16 Mar Sola Fide & Sola Gratia

1. After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
2. But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3. And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
4. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5. And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6. And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

1. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4. So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

1. What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?
2. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
4. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
5. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
6. just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7. “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

1. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
2. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
3. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
4. fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
5. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

1. just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
2. Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
3. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
4. So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

1. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
2. even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-
3. and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
4. so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
5. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
6. not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
7. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.