Abraham: Justified by Faithfulness
Table of Contents
In this article I will provide further evidence that Paul, and by extension the NT, teach(es) that people are saved/justified their faithfulness to God. I will employ the Apostle’s example of Abraham to prove my case.
Here’s what he wrote:
“Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”” Galatians 3:6 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
What many folks don’t realize is that Paul is echoing what is found in the book of Maccabees:
“Now the days drew near for Mattathi′as to die, and he said to his sons: ‘Arrogance and reproach have now become strong; it is a time of ruin and furious anger. Now, my children, show zeal for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of our fathers.
“‘Remember the deeds of the fathers, which they did in their generations; and receive great honor and an everlasting name. Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness? Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment, and became lord of Egypt. Phin′ehas our father, because he was deeply zealous, received the covenant of everlasting priesthood. Joshua, because he fulfilled the command, became a judge in Israel. Caleb, because he testified in the assembly, received an inheritance in the land. David, because he was merciful, inherited the throne of the kingdom for ever. Eli′jah because of great zeal for the law was taken up into heaven. Hanani′ah, Azari′ah, and Mish′a-el believed and were saved from the flame. Daniel because of his innocence was delivered from the mouth of the lions.’” 1 Maccabees 2:49-60 RSV
Note how the patriarch is set forth as an example of those whom God justified because of their faithfulness to his commands.
A comparison of the underlying Greeks texts will affirm that the statements from Maccabees and Paul are essentially making the same point:
“What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed (episteusen) God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (kai elogisthe auto eis dikaiosynen).’” Romans 4:1-3 RSV
“Was not Abraham found faithful (pistos) in temptation, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness (kai elogisthe auto eis dikaiosynen)?” 1 Maccabees 2:52 Brenton’s LXX
The readers can see that the only difference between these inspired statements is that Maccabees has employed the adjective pistos, a Greek term which refers to being faithful, reliable etc.:
Strong’s Greek: 4103. πιστός (pistos) Lexicon
pistos: Faithful, trustworthy, reliable, believing
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
believing, faithful, sure, true.
Word Origin
from peithó
Definition
faithful, reliable
NASB Translationbelieve (2), believer (4), believers (5), believing (1), faithful (44), faithful one (1), faithfully (1), sure (1), trustworthy (7), who believe (1).
With the above in mind, notice how various translations render this passage:
“Wasn’t Abraham found faithful when he was tested, and it was considered righteousness?” Common English Bible (CEB)
“Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was reputed to him unto justice?” Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
“Was not Abraham found faithful in trial, and it was credited to him as righteousness?” New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)
“Was not Abraham found faithful when he was put to the test, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness?” New Catholic Bible (NCB)
“Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness?” New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
“Whether in temptation Abraham was not found true, either faithful, and it was areckoned to him to rightwiseness? [Whether Abraham in temptation was not found faithful, and it is areckoned to him to rightwiseness?]” Wycliffe (WYC)
Interestingly, the book of James confirms this interpretation since it also quotes the example of Abraham to prove that the faith that saves is a working faith, being faithful to carry out the commands of God:
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.” James 2:21-26 RSV
Ironically, the only place where the inspired scriptures employ the phrase “faith alone” is here in the context of denying that a man is justified by faith alone!
The similarities between the words of Maccabees and the statements from the blessed Apostle weren’t lost on one specific Protestant theologian.
The late W.H. Daubney concluded believed that Paul actually had this Maccabean reference in view when he spoke of Abraham’s justification:
“In St Paul’s Epistles1 we find several indications of his knowledge of the Apocryphal books. To take some instances.
“His quotation Gen. xv. 6 in Rom. iv. 3, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness,’ had been anticipated by the author of I. Mace, who writes, ‘Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness?’ (ii. 52). This is of course only quotation from a common source; but it is clear that St Paul followed a former writer, and did not lead the way in quoting these words for a didactic purpose1. (Daubney, Use of the Apocrypha in the Christian Church [C.J. Clay and Sons, Cambridge University Press Warehouse, London, 1900], pp. 17-18; emphasis mine)
1 Schurer {Hist. J. P. ii. iii. 234) writes: “In the Pauline Epistles such loud echoes are found as make St Paul’s acquaintanceship with the Book of Wisdom probable.”
Liddon {Bamp. Led. Div. of Our Lord, 1882, pp. 62, 63) expresses himself to the same effect. “Do we not already seem to catch in Alexandrian dress the accents of those weighty formulae by which Apostles will presently define the pre-existent glory of their Majestic Lord?”
Kautzsch (i. 479) even speaks of “die nicht zu bezweifelnde Bekanntschaft des Apostels Paulus mit dem Buche” [Weisheit]; and again (ll. 355) he compares the speculation of the Pauline epistles with the religious problems of II. (IV.) Bsd.
1 In like manner the Bdelygma tes eremoseos of Matt. xxiv. 15 and Mk xiii. 14 had already been quoted from Dan. ix. 27 in I. Mace. i. 54, which agrees with the N.T. in having eremoseos instead of eremoseon. But the singular occurs in the LXX. of Dan. xi. 31 and xii. 11 and in Theodotion’s version of the latter verse also. (Ibid., pp. 17-18; emphasis mine)
So much for Martin’s Luther doctrine of sola fide.
Further Reading
TRUE FAITH IS FAITHFULNESS AND OBEDIENCE PT. 1
CHRIST’S FAITHFULNESS AS AN EXAMPLE OF SAVING FAITH
PISTIS CHRISTOU: A JEWISH BELIEVER’S PERSPECTIVE
BIBLICAL VERSES ON FAITHFULNESS/OBEDIENCE
Justification By Faithfulness: From Beginning to the End
IGNATIUS, POLYCARP & SOLA FIDE
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