Daily Devotional for Friday, January 3

When Was Abraham Saved?

"And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law,itis no more of promise; but God gave itto Abraham by promise;' Galatians 3:17,18.

I love numbers. Math has always been a friend of mine as we get along really well. It came as no surprise to anyone when I became amath teacher and the leader of the after-school math club. There are procedures and organization in mathematics that are based on logic. Numbers often give us facts that we need for a clear argument, and when things fail to addup, I have a difficult time accepting them.

The book of Genesis contains many numbers that reveal history. Abraham was seventy-five years old when God told him to leave Haran. He was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. He was one hundred sixty years old when Jacob and Esau were born and lived to be one hundred seventy-five years old, having not seen the promise God gave him (Hebrews 11:39). If we continue with our numbers, we can add up four hundred thirty years between God telling Abraham He would bless all nations through his seed (Genesis 12:1-3) and when Moses received the Law (Exodus 19:5-8).

Paul used these simple numbers to prove his point. The Law came four hundred thirty years after the promise God made to Abraham that comes by faith. If the Law replaced the promise, then faith would be ineffective. The Law was subsequent to the promise directly given to Abraham by God of a future Messiah through his seed and was intended to point out our need for a Savior. Thus, Abraham was saved before the Mosaic Law through faith in the coming Messiah.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

We cannot ever keep enough commandments to earn our way to salvation.

It is the gift of God through Christ Jesus.

Ashley Ridings