Reading for Today:

• Genesis 15:1 Chapter 15 1 After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, `and' thy exceeding great reward. –16:16
• Psalms 5:1-7 Chapter 5 1 Give ear to my words, O Jehovah, Consider my meditation. 2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God; For unto thee do I pray. 3 O Jehovah, in the morning shalt thou hear my voice; In the morning will I order `my prayer' unto thee, and will keep watch. 4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: Evil shall not sojourn with thee. 5 The arrogant shall not stand in thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6 Thou wilt destroy them that speak lies: Jehovah abhorreth the blood-thirsty and deceitful man. 7 But as for me, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness will I come into thy house: In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
• Proverbs 2:6-9 6 For Jehovah giveth wisdom; Out of his mouth `cometh' knowledge and understanding: 7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright; `He is' a shield to them that walk in integrity; 8 That he may guard the paths of justice, And preserve the way of his saints. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, And equity, `yea', every good path.
• Matthew 6:19-34 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. 22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? 26 Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? 28 And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, `shall he' not much more `clothe' you, O ye of little faith? 31 Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Notes:

Genesis 16:3 gave her to her husband. After 10 childless years (see 12:4), Sarai resorted to the custom of the day by which a barren wife could get a child through one of her own maidservants (v. 2, “I shall obtain children by her”). Abram, ignoring divine reaction and assurance in response to his earlier attempt to appoint an heir (see 15:2–5), sinfully yielded to Sarai’s insistence, and Ishmael was born.

Genesis 16:7 the Angel of the LORD. This special individual spoke as though He were distinct from Yahweh, yet also spoke in the first person as though He were indeed to be identified as Yahweh Himself, with Hagar recognizing that in seeing this Angel, she had seen God (v. 13). Others had the same experience and came to the same conclusion (see Gen. 22:11–18; 31:11–13; Ex. 3:2–5; Num. 22:22–35; Judg. 6:11–23; 13:2–5; 1 Kin. 19:5–7). The Angel of the Lord, who does not appear after the birth of Christ, is often identified as the preincarnate Christ.

Matthew 6:22 22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. ,23 This is an argument from the lesser to the greater. The analogy is simple. If your eye is bad, no light can come in and you are left with darkness because of that malady. How much worse when the problem is not merely related to external perception, but an internal corruption of one’s whole nature, so that the darkness actually emanates from within and affects one’s whole being. He was indicting them for their superficial earthly religion that left their hearts dark.

DAY 8: What does Abraham’s faith teach us about justification?

In Genesis 15:6 6 And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness. , we are told that when Abraham “believed” in the Lord, it was “accounted” to him for “righteousness.” The apostle Paul quoted these words as an illustration of faith over and against works (Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6). Abraham was regenerated by faith, and so are we!

This quotation is one of the clearest statements in all Scripture about justification. Abraham’s faith is not a meritorious work. It is never the ground of justification—it is simply the channel through which it is received and it, too, is a gift. His faith was “accounted” or “imputed” to him, which is a term used in both financial and legal settings. It means to take something that belongs to someone and credit to another’s account. It is a one-sided transaction—Abraham did nothing to accumulate it: God simply credited it to him. In this case, God took His own righteousness and credited it to Abraham as if it were actually his. This God did because Abraham believed in Him.

The “righteousness” imputed to Abraham is unique: 1) God is its source (Is. 45:8); 2) it fulfills both the penalty and precept of God’s law. Christ’s death as a substitute pays the penalty exacted on those who failed to keep God’s law, and His perfect obedience to every requirement of God’s law fulfills God’s demand for comprehensive righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; see Heb. 9:28); and 3) because God’s righteousness is eternal (Ps. 119:142; Is. 51:8; Dan. 9:24), the one who receives it from Him enjoys it forever.

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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