Friday, January 24, 2020

J.J. Andrew on the Justification of Abraham


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)

On Gen 15:6 and the meaning of the phrase "and it was credited unto him as righteousness" and other issues, see: