The Objects of Faith

ACCORDING to the following Scripture, God called Abraham in sovereign grace:

And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.” – Joshua 24:2-3.

Man had utterly failed after the flood of Noah, and God now abandons the nations and gives them up to themselves. He steps aside to choose one man in sovereign grace. Through him, his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, He begins an entirely new work. Through Abraham and his seed He is to give the revelation of His will in the Scriptures, and out of Abraham and his seed is to come the Savior.

Now you have to remember and understand that the story of Abraham was given to us to illustrate God’s plan of salvation. It is far more than just the history of a man and his descendants, interesting as that may be. In Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, who with their descendants dominate the entire Bible, we have a revelation of the message of the grace of God. In the last article/post we quoted Romans 8:28 and 29 and pointed out that God has determined and predestinated every believer in the Lord Jesus, the Father is directing the chosen’s steps, and that before God is through with them, He is going to make them just like the character and nature of Jesus. God never will stop until He accomplishes that purpose. God seems to be saying, “I’m not going to leave a single stone unturned, I’m not going to leave a thing undone, even though it may mean pain and tragedy and suffering and tears and heartbreak and bereavement and death, or even the judgment seat of Christ, until you My chosen become like my Son.” This purpose is fixed and this destiny is determined beforehand. That is the meaning of the word “predestinate.”