J.J. Andrew,
a leading figure in the Unamended Christadelphian movement, wrote the following
about the (salvific) justification of Abraham, understanding (correctly) that
Abraham was not once-for-all
justified at Gen 15:6:
THE JUSTIFICATION OF ABRAHAM
“Abraham believed God and it was counted unto
him for righteousness” (Rom. iv. 3). How? By belief only? No; by belief and
obedience. According to Divine command he left “Ur of the Chaldees to go into
the land of Canaan” (Gen. ix. 31; xii. 1). Was this the only practical exhibition
of his belief? No; after arriving in the land of promise “he builded an altar
unto the Lord” (Gen. xii. 7, 8). Why? Because he was a sinner by birth and by
deed, and needed sacrifice to cover his sin. Hence the Apostle, in showing that
“faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness,” quotes from Ps. xxxii. 1;--“Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Rom. iv.
7). Abraham recognized that he was a winner, and that to inherit the land his
sin must be covered. Therefore, he “called upon the name of the Lord” (Gen.
xii. 8) by the erection of an altar and the offering of sacrifice. His
recognition of sacrifice as a Divine requirement was repeated after his return
from Egypt by a visit to “the altar which he had made at the first” and by
again “calling on the name of the Lord” (Gen. xiii. 4); also by acknowledging Melchizedek
to be “Priest of the Most High God” (Gen. xiv. 18); and by slaying, as
commanded, a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtle-dove, and a pigeon, to provide
what God required for the purpose of confirming his promise (Gen. xv. 9-17). He
believed not only the promise concerning the land, but that its inheritance
required the taking away of sin by blood-shedding. Thus was Abraham justified by faith. He was subsequently “justified
by works, when he had offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar” (Jas. Ii.21). (J.J.
Andrew, The Blood of the Covenant: Is
Efficacy in Baptism, Resurrection and Immortalization [Conway, Ark.: J.W.
Teas, 1927], 10)
