Genesis 12:1-4 English Standard Version

¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Three major religions call Abraham the father of their faith. It was Abram that first heard God, believed God and obeyed God. God changed his name to Abraham later. The basic issues of faith are here in these passages.

God initiates contact. Hearing God speak is the first essential in obedience of faith. Once again, what it the gospel? God speaks.

Secondly we must believe that it is God that we hear. In former times when mankind needed to receive messages from God, He would send angels as messengers. In this personal relationship, it is God speaking to us.

Thirdly we must believe what He has to say to us. Believing that we have heard Him is not sufficient, we must also believe what He said.

Four we must make a choice to obey His commands. Free will has not been removed. We still have the option to ignore His instruction. We are not puppets on a string.

God adds incentives in His call to Abram. He calls for a blessing but it doesn’t stop there. God will bless everyone that blesses Abram and curse those who curse him.

This extends down to every family on earth. This is why three religions call Abraham the father of their faiths.

Acts 11:14 English Standard Version (ESV) he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

Acts 16:31 English Standard Version (ESV) And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Here is an example of the word of truth being a little more complicated than any one simple verse. There are those that go around saying “my daddy was a preacher” or “my mom was saved” that gives them a false sense of security because they believe that they are saved because of thier parent’s faith.

Matthew 7:13-14 English Standard Version

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The gate is narrow so that only one may enter in at a time. Salvation is a personal matter, we are each responsible to enter in alone. The broad interpretation leads to destruction.

Acts 11:14 is making the point that the message is the way to salvation while Acts 16:31 is a prophetic word of encouragement.

Neither does being a member of a certain denomination cause us to be saved. “I am a ……..” Fill in the blank with any denomination. As the saying goes, standing in the garage doesn’t make anyone a car.

Another example is a misconception about faith. When someone asks us what faith are we, they want to hear our denomination. Our denomination is not faith. In order to get a better grip on what faith means we only have to look to the father of faith for three major religions, Abram.

Genesis 12:1 begins with “Now the Lord said to Abram,”.

Think about the definition of the gospel being “God speaks” and meditate on that.