The Obvious place to start a discussion on this subject is to note the Genesis account of Abraham’s life records nothing whatsoever about forgiveness. Of course Abraham sinned and needed forgiveness and, of course, he believed in forgiveness. However, this vital aspect of the gospel receives no mention in the account of his life.
No direct reference to sin or forgiveness
We could say the “breaking of bread” Abraham had with Melchizedek the high priest represented some aspect of forgiveness; this certainly would not be stretching the point. Yet the context does not lend itself to this emphasis, for it was not after one of Abraham’s lapses but after one of the high points of his faith that he encountered Melchizedek. Also, we find it good expository practice to interpret allusions and indirect references where revelation of a doctrine has already been explicated. For instance, we know that God made direct promises to Abraham, therefore we can also look for indirect hints of the same issue. Example: God directly told Abraham he would inherit the land forever requiring his resurrection from the dead (Gen.13:16), therefore we are on safe ground to say the deep sleep in Genesis 15, during which the promise was reiterated, represents his death and resurrection to that inheritance.
Where do we find a direct reference to the teaching of forgiveness in the life of Abraham? We do not; it is not there. Genesis also lacks in any way the explicit statement he did something wrong, or that he sinned. The two incidents where he spoke of Sarah as his sister, not his wife, were clearly lies and lapses of faith; at best they were half-truth waffling. Yet he receives rebuke only from Pharaoh and Abimelech, not from the Lord God. The text records these incidents without divine commentary on the appropriateness of Abraham’s actions.
Likewise, the incident in which he copulated with Hagar to produce seed by her receives no divine disapproval or rebuke, although in Galatians we find out how earthly God considered this union. In all these incidents, Abraham receives no rebuke, nor does the Lord God instruct him to make an offering or any act of penitence.
New Testament help
So how can we write an article on a facet of the gospel which, for whatever reasons, simply isn’t part of what God taught Abraham? Could it be that this aspect of saving truth really fell outside of Abraham’s understanding of the gospel of Christ? No, that would be impossible. In fact, we do know that Abraham believed very strongly in the forgiveness of sins. We have New Testament evidence to this, with a remarkable passage in Romans leading our way.
However, before we go there, we want to establish one other point which will guide our consideration; it deals with how the New Covenant frames the concept of sin. If we look for forgiveness according to the principles of the Old Covenant, we will look in vain. If we examine the life of Abraham as a model of the New Covenant, which, as Paul emphasized predated the Old Covenant, then we will find a beautiful illustration of faith and grace at the very beginning of Scripture.
Sin in the life of Abraham is not treated as the breaking of a commandment, nor is forgiveness seen in any singular act of penitence. Just as faith belongs in a far bigger realm than a specific good deed or ritual behavior, we also need to view sin as a life process and culmination of our character. Certainly we can do sinful actions as well as good works; however, the emphasis in the life of Abraham and in the New Covenant falls on the bigger context of the settled condition of our heart and mind.
Now, let’s consider Paul’s words to the Romans where he told the ecclesia at Rome — and where he tells us — that Abraham’s faith included the firm belief that the Lord God would forgive all his sins and ungodliness.
A melding of texts
Paul referred to Abraham’s faith when he quoted from his experience of God’s promise to make his seed like the stars of heaven (Rom. 4:1-3). [It might help to review the last article concerning the details of this promise.] From that point of reference, Paul proceeds into a discussion of justification based on faith, not on works. Still in the context of Abraham’s faith, Paul writes, “to him who doesn’t work [i.e., rely on ritual works for justification] but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Paul states that Abraham’s example of justifying faith has to do with God justifying the ungodly. This is a remarkable extrapolation from Genesis 15:6, but hardly out of character for a Pauline citation from the Old Testament.
Paul’s message is this: when Abraham stood on that Judean hilltop 2,000 years earlier and said “amen” to God’s promise that his seed would be like the stars of heaven, Abraham also confessed that he was ungodly and in need of divine redemption so that he, too, could be raised to the heavenly places with Christ. Paul’s coupling of the citation from Genesis! 5: 6 with the doctrine of justification by grace gives us exactly the evidence we need to know that Abraham indeed believed in the new covenant of grace.
But Paul isn’t done. Now he goes to the precise theology we are after as indicated by the title of this article. He goes on to forgiveness, by quoting from David’s psalm of repentance, known to us as Psalm 32. He includes the key conjunction “also,” when he writes, “even as David also describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.” The exact citation comprises the first few verses, and starts, “Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
The key conjunction also implies that someone else has this same theology. In this case, that someone else was none other than the just-mentioned Abraham! How did Paul glean this from his Bible? Certainly we are seeing the workings of inspiration! Paraphrasing Paul, then, we could say this: Abraham considered himself ungodly and in need of divine forgiveness. He affirmed his belief in this doctrine when he said “amen” to God’s promise concerning the glorification of his seed. David also had the same theology, and expressed it in the 32nd Psalm when he wrote about the blessings of forgiveness. Paul then goes back to Abraham, pointing out that it was before Abraham was circumcised that he received this blessing. Paul applies the forgiveness of Psalm 32 to Abraham’s declaration of faith recorded in Genesis 15. So, by splicing into his treatise on Abraham’s faith the text of David’s Psalm of forgiveness, Paul fills in that missing information we need to know that of a certainty Abraham specifically looked to his God for the forgiveness of his sins. What a message of hope to all of us, to know that we can have the same faith as father Abraham, by trusting God to forgive our sins.
A broad view of sin
Why then do we not read about this in Genesis? The answer comes to us if we consider the big picture Genesis presents about Abraham. It doesn’t say he did this right, or this wrong. Scripture doesn’t treat his life as a series of separate actions, some of them pleasing to God and some of them not. It does present Abraham as a wanderer whose peripatetic life metaphored his spiritual growth. He was always on the move, always growing.
In the covenant of grace, we don’t deal just with right and wrong behaviors, we deal with development of character. Abraham grew in faith, and as he grew, God progressively revealed more to him about His plan. If he did well, he would get a harder test of faith next. If he didn’t, that only meant he had room to grow in faith. We see “sin” not so much defined as the breaking of a commandment, but as the failure to live up to the potential of our faith. Likewise, righteousness results, not from a series of behaviors in accord with divine commandments, but from the learning accrued by each test of faith.
States of being
Sin and righteousness become states of being rather than ledger accounts of good or bad behaviors. This approach defines the ethic of the New Covenant and we can apprehend the concept of sin and forgiveness in Abraham’s life if we apply this approach to our consideration. Therefore, we read in Romans that Abraham reckoned himself “ungodly.” That is, not a doer of ungodly acts, but an ungodly person, with no standing before God whatsoever. This is the faith that the Almighty accepted as righteousness.
Going back to Genesis 15, we remind ourselves that Abraham believed God when He promised that his seed would be like the stars of heaven. In order for one to be raised to the heavenly places, one must first recognize that we at present constitute earthiness. Thus, Abraham believed in the exaltation of his seed, who would be first of earthly composition, to the divine nature. He also believed that he himself was unworthy and ungodly, dependent on his Creator for forgiveness and redemption.
Abraham doubtless felt the chill of unworthiness after certain occasions in his life when he fell short of displaying the full measure of his faith. He also no doubt felt the warmth of forgiveness, not because of any sacrifice he offered in penitence, but because of God’s gracious promise. Abraham lauded himself not in the victories of his faith. He counted the offering of Isaac as no account to his righteousness. He estimated his leaving Ur at the Lord God’s command worth nothing with respect to his righteousness. He could do no “act” that would justify him in God’s sight. He only trusted Him who justifies the ungodly and raises them to the heavenly places in Christ.
This, then, is the faith of Abraham regarding the forgiveness of sins. He knew who he was in the sight of his Creator.
Written for our sakes also
We should note that when Paul completes his treatise on the faith of Abraham in Romans, he concludes with the encompassing exhortation, “now it was not written for his sake only…but for ours also, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:23-25).
God reckons our faith as righteousness just as surely as He did Abraham’s. If there is any aspect of the manifestations of Abraham’s great faith that we can emulate, it is in the present consideration of forgiveness. In many ways we estimate ourselves spiritually inadequate to achieve the same level of faith as Abraham. We can at least believe that we can receive of God the same measure of grace and forgiveness.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One