Sermon Tone Analysis

Salvation by Faith-The Old Testament

The Old Testament shows that salvation comes by faith

(NET)

2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion,

The faith of Abraham grants him acceptance by God.

The conclusion is that God has ever had but one Church in the world.

The Jehovah of the Old Testament is our Lord; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is our covenant God and Father; our Saviour was the Saviour of the saints who lived before his advent in the flesh.

The divine person who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt; who led them through the wilderness; who appeared in his glory to Isaiah in the temple; towards whose coming the eyes of the people of God were turned in faith and hope from the beginning, is He whom we recognize as God manifest in the flesh, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

He, therefore, who was the head of the theocracy is the head of the Church.

The blood which He shed for us, was shed from the foundation of the world, as much “for the redemption of the transgressions which were under the first testament” (Heb.

9:15), as for us and for our salvation.

The promise unto which the twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hoped to come (Acts 26:7), is the promise on which we rely.

The faith which saved Abraham was, both as to its nature and as to its object, that which is the condition of salvation under the Gospel.

“The city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb.

11:10), is “Jerusalem the golden,” the heaven to which we aspire.

but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.

but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.

15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord considered his response of faith as proof of genuine loyalty.

15:6 Abram believed20 the LORD, and the LORD21 considered his response of faith22 as proof of genuine loyalty.23

Abraham is the father of all of those who are righteous by faith.

21 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord considered his response of faith as proof of genuine loyalty.

22 tn Heb “and he reckoned it to him.”

The third feminine singular pronominal suffix refers back to Abram’s act of faith, mentioned in the preceding clause.

On third feminine singular pronouns referring back to verbal ideas see GKC 440–41 §135.p.

Some propose taking the suffix as proleptic, anticipating the following feminine noun (“righteousness”).

In this case one might translate: “and he reckoned it to him—[namely] righteousness.”

See O. P. Robertson, “: A New Covenant Exposition of an Old Covenant Text,” WTJ 42 (1980): 259–89.

23 tn Or “righteousness”; or “evidence of steadfast commitment.”

The noun is an adverbial accusative.

The verb translated “considered” (Heb “reckoned”) also appears with צְדָקָה (tsédaqah, “righteousness”) in .

Alluding to the events recorded in , the psalmist notes that Phinehas’ actions were “credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.”

Reference is made to the unconditional, eternal covenant with which God rewarded Phinehas’ loyalty ().

So צְדָקָה seems to carry by metonymy the meaning “loyal, rewardable behavior” here, a nuance that fits nicely in , where God responds to Abram’s faith by formally ratifying his promise to give Abram and his descendants the land.

(See R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 40.)

In Phoenician and Old Aramaic inscriptions cognate nouns glossed as “correct, justifiable conduct” sometimes carry this same semantic nuance (DNWSI 2:962).

Salvation by Faith-the New Testament

Biblical Studies Press.

(2005).

The NET Bible First Edition; Bible.

English.

NET Bible.;

The NET Bible ().

Biblical Studies Press.