To read click here:  Gen 15. Faith which God Affirms

One of the most common conversations about God that I have begins like this:  “I love God.  Or, at least, I thought I did.  And I thought God loved me, since, in Jesus, He died for me and forgave my sin. . . But now someone said that if I . . . (insert struggle with some vice), and if I haven’t . . . (fill in some spiritual discipline), then God’s wrath is on me and I am not saved.  And they made it sound as if I wouldn’t have any struggles and questions if I was in a relationship with God.  And I wonder if I even belong with these people.”

For the person who is telling me this, my first concern is that they put their focus back on Jesus, what He has already done, what He promised and how He said it (all of these found in the Bible.)  Jesus is my hope and salvation; my performance is not.  But a secondary question is about the nature of the faith in which we are saved.  That was on my mind when I was reading Genesis 15.

In Genesis 15 God comes to Abram in a vision, telling him not to fear, because he has a great reward coming.

But Abram is not satisfied with that information. . .