Gênesis 15
William MacDonald · Citado em PreceptAustin
Gênesis 15
William MacDonald - He is not speaking, as some wrongly think, of sins which an individual person has committed before his conversion. This might suggest that the work of Christ took care of sins before the new birth, but that a man is on his own after that. No, he is dealing with the seeming leniency of God in apparently overlooking the sins of those who were saved before the cross. It might seem that God excused those sins or pretended not to see them. Not so, says Paul. The Lord knew that Christ would make full expiation, and so He saved men on that basis. (Believer's Bible Commentary) Here is a simple diagram that helps understand how one was saved by grace through faith in Christ in the Old Testament See the full article from Gotquestions - What is progressive revelation as it relates to salvation? AND HE RECKONED IT: Note that God initiated the message (the gospel Ga 3:8) and it is God who credits Abraham's "aman" (belief) as genuine, whereby God then imputes His own righteousness (i.e., Christ's righteousness even though Christ had not yet offered up His body as a satisfactory sacrifice for sin; cp 2 Co 5:21-note, 1Co 1:30) to Abraham. Salvation is of God, and yet the divine mystery is each man must chose for or against God and will be held accountable for that personal choice. Reckoned (02803)(chasab/hasab) means to consider, to think, to calculate, to reckon oneself, to impute. Chasab conveys several meanings - devise, plan (Divine = Zech 7:10, Human = Ge 50:20); making a judgment (Divine = Isa 53:4, human = Job 33:10); "meditating" or running thoughts through one's mind (Mal 3:16); impute (2Sa 19:20, Ge 15:6 quoted in Ro 4:3-note, Ps 32:2-note quoted in Ro 4:8-note) Chasab/hasab in Genesis 15:6 describes Abram's faith as "reckoned (chasab/hasab) to him as righteousness." In this crucial OT passage, the Lxx translates the Hebrew chasab/hasab with the Greek verb logizomai which means to take an accounting of something. The Hebrew "chashab" is almost parallel to a bookkeeping transfer of an eligible item from one column to another. Ge 50:20 God meant (reckoned) it for good in order "to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." Chashab is the consideration of a great number of elements, which results in a conclusion based on a wide overview. In this verse, God added up everything that Abraham’s belief meant to Him, and computing it all together, determined that it was equal to righteousness. Impute means “to put to one’s account.” (see English definitions) See also Imputation. MAN'S GREATEST NEED IS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS: right standing in the sight of God was imputed or placed on Abraham's spiritual account. At Calvary our sins were put on Jesus' account (cp "numbered [counted - Heb = manah = to count, reckon; Lxx = logizomai] with the transgressors" - Isa 53:12) and He as our perfect, sinless Substitute suffered the punishment that should have fallen on us (Isa 53:6). When Abraham trusted God's promise of a coming Seed, the Messiah (and however much of that truth that had been revealed to him), Christ's righteousness was placed "on credit" on Abraham's spiritual account (2 Cor 5:21-note) and he stood positionally (and perfectly) righteous and forgiven before the Holy God! Abraham proved his faith by his works when he offered Isaac on the altar (James 2:14–24-note). Abraham was not saved by obeying God, or even promising to obey God. However his obedience (cp Ge 22:1-2, 15-17, 18-see devotional "A Test of Faith") proved his faith. Sinners are not saved by faith plus works but by a faith that works! If it does not "work" then one has reason to question whether it is genuine faith! In the Book of Jonah we read about another example of salvation - Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them..... When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way (A clear OT example of true repentance), then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. (Jonah 3:5; 10) Comment: When God saw the deeds of the Ninevites, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. True faith that saves our soul, is a faith that is manifest by a change in our lifestyle. Formerly, we were "Hell-bound" but after being justified by faith we are "Heaven-bound" and our lifestyle testifies to our new "direction." We see another example of God crediting righteousness in the description of Phinehas They (Israel) joined (Hebrew = to bind, fasten, yoke = pertaining to being in an association based on common beliefs or actions) themselves (NET translation = "they worshiped" - cp Nu 25:3,5) also to Baal-peor ( = a local manifestation of the Canaanite deity Baal located at Peor. See Nu 25:1-3,5 31:16), And ate sacrifices offered to the dead (In other words, they practiced idolatry and a form of necromancy! cp Dt 26:14. Note some interpret "dead" as "lifeless gods" = Ps 106:28NIV). 