Romans 4:16 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.
1.THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY
a) Why are we studying this? – Because Paul uses Abraham as an example for us, and many people use these passages to teach covenant & replacement theology.
b) When faced with difficult passages, always be sure you are clear on the basics first – Rom 16:25, Eph 3:1-5, Col 1:25-27, 1Tim 1:12-16.
c) Clear passages on why the Body of Christ cannot replace Israel and how they are different:
i. A covenant given to the nation - Gen 28:12-16, Exo 32:1-14, Exo 19:5-6, Lev 26:40-46, Deut 5:1-3, Judges 2:1-4.
ii. The new covenant given to the nation of Israel – Ezekial 36:22-32, 37:19-28, Jer 31:31-37, Heb 8:6-13.
iii. Pauls says Israel was given the covenants – Rom 9:4, Eph 2:12.
iv. We have salvation today… but “Israel shall be saved” – 1Cor 15:1-4, 2Tim 1:9, Titus 3:5……. Rom 11:25-27, Act 1:6, 3:19, Heb 4:11, 1Pet 1:3-11.
d) The issues – Paul says Abraham and Sarah was our father and mother, Abraham tithed to Melchisedec before the law, Paul says the promise was to the “Seed” singular, speaking of Christ….. People take all this and say we fulfill the new covenant and are the children of Abraham, we should tithe, we replace Israel…..We need to be clear on what the scripture teaches about these things.
2. WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURES?
a) Paul says this 3 times and 2 of them is when he is dealing with Abraham/faith/promise – Rom 4:3, Gal 4:30.
b) Paul deals with this teaching in Romans 4 and Galatians 3-4. The plan is to study these chapters in their context so that we can understand what Paul is teaching. We will also cover James 2 and Hebrews 7 and several OT passages
c) This is our goal of this study, to understand what the scriptures say. First, we need to know what the Bible says about Abraham.
3. Faithful Abraham
a) Our introduction to Abram – Genesis 11:26-31.
i. Abram was brought out of Ur of the Chaldees – Gen 15:7, Num 9:7,
ii. He had a brother named Nahor who was the grandfather of Rebekah – Gen 22:20-23, 24:1-10, 15.
b) Abram called out and given a promise from God (Gen 12:1-9) Abram goes to Egypt and lies about Sarai being his wife (Gen 12:10-20.
c) Abram and Lot separate (Gen 13:1-13) Abram given promise of the land again (Gen 13:14-18)
d) War made against Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot taken captive, Abram rescues him (Gen 14)
e) Abram’s faith counted as righteousness (Gen 15:1-6) God confirms his promise and makes a covenant (Gen 15:7-21)
f) Sarai give her handmaid Hagar as a wife to Abram and she conceives and bears a son named Ishmael (Gen 16)
g) God makes a covenant with Abram and Sarai’s seed (Isaac), Abram’s name changed to Abraham. Sarai’s name changed to Sarah. (Gen 17)
h) God gives Abraham and Sarah a timeline of when to expect the child (Gen 18:1-15) God tells Abraham that he is going to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. (Gen 18:16-33)
i) The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19) Abraham deceives Abimelech saying Sarah is his sister (Gen 20)
j) Isaac is born (Gen 21:1-8) Ishmael and Hagar sent away (Gen 21:9-21) Abraham and Abimelech make a covenant with one another (Gen 21:22-34)
k) (Gen 22) God test Abraham instructing him to kill Isaac, Abraham obeys because he has faith, God establishes his promise to Abraham swearing by himself (Gen 22:16-17)
l) Sarah dies and Abraham buries her in a cave of the field of Machpelah (Gen 23)
m) (Gen 24) Abraham send his servant to find a wife for Isaac. (Gen 25) Abraham remarries, has more children, then dies – (Gen 25:1-8).
