Extreme Faith

In Acts 16:30, the Philippian jailer asked two inmates, Paul and Silas, the most important question of all, “What must I do to be saved?” Let’s cut to the chase: what must I do to escape the horrors of hell and experience the joy of heaven? It doesn’t get more basic than that.

Paul answered in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” It is by faith in God’s grace that we are declared forgiven by God.

Paul amplifies that truth in Romans 4 by using Abraham as an example: “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS’” (Romans 4:1-3).

But what a minute! James, the half-brother of Jesus, claims something different it appears.

James 2:21-24 says, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Is this a contradiction? Not at all. The word “justified” can mean either to make righteous or to show to be righteous.

Abraham was made right with God in Genesis 15:6 when he believed God’s promise. But he was shown to be righteous to others by his response to the greatest test of his life when he offered his son Issac as an offering to God.

Remember Martin Luther’s words: “Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone.”

We are not served by works but for good works. I could have chosen to proceed to the next section of James, but I thought it would be good for us to look in depth at this event in Abraham’s life James is referencing—-the event that proved his faith in God.

Search through the Scriptures, as well as history, and you will discover that the men and women whom God has used in the most significant ways are those who have experienced the greatest trials and the severest tests.

Do you desire to be powerfully used by God? Do you want God’s stamp of approval on your life? Before you answer too quickly, you might want to consider the experience of Abraham in Genesis 22.  

I believe that every person has a single event in his or her life that is a defining moment—an event that reveals the kind of person we really are. 

• For Abraham Lincoln, it was the Civil War. 
• For Richard Nixon, it was Watergate 
• For Adam and Eve, it was the sin in the garden. 
• For Noah, it was the flood 
• For David, it was that night with Bathsheba. 

1. The Preparation for the Test (Genesis 22:1a)

Genesis 22:1a says, “Now it came about after these things…”

After what things?

Remember what has happened in Abraham’s life up to this point? You will remember that when Abraham was 60 years old, God spoke to him and told him to leave his home in Ur and his relatives for a land that God would show him. Included in that message to Abraham was the promise that he would be the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3).  

In Genesis 21:2-3, was the “child of promise.” The one through whom God would fulfill the pledge He had made with Abraham 25 years earlier. One can almost hear the sigh of relief from this old man as he plans to spend his last years enjoying the son for whom he had been waiting these many years. The final verses of Genesis 21 paint a picture of the contentment that Abraham and his family were experiencing.

As Abraham spent many mornings under the shade of his tamarisk tree with Sarah, enjoying the sunset years of his life and reflecting on the faithfulness of God, little did he know that the greatest test of his life was just around the corner.

2. The Test (Genesis 22:1-2)

Why would God test Abraham? Had he not already proved his faithfulness to God? For that matter, why does God test any of us? The great scholar F.B. Meyer writes this about testings in our lives: “Satan tempts us that he may bring out the evil that is in our hearts; God tries or tests us that He may bring out all the good … trials are, therefore, God’s vote of confidence in us.”

Here is the difference between a test and a temptation: What differentiates a test from a temptation is not the situation but the motivation behind it. God tests us to strengthen our faith, while Satan tempts us to destroy it. James 1 is clear that God never tempts anyone—that is, He never tries to destroy a believer’s faith. In the same way, Satan never tests anyone—that is, He never tries to strengthen someone’s faith.

Some of you are going through a tremendous test of your faith, and you are wondering why.  Tests are God’s vote of confidence in you. He tests you not because He hates you but because he loves you. He desires to strengthen your faith, not destroy it.

That was God’s purpose here in Genesis 22:2. 

3. The Response to the Test (Genesis 22:3-12)

After receiving such a command, most of us would probably question whether it was really the voice of God we had heard. Or we might be outraged that God would ask such a thing. But not Abraham. He had heard the voice of God too often during the long years of his life to mistake it for anything else.

Whatever doubts Abraham might have had during the journey to Moriah, he had resolved them now and was convinced that God was going to be faithful in fulfilling his promises to him. 

But the Bible says that he considered, he calculated, that is, he added up all the reasons why he could trust in God: God had demonstrated His power in the birth of Isaac, He had sworn by His own name that He would make Abraham the father of a great nation, everything else God had promised had come true. 

Even though God’s command seemed to contradict His promise, Abraham did not submit to his own limited understanding but kept repeating to himself the truth: “God is able!”

4. Results of the Test (Genesis 22:13-19) 

What was the result of Abraham’s obedience to God? 

• God Himself Provides the Sacrifice (Genesis 22:13-14)
• God Renews His Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 22:15-19)
• God Calls Abraham His Friend (James 2:21-23) 

5. Three Timeless Truths About God’s Testing in Our Lives

• God’s Tests May Contradict Reason
• God’s Tests Affect the Tender Part of Our Lives
• God’s Tests Are Designed for Our Strengthening

I read this week that the times when plants grow the most are not necessarily during the warm, gentle rains or beautiful summer days. The times of most growth are during the fierce winds and the raging storms. In fact, botanists tell us that if you were to take a cross-section of the earth during a vicious storm, you could literally observe the roots reaching further down into the soil.

Some of you are in a raging storm of God’s testing right now. But it is during this time, not the easy times, that your spiritual roots are growing strong and will produce results that will last long after the storm has subsided.

And it is your positive response to these extreme tests that are the best evidence you have been justified by faith.

Full Passage: James 2:21-24 and Genesis 22:1-19