Broadlands Bible Church
December 14, 2022
(Download Audio)
Thesis: God's method of dealing with man comes to the critical focus at the issue of faith, part two.
Introduction: Last week we looked into
Ephesians 2:12 and its alignment of "covenants" (plural) under one "promise" (singular), which we claimed is found in
1 John 2:25. We also considered
Romans 4:13-25 as the explanation of "Promise" and "Faith". We mentioned
Hebrews 11:6 as the bottom line in the relationship between God and man.
Now, we are going to pursue the rest of that study in as far as we can.
- I. The Central Focus of Faith: Ephesians 2:12.
- A. The text with its focus upon "the" promise.
- B. The text in the larger context of the biblical summary of the essence of the promise (1 John 2:25).
- C. The text of Romans 4:13-25 in terms of what it says about faith.
- 1. First, it says that God has addressed man...
- a. This means that at the bottom of the pile is the fact that God's method of applying grace to man's condition is to address him...to communicate information aimed in his direction that will enter his brain through his ears in a verbal form.
- b. This compels us to come to this conclusion regarding faith: it is a response to verbal communication from God.
- c. It, then, is not what is so often called faith in our generation: some kind of content-creation that is then wedded to some form of strength of conviction in the mind of man.
- 1) The content is created by God as the Speaker.
- 2) The strength of conviction is created by God as the Speaker Who speaks to man with a certain and comprehensive understanding of what is necessary in the man for the speech to carry the weight of Truth. John's focus in John 1 illustrates how this strength of conviction is presented: The Word is The Infinite God. The strength of conviction is not created by man as the hearer.
- 3) In every instance of faith in the Scriptures, there is a specific God-created content that carries the weight of truth in the mind of the man who is credited with belief.
- a) Abraham is the father of all who believe and the testimony regarding him is that he considered that what God promised, God would accomplish (Romans 4:21).
- b) Elijah is called a man like us who was able to pray and have his request granted by reason of his faith (James 5:17-18). The often overlooked fact regarding this faith is that Elijah was simply asking God to do what He had said He would do [see Deuteronomy 28:23 and 1 Kings 8:35 and 18:1].
- 2. Second, it says that God has addressed man by means of multiple covenants in respect to a single promise.
- a. The single promise is not a simple promise: it has a rather large complexity to it.
- b. The multiple covenants are those which are highlighted and emphasized by the words of God to man recorded in the Bible.
- 1) These multiple covenants have a large umbrella: The Abrahamic Covenant with its three parts as addressing man in his three areas of need.
- 2) Under this umbrella is a deliberate, divine, intensification of the three specific areas of man's susceptibility to deception and disbelief.
