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 God
promised something to Abraham, and God commanded something of
Abraham. And the two, promise and command, are woven into a
drastic test of his faith that must have wracked every fiber of
his being.
When
Abraham was 75 years old he was promised, "I will make of
thee a great nation," and, "thy seed shall be as
numberless as the sands." But nearly 25 years pass, and the
son of promise had not come. Then God told Abraham that Sarah,
long barren, would have a son. I like the King James
translation: "he staggered not," for I think that
would "stagger" me. The son was born, destined to be
the seed through whom the promised race would develop.
Then
God commanded, "... get thee into the land of Moriah, and
offer him there for a burnt-offering" (Gen. 22:). The
record is restrained and simple, but as one reads Genesis 22 it
is difficult to keep back a sense of rebellion in our own heart.
What tearing of conscience Abraham must have experienced!
Promise and command were seemingly in irreconcilable conflict.
Now it is time for "our neo-theologians to declare,
"grace and works are naturally opposed," or,
"salvation by promise negates our doing anything." The
error of these men is not that they preach salvation by grace,
but that they fail to relate grace to the whole of God's
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teaching. Neil Lightfoot's commentary
on Hebrews has this observation: "How could the promise and
the command stand side by side? The brilliance of Abraham's
faith is that, in all of this, he left it up to God. It was
God's problem. God had promised. God had commanded. He would
obey. (p.213.) Foolish mortals devise theologies that really put
God in a bind ("our" boys are now into "The
Impeccable Christ") and then we spend pages trying to get
God straightened out. When will we learn to content ourselves
with acceptance and faithful obedience to what God says? God can
even raise proud theologians from the "dead" if they
will but trust and obey Him.
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We
introduce to you brother Kevan O'Banion (see pg. 4 for his
article), a talented and dedicated young man who will be working
with the Oaks West congregation for experience and training as a
gospel preacher. We will provide support, have built a study for
him, and bro. Shipley and I will assign research work for
occasional "think-tank" examinations. Our elders will
counsel and guide him, and us, in this enlarged work of the
Oaks-West church. WELCOME KEVAN!!
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