiar to travel to a place God had not yet shown him. He also trusted God to keep His word and give him a son—the very key to all the future blessings God promised. Furthermore, when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham took steps to obey, even believing God would raise Isaac from the dead. Those who have placed their faith in Christ likewise look forward to all God has in store—to the future return of Christ and the coming blessings of heaven, including eternal fellowship with the Savior. Heaven, Paul wrote, is the place “from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).

Saving faith, therefore, compels the believer to place his past, his present, and his future in God’s hands. God, who is eternal, can be fully trusted with each. Abraham wasn’t disappointed, and we won’t be, either!