Let us examine the scriptures every day 2025
Monday May 19, 2025
I have named you the father of many nations (Rom. 4:17).
Jehovah promised that, through Abraham, “many nations” would be blessed. However, when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, they still had no children. From a human point of view, it could have been easy for them to lose hope. Although this was a severe test for Abraham, he “relyed on hope and had faith that he would be the father of many nations” (Rom. 4:18, 19). And, over time, that hope was fulfilled: Abraham became the father of Isaac, the son he had long awaited (Rom. 4:20-22). Like Abraham, we can get Jehovah to declare us righteous and consider us his friends. Therefore, referring to Abraham, Paul said: “The words ‘was considered’ were not written only for him, but also for us, who will be considered righteous because we believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead” (Rom. 4:23, 24). We need to have the same three things as Abraham: faith, works and hope. w23.12 7 paras. 16, 17.
How do you explain the difference between what Paul and James wrote?
As we have seen, Paul and James spoke about faith and works from different perspectives. On the one hand, Paul told Christians of Jewish origin that they would never earn Jehovah's approval by performing the works of the Law. And, on the other hand, James explained that all Christians must demonstrate their faith by doing good works.
Mention some ways we demonstrate our faith with works. (See also images).
When Jehovah says that we must closely follow in the footsteps of Abraham's faith to consider ourselves righteous, he does not mean that we must do exactly what he did. In fact, there are many ways to demonstrate with works that we have faith. We can gladly welcome those new to the congregation, help brothers who are in real need, and do good things for our family members. All this pleases Jehovah (Rom. 15:7; 1 Tim. 5:4, 8; 1 John 3:18). One of the most important ways to demonstrate our faith is by preaching with enthusiasm (1 Tim. 4:16). We can all prove by our works that we have faith that Jehovah's promises will be fulfilled and that his way of doing things is the best. And if we do, we can be absolutely sure that God will declare us righteous and consider us his friends.
What relationship was there between Abraham's hope and faith?
In Romans chapter 4, we find another valuable lesson taught by Abraham's example: it is very important to have hope. Jehovah promised that, through Abraham, “many nations” would be blessed. What a wonderful hope! (Gen. 12:3; 15:5; 17:4; Rom. 4:17). However, when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, they still had no children. From a human point of view, it could have been easy for them to lose hope. Although this was a severe test for Abraham, he “relyed on hope and had faith that he would be the father of many nations” (Rom. 4:18, 19). And, over time, that hope was fulfilled: Abraham became the father of Isaac, the son he had long awaited (Rom. 4:20-22).
How do we know that it is possible for God to declare us righteous and consider us his friends?
Like Abraham, we can get Jehovah to declare us righteous and consider us his friends. Therefore, referring to Abraham, Paul said: “The words ‘was considered’ were not written only for him, but also for us, who will be considered righteous because we believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead” (Rom. 4:23, 24). We need to have the same three things as Abraham: faith, works and hope. In the next article, we will analyze what Paul said about hope in Romans chapter 5.
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