ANNOUNCER: When we speak of Abraham and his justification, and we think about Genesis 22, his offering of his son Isaac on the altar, what kind of justification happened then, and what if Abraham had not been obedient? Some questions we will consider today here on Grace in Focus. Thank you for being here, friend. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We’re located in North Texas and our website is faithalone.org. Go there to learn more about us. We have hundreds of articles there for you to read and research. You can also get information about our online free seminary and our free semi-monthly magazine, Grace in Focus. Right now we’d also invite you to consider coming to our national annual conference. It’s going to be happening May 18th through the 21st. Information is right there on our website about it. Get what you need, get signed up. That’s faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s question and answer discussion here are Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates. 

KEN: Bob, I think we have a question that’s right up your alley. I only say that because then I have no responsibility for answering it. 

BOB: You know, normally Ken previews the questions, but this time he’s just hitting me cold. So what is the question, who’s asking it? 

KEN: Okay, David is asking it and he’s asking about Genesis 22:15-18. And by the way, this also relates to James chapter two. He asked the question, “In light of Genesis 22:15-18. How can we say that Abraham was justified only before men,” and this is underlined, “only before men when he offered Isaac for sacrifice?”  And then he asked the question, “Does that mean that the promises God gave to Abraham were conditioned on Abraham’s obedience? And what would have happened if Abraham had refused to sacrifice Isaac?” 

So there’s a number of things that’s in play here. You know, in James chapter two, it says that Abraham was justified when he offered up Isaac. And we argue that this was that he was declared righteous before men. But David is asking the question, is that what’s going on there in Genesis 22? Was he justified before men because he offered, or he was willing to offer up Isaac? 

BOB: Okay. So this is kind of embarrassing because I have written our commentary on Genesis. That’s why I’m saying this in front of you. I covered this passage and I didn’t cover all the questions that David is asking. I covered some of this, but not all of this. 

KEN: So how would you respond to this? Was he only justified before men here? And by the way, let’s put in a plug for the Old Testament commentary, right? The Torah, the first five books we’re hoping, Lord willing, to have by the conference, which is in May 18th. So it’s a shameless plug for here. That’s what I’m doing here. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. You did Genesis. 

BOB: You did Deuteronomy. 

KEN: I did Deuteronomy. And David didn’t ask about Deuteronomy. So I’m free on this one. What would you say to David’s questions? Number one, was he only justified before men when he did this? And his other question, okay, God gave him promises because he did this. What would have happened if he had not? 

BOB: Okay. So first let’s consider, was this a dual justification before men and God? The word justify as it’s used in James chapter two, both concerning Abraham and Rahab the harlot, I would translate as vindicated. I think justified is okay, but the sense is clearly a vindication. And I’ve heard people say, well, it had to be, Abraham’s vindication had to be before God, because nobody saw it. I mean, who was present to see Abraham offering up Isaac? Nobody. Well, actually, that’s not true. Isaac was there.

KEN: Sure. Am I right to say, but it’s recorded in Scripture. 

BOB: That’s my answer is that today, there’s three major world religions that all claim Abraham is their father. 

KEN: We know what he did. 

BOB: Right. Christians claim Abraham as their spiritual father. The Jewish faith claims Abraham as their spiritual father. And Islam claims Abraham as their spiritual father. Now in the Quran, it’s not Abraham offering up Isaac. It’s Abraham offering up Ishmael. Here’s the point. If Abraham was vindicated before men, it’s probably not a stretch to say he was also vindicated before God. In other words, God didn’t declare him positionally righteous when he offered up Isaac. That occurred in Genesis 15, which was three decades before he offers up his son, Isaac. 

So he was justified before God forensically in terms of a declaration of righteousness then. When he offers up Isaac was before man and God, I don’t know, but it would not be a stretch to take David’s view that it’s both before man and before God. But at the very least was before man. And by the way, the fact that only Isaac saw it, doesn’t deny the fact that three world religions see it and they can see it through either the Bible or the Quran. 

KEN: And let me just say, let me read this verse in James chapter 2, James chapter 2 verse 21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?” Which is James chapter 2.

BOB: And the answer that is expected is yes, he was. 

KEN: And then it says in the following verse, “Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, ‘Abraham believed God and it was accounted him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.” 

BOB: Right. And the friend of God is part of the reward when I think it says the Scripture was fulfilled, the Genesis 15:6, I think it’s “brought to maturity.” Right. In other words, implicit in the faith he had in Genesis 15:6 is the belief that he guaranteed his son Isaac was going to be in the line of Messiah. 

KEN: And he didn’t have any descendants yet. 

