In my Old Testament class we recently did a brief theological study on the faith of Abraham. The text says the following:
Faith appears as a free and active movement of will. Even as the promises provided for a response corresponding to the purpose of Yahweh, so it developed in every story. The outline shows how each one of the twelve stories leads to a spiritual struggle and a victory of faith. The promises constantly challenge him; providence protects him and corrects him; and in every story faith arises and claims the promise. Stories I-III portray his struggle to grasp the promise of the land. Stories IV and V portray his struggle to grasp the promise of the seed. Stories VI-X portray his struggle to grasp the promise of the blessing. The last two portray his confident claim of all the promises. Upon one promise after another faith climbed to the sublime height reached in the offering of Isaac. All Abraham's experiences are characterized by the explanation given in Genesis 15:6,"And he believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness."
There is no contradiction between this teaching and Ephesians 2:8, which says, "By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." The word for gift does not agree in gender with the word for faith, so could not refer to it. The verse teaches that the plan of salvation is of God but not the faith in the plan, and so do the experiences of Abraham.
J. Wash Watts, Old Testament Teaching: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1967),45.
Since I am not a Greek scholar and have always been taught that our faith is a gift from God, I thought I would see what everyone else thinks. It may be a while before I get to check back on the BB on this topic. The Lord blessed me tonight with not having much reading to do for classes tomorrow.
Faith appears as a free and active movement of will. Even as the promises provided for a response corresponding to the purpose of Yahweh, so it developed in every story. The outline shows how each one of the twelve stories leads to a spiritual struggle and a victory of faith. The promises constantly challenge him; providence protects him and corrects him; and in every story faith arises and claims the promise. Stories I-III portray his struggle to grasp the promise of the land. Stories IV and V portray his struggle to grasp the promise of the seed. Stories VI-X portray his struggle to grasp the promise of the blessing. The last two portray his confident claim of all the promises. Upon one promise after another faith climbed to the sublime height reached in the offering of Isaac. All Abraham's experiences are characterized by the explanation given in Genesis 15:6,"And he believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness."
There is no contradiction between this teaching and Ephesians 2:8, which says, "By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." The word for gift does not agree in gender with the word for faith, so could not refer to it. The verse teaches that the plan of salvation is of God but not the faith in the plan, and so do the experiences of Abraham.
J. Wash Watts, Old Testament Teaching: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1967),45.
Since I am not a Greek scholar and have always been taught that our faith is a gift from God, I thought I would see what everyone else thinks. It may be a while before I get to check back on the BB on this topic. The Lord blessed me tonight with not having much reading to do for classes tomorrow.