29 Thus they provoked (Hebrew = They made angry) Him to anger with their deeds; And the plague broke out among them. 30 Then Phinehas stood up and interposed (see Nu 25:7-8); And so the plague was stayed. 31 And it was reckoned (Chasab/hasab; Lxx = logizomai) to him for righteousness, To all generations forever (cp Nu 25:12-13 where God gave Phinehas His "covenant of peace"). Comment: When did God credit Phinehas with righteousness? When he stood up and interposed. At first glance you may be thinking "See, Phinehas was reckoned righteousness based on his good work!" That is not why God reckoned righteousness to the "spiritual account" of Phinehas. While the context does not mention the faith of Phinehas, there is no question whatsoever that he was declared righteous based on his faith not his works! Why do we say that? Because the rest of the Bible clearly teaches a man or woman will be justified before God ONLY on the basis of faith apart from works. So what is the role of Phinehas' "good works"? In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul teaches that salvation is by grace through faith and then in Ephesians 2:10-note he teaches that those who have been saved have been "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (See Believers, God's Masterpiece, His Poiema) In Romans 1:5-note Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith" or as the NIV translates it "the obedience that comes from faith." In other words faith is the horse and obedience is the cart, not the converse! Faith that is genuine results in a new spiritual heart which evidences itself as "new" by seeking to please God the Father. Will our obedience be perfect? Not in this lifetime, but it is not so much about perfection but about direction. Is the general direction of toward godliness and holiness (again NOT perfection because we all blow it!). That is why Phinehas stood up against the rank idolatry and spiritual harlotry of Israel. His heart had been circumcised (see Excursus on Circumcision) Some have thought (either out of ignorance or being incorrectly taught) that in OT times people were saved by their good deeds rather than by faith, but this idea is mistaken (see Scofield below). Abram was not saved because of righteous living or obedience, but by believing in God which resulted in him being declared righteous. The only valid "work" is the "work" of faith (Jn 6:28, 29) but even this "work" is a gift of God's grace (2 Pe 1:1) so that a man is justified by faith apart from works (Ro 3:21, 22, 28). C I Scofield in his general comments on the meaning of righteousness has a sentence which could easily be misinterpreted - "In these words but one idea inheres: the righteous or just man is so called because he is right with God; and he is right with God because he has observed "all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly" (Luke 1:6-note) (Italics and bold added for emphasis) Notice that Scofield said they were "right with God" and then says "because" which is usually a term of explanation meaning "on account of the fact that", which in context would suggest they were "right with God" because of their meritorious behavior. That is NOT what Scripture teaches and Luke has no "because" in the English or Greek. They were righteous because God declared them righteous by grace through faith.
Gênesis 15
William MacDonald comments that "The 400 years mentioned in [Ge 15:13, 14] and in [Acts 7:6] refer to the time of Israel’s harsh affliction in Egypt. Jacob and his family were not in bondage when they first came to Egypt. On the contrary, they were treated quite royally.The 430 years in [Ex 12:40, 41] refer to the total time the people of Israel spent in Egypt—to the very day. This is an exact figure. The 430 years in [Ga 3:17] cover approximately the same period as [Ex 12:40, 41]. They are reckoned from the time that God confirmed the Abrahamic Covenant to Jacob, just as Jacob was preparing to enter Egypt (Ge 46:14), and they extend to the giving of the Law, about three months after the Exodus." Zodhiates - God gave Abraham a preview of events in his family’s future up to the point of their possession of the land which He had promised. They would first be temporary residents in a strange land for 400 years and become slaves. Their bondage in Egypt was certainly a part of God’s overall plan. Four hundred years is a round figure. There is no conflict with the 430 years mentioned in Exodus 12:40, 41. The four generations of their sojourn should be understood as four lifetimes. One hundred years would have been a conservative estimate for one lifetime in patriarchal times. (AMG's Complete Word Study Bible Notes) Henry