Topic Video: Abraham's Obedience

Many Christians tend to think of Abraham merely as an example of faith and trust in God. This is an important theme in Abraham’s life, and it is highlighted in several New Testament passages. But we must never overlook the fact that God commanded Abraham to be obedient, to give him his loyal service.
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Near the opening of the story of Abraham’s life, we find God’s call to Abraham:
Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:1-3)
As this passage demonstrates, Abraham was required to go to the land that God would show him. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that this divine call required enormous loyalty from Abraham.
Unfortunately, many Christians tend to think of Abraham merely as an example of faith and trust in God. This is an important theme in Abraham’s life, and it is highlighted in several New Testament passages. But we must never overlook the fact that God commanded Abraham to be obedient, to give him his loyal service.
Perhaps the most dramatic example of a time when Abraham was required to show his loyalty to God is found in Genesis 22, a time when God commanded the patriarch to sacrifice his son Isaac to prove that he loved God more than he loved his son.
Abraham complied, and God assured Abraham that the result of his compliance would be a very bright future for Isaac.
By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you … have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:16-18, literal translation)
Now, it is important to remember that even in the Old Testament, faithful obedience was always based on the mercy and grace of God. So, we must not mistake this emphasis as some form of legalism. Nevertheless, just as in the Old Testament, true believers today are expected to respond to God’s grace with faithful service to God. This is why the New Testament frequently emphasizes the responsibility of loyalty for followers of Christ.
Listen to the way Paul connected grace and loyalty in Ephesians 2:8-10:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Christians today have the responsibility to perform good works. God grants us saving faith so that we will be faithful to him. So, every time we see how Abraham’s life raises issues related to human loyalty, we are in a position to apply those moral responsibilities to our lives.
As followers of Christ, we understand that although salvation is a free gift of God’s grace, God expects us to show our gratitude to him by doing our best to obey his commands. Moses understood this principle as well. He knew that God’s grace to Abraham led Abraham to be loyal to God. … This theme appears so frequently because Moses’ original audience, and we today as well, need to be motivated to serve God in faithful obedience.