BOB: And so he had to conclude in his mind that if God asked him to sacrifice his son, then He will raise him from the dead. And actually, that’s what the book of Hebrews says. 

KEN: Hebrews 11, right.

BOB: It says that he was convinced that God would raise him from the dead. 

KEN: Because He had to fulfill his promise.

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BOB: So I would say that this is before man, but it’s probably before God as well because at the Judgment Seat of Christ, church age believers will be vindicated or not vindicated, depending on what we did in this life, right? And I would assume the same thing is true for Old Testament believers. They’re going to be judged and they’re going to be rewarded. So there will be some sort of vindication. Whether he’s already been vindicated before the Lord Jesus Christ or whether that will occur at his eschatological judgment. I don’t know, but he will be vindicated for this act. 

KEN: I don’t think we’ve ever discussed this. I know that in Grace circles, we say that he was called “the friend of God” and we say something that you’ve already alluded to that, and David does as well, that he was called the friend of God by men, that these three religions called him the friend of God. He was someone who, what will we say, was obedient to God? 

BOB: Right, but Scripture does call him the friend of God. And so I would say God calls him the friend of God. 

KEN: Well, that was my question for you. Would you say, because I don’t remember us ever talking about this. I’ve heard Grace people say, well, men called him the friend of God and we say, well, look at him, look what he did in Genesis 22. Now there’s, there’s a guy who’s a friend of God. There’s a guy who takes God at His word. There’s a guy who’s saying, okay, God told me that this child of mine is going to have descendants and now He’s telling me to kill him. So He’s going to raise him from the dead. So I believe what God has told me and men look at that and say, now, there’s someone who’s a friend of God. But would you feel comfortable also saying that God called him the friend of God? 

BOB: Absolutely. 

KEN: Would you say both? 

BOB: Yeah, I can’t remember where the verse is, but I looked it up. 

KEN: It’s in Chronicles, right? 

BOB: Okay, I think so. And he is called a friend of God there and that’s God calling him a friend of God. So he’s God’s friend and this reminds me of Jesus saying, you are My friends if you do what I commanded you, right, he told the disciples that. Well, that’s a general principle that didn’t start with the disciples. It goes back to the Old Testament. Now David isn’t called the friend of God, but he’s called a man after God’s own heart. And it’s reasonable to conclude that is synonymous with the idea of being a friend of God. I would argue that any Old Testament saint that was pleasing to God was God’s friend, just like any New Testament believer who is obeying the commands of Christ is a friend of God. 

And by the way, David’s question about what happens if Abraham had not offered up Isaac? I don’t know. How could I, I mean, the Bible gives us lots of examples of what would have happened under different circumstances, right? Showing that God’s omniscient. God knows not only everything that happened, but everything that could have happened. In other words, God knows what would have happened if Israel had believed in Jesus and been in fellowship with Him in the first century. He knows all the ways it would have been different, but that’s not what happened. But God doesn’t tell us what would have happened if Abraham didn’t offer up Isaac. So I don’t know. 

KEN: Well, you know, it’s interesting. I said it’s in Chronicles. It’s 2 Chronicles 20 verse seven. And I just want to read this. This is Jehoshaphat talking. He’s talking about God. He goes, “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 

BOB: Yeah, “Your friend forever.” Now, this is recorded in Scripture, and once it’s recorded in Scripture, it becomes part of God’s Word. And so I would say, this is not just saying he’s a friend of God according to Israel. But he’s a friend of God according to God. 

KEN: And so I think it’s legitimate to say both, right? He’s your friend, Jehoshaphat is saying, Abraham was your friend. But Jehoshaphat is calling him, God’s friend. Right. So it’s legitimate to say as so many grace people do that in James 2, when it says, we were able to see Abraham’s faith by his offering of Isaac. And that’s a friend of God right there. So both are true. 

BOB: But seeing the manifestation of the faith, in the words, he believed apart from doing this, he was justified before he did this.

KEN: Years before, as you said decades before. 

BOB: But this is what the faith should have led to, and it did. But if he had not done this, I don’t know what would have happened. And was Abraham blessed for his obedience? Absolutely! We have lots of examples of Abraham being blessed by God. He was one of the richest men of his day, and that was because of God’s blessings. 

KEN: Sure. Well, this was a great question, David. We hope that this helps, and again, it gives us a chance to get a little bit of a foretaste of what the Grace Commentary is going to be talking about, in this case in the book of Genesis. 

So thanks for the question, David. And remember, keep grace in focus.

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From our next episode: does 2 Corinthians 5:17 guarantee changes for the believer? Please come back and join us again, and in the meantime, let’s keep grace in focus.