A quote tonight from Dennis Kinlaw's book, Preaching in the Spirit:
"Have you ever noticed that Abraham is the prime biblical model of faith? When Paul wishes to illustrate the meaning of justification by faith, he doesn't use one of the twelve apostles or even himself; he points to Abraham. The same thing is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James, and various other Bible books.
"Abraham lived long before Jewish institutional religion, before the law was given at Sinai. He demonstrated a faith that was not law-related, church-related, or lifestyle-related. What does God really want from a man? Not primarily obedience to the law, nor liturgical ceremony, nor a peculiar lifestyle. Abraham never preached a sermon nor wrote a page of Scripture, but he did walk and talk with God; and in that we see the essence of what God wants in his relationship with us - a friendship of personal intimacy and trust." (Page 24)
That’s a great quote. Kinlaw was my grandfather’s pastor when he was young.
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