Abraham did something other than receiving, he believed in God. ( God also was giving a free gift to Abraham, of a son.
God tempting Abraham to give his only son ( given as a free gift by God) blesses Abraham, to multiply his seed, ( as the stars of heaven as God had declared in the free gift of that son, Isaac) shows Gods word is fulfilled only through Abraham obeying the voice of the Lord.
God afterwards confirms the same blessing with Isaac,, because that Abraham obeyed Gods voice, kept His charge, His commandments, His statutes and His laws. ( similar to Phinehas executing the judgement of the Lord, and the Lord counting that to him for righteousness, to all generations for ever more. Psalm 106:30-31.)
Genesis 15;4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the Lord; and he
counted it to him for
righteousness.
Genesis 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
This is how James is testifying to us, how we recognise faith by works. To know we need to do much more than believe there is one God. ( the devil spirit shows they know Jesus, who He is when risen.) Acts 19:15.)
The vain man has to know that their faith without works is dead, being ALONE.
Acts 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said,
Jesus I
know, and
Paul I
know; but who are ye?
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Abraham we see was justified by offering his ( free gift from God) only son Isaac to God. This made faith perfect, fulfilling the scripture, of believing in God, and that counted as righteousness, and to be called the friend of God. That was the way we are all justified ( or will not be just, when we do unjustly, to not believe in the voice of God and obey Him as Abraham did.).....
James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Israel is then the very opposite example to Abraham believing in the salvation of the Lord.
God did many miracles and rescues for Israel, but it is testified, Israsel believed not in God, which is not trusting in His salvation. ( Abraham had trusted in the salvation of God, that in Abraham all nations woulds be blessed, by also obeying the commandments of God.)
Psalm 78:22 Because they
believed not
in God, and trusted not
in his salvation:
23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
Then all counts on believing in these testimonies of God. To believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ( to remember also, that God required of Abraham, to sacrifice his only begotten son, the free gift given by God, which then would bless all nations.)
Also remembering that God had rained down manna upon Israel, but they did not believe in nor trust in Gods salvation.
Then Christ ( the only begotten Son of God) tells this same message to Israel, face to face, to believe in the Son, ( for salvation) as He is that bread of life. Their fathers had eaten manna but were dead. Christ is the bread which came down from Heaven, for a man to eat and not die.
Jesus shows how when a man eats His flesh, and drinks His blood, they dwell in Christ, and He in them. We are to believe and hear this testimony, that the Son lives by the Father, so he that eats the Son, shall likewise live by the Son.
Then we read how many of the disciples cant believe in this testimony of Christ, which is believing in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. ( to believe in our heart in life, and not death.) Christ confirms that these testimonies shared with u, are Spirit and life. ( faith comes by hearing them. Romans 10;17.)...
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
John 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
John 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Everybody in he world knows and follows the teaching of it not being works of righteousness we have done, and that it is a free gift of God.
But that was not the whole [picture at all, it does not include what Abraham had believed in, what else Abraham did, and most important of all, how we are vain without doing the whole thing that Abraham did. ( will you know vain man, that faith without works is dead being alone ???????)
So the kindness and love of God appeared, ( Christ layed HIs life down for us, to eat His flesh and drink His blood, to have life in us, not death to follow.) It is not works of righteousness we did ( it is His sacrifice, as Abraham was willing to sacrifice.) and the Holy Ghost is shed on us through HIs blood shed. All things we are to believe in and follow, not parts of it, and it is then a faithful saying ( as just shared in James 2.) for they who believed in God ( as Abraham believed in God then also obeyed, to receive the blessing for all nations through Isaac to Christ) for us also to constantly, be careful to maintain good works, it is profitable not just for who the believers help, but also for their own selves. ( to not be vain man, not understanding that faith without works is dead being alone.) and to AVOID FOOLISH CONTENTIONS, AS THEY ARE UNPROFITABLE AND VAIN...
Titus 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Tenchi, you are rebuked by Gods Word, if you have to ignore every word testified for you here, making out it is not clear, it will become more clear for you.
