Abraham didn't walk by blind faith

Scripture tells us that Abraham was the father of those who walk by faith:

"The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised."-Romans 4:11-12

I've heard people say that pure and simple faith in God's word is ideal and we don't need anything more. We don't need Bible archaeology, Bible history, Bible criticism or any other Bible researches that are going on. But what does scripture say about Abraham?

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, 'Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.' He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back."-Hebrews 11:17-19

Abraham "considered" or "reasoned" as some translations put it. He didn't just shrug and say "oh well." He thought about it, probably from every possible angle. In the end he reasoned that God could bring him back. On this basis he obeyed God. Genesis 22 says, "So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac." I don't imagine Abraham got much sleep the preceding night.

Isaiah 1:18 says: "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord."

Not that our mind can ever replace God, but He gave us a logical mind for a reason.

Thanks, Also seems like:

"Study to shew thyself Approved Unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth."
(2 Timothy 2:15 KJB!)

Is not necessary for Most Either, preferring to remain in
Confusion {being ashamed at Judgment?}...

Abraham is our Father of Faith not because of what he did, but because of what was done to him . . . by Christ.

What was done to Abraham? He was purified by Christ. How? Abraham's Heart was Circumcised, which is the reason that physical circumcision was instituted in his life. But this circumcision is a symbol of what was done internally . . . the removal of that which is ugly and unclean . . . the Adamic Curse of the Sinful Nature.

Jeremiah 4:4a NET - "Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment, you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the LORD and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem."

As said above, physical circumcision is a symbol of the Promise made to us, by God, through Abraham.

Genesis 17:13 NET - "They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder."

But what is this covenant? What is the Holy Promise? Ezekiel tells us twice, both in chapters 11 and 36.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NET - "I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations."

Again, physical circumcision is a sign of the Promise already given to Abraham . . . the Promise of Spiritual Circumcision. Jesus performed this Circumcision well before His death on the Cross, but after His Holy Resurrection, He began to Circumcise Hearts on a vast basis on and after the Day of Pentecost. Does Scripture ever disclose this process . . . this Promise? Does the Bible tell us what this Spiritual Circumcision looks like so that we know what to expect? It does . . . check it out:

Colossians 2:11-15 NLT - "When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross."

This is the Faith of Abraham, and this is why Abraham is our Father of Faith.

No such thing in the Bible as blind faith. Faith come by hearing the word of God.

Thanks, Also seems like:

"Study to shew thyself Approved Unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth."
(2 Timothy 2:15 KJB!)

Is not necessary for Most Either, preferring to remain in
Confusion {being ashamed at Judgment?}...

Isaiah 1:18 is one of my favorite passages.

Amen. Colossians 2:9-15 tells us exactly how that process is completed. Those are my Seven Perfect and favorite verses. They are literally Life!

Hello RisidentAlien,

Abraham was credited with righteousness for one reason only, He believed God and that without any works associated with it. Abraham was credited with righteousness way before Isaak was every born.

==================================================================
Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
========================================================================

To be clear, Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his own son was not when and why Abraham was credited with righteousness. An example of being credited with righteousness can be found in the event of Cornelius' household. As Peter was still speaking the gospel to them, the Spirit fell on all of them and they began to speak in languages and prophesy and that because God cleansed their hearts by faith.

This crediting of righteousness can also be seen in regards to the thief who who was crucified with Christ and who said to Jesus "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." That man was credited with righteousness because he believed in Jesus, for he could do nothing else.

This is how all who believe are saved. Our good works that follow are the results of our faith.

No. Abraham did walk by "blind" faith. Or more correctly unshakeable faith. How else did he believe in hope against all hope? And what did Jesus tell the apostles when they saw the withered fig tree?

ROMANS 4: ABRAHAM'S FAITH
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Romans 4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Four times scriptures have same verse in four different books. Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, Galations 3:6 and James 2:23

Faith is spiritual. The mind is of the soul. Reason is important but as the servant to the spirit of man, not its master. Abraham did not make decisions in a vacuum. He had God's word. Faith will place God's word above logic, feelings, circumstances and anything else that argues against God's word.

For example, Peter tried to persuade Lord Jesus not allow Himself to be crucified. How noble! Protect yourself, Lord Jesus! Don't let this happen to you! Yet Peter's reasoning was human, not of God, and his sentiments inspired by Satan, not God. Lord Jesus rebuked Peter, He did not praise him.

Faith comes by revelation of God's word. It is possible to mentally agree with God's word, yet when it comes to putting into practice, the mind is useless. I saw an interesting series of interviews. A preacher interviewed many Christians about tithing. All agreed that it was right and good to give. When asked if they did or not, none of them put their belief into practice. So they agreed in their minds, but not in their hearts. And so their believing was worthless.

When we get revelation, we see with our spiritual eyes, the eye of faith. Then we will act on what we know to be true. Abraham had seen God and knew God as a Friend. He had experience with God's faithfulness. So Abraham was able to trust God to bring Isaac back to life.

The Gospel was pronounced to Abraham. How could anyone . . . ever . . . suggest that Abraham walked by Blind Faith?

Galatians 3:8 NIV - "Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."

The Jews generally walked by sight not by faith alone. They even saw God in the flesh but still did not have faith. Jesus got mad at the generation of vipers who constantly looked for signs. But they will never get any more signs but the signs of Jonah. Signs of judgement that is about to come upon them.

Exactly. Scripture tells us that the Lord placed them into a "deep sleep." Against their will, the Jews couldn't Repent and Turn to Christ even if they wanted to. Well, not until the Lord takes them out of their slumber. So much for free will for the Blessed Jews!

Romans 11:7-8 NLT - "So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have--the ones God has chosen--but the hearts of the rest were hardened. As the Scriptures say, "God has put them into a deep sleep. To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear."

I agree. We was created in the likeness of God. God is by His very characteristics all logical, all wise, reasonable, just, and all intelligent. It is only by design we see humanity with these very same skills but limited to a finite, chronological, and closed off to space or environment. We can only know and learn so much within these restrictions. Biologically we can only retain so much information before the brain starts to forget information that we no longer study.

Blind faith is none existent. You either believe in what you see or hear, or you don't.

The Biblical definition of faith does not include the word blind.


Hebrews 11
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

Why do we have confidence and assurance? Like the Apostle Thomas or Gideon who stuck his finger in the future wound on Jesus's side, or Gideon who needed assurance time after time.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Verse 3, the Greek word for understand, is

noeó: to perceive, think




Hebrews 11:32-34
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

It is in fact impossible to separate the laws of logic and reason from the mind. We can either apply them poorly or as scripture says foolishly. Or we judge with sound judgment and seek God's wisdom to see and understand the times we are in.

Proverbs 2:2-5
Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

I thought the sign of Jonah that Jesus referred to was that "as Jonah was 3 day in the belly of the whale, so too was the Son of Man 3 days buried in the Earth"?

Yes, but the Jews where not like the people of Nineveh who repented. They rejected Jesus. Surely they will face judgement in the great tribulation.

Thanks. I wanted to be sure what you meant. I think all who reject Christ - Jew and Gentile alike, will face terrible judgement.

Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Yes but the topic of the thread is about the Jews. Abraham particularly.