Abraham: A Model of Faith?
Unsplash
Alex Shute
I mentioned in my previous post that I’m currently reading through the early chapters of Genesis in my quiet times. These are stories I’ve read through many times before. But every time I read through the Abraham narratives, I have to pause and think through how I make sense of it all.
On the one hand, the New Testament lavishes praise on him as a towering example of faith. Paul and the author of Hebrews hold him up as the model believer. But on the other hand, when you actually read Genesis, you see Abraham make some truly awful, faithless decisions. None more obvious than the episode with Hagar in Genesis 16.
So here’s the tension I found myself wrestling with again this morning:
How can the New Testament celebrate Abraham as a great model of faith, when his story in Genesis is so obviously messed up? How am I meant to hold these things together as I read?
The New Testament’s Praise of Abraham
Listen to how Paul talks about Abraham in Romans 4:
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:18–22 NIV)
And Hebrews says:
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. (Hebrews 11:8–12)
That’s a pretty good wrap. Abraham looks like a spiritual giant: hopeful, unwavering, obedient, confident in God’s promises.
And Then There’s Hagar
But then you turn back to Genesis 16.
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. (Genesis 16:1–2)
This is not faith. This is taking matters into their own hands, trying to secure God’s promise by human strategy rather than humble trust.
And the results are pretty much what you’d expect: relational breakdown, long-term conflict, and a mess that echoes through generations, arguably to the present day.
It sure seems like Abraham fails to trust that God will give the promised son in the way he has said. This is a real failure of faith.
But God Doesn’t Withdraw the Promise
But what’s striking: God doesn’t can the plan.
Instead, he comes again and reaffirms it in the next episode:
“I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” (Genesis 17:6)
“Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.” (Genesis 17:19)
Abraham even laughs at how impossible it sounds (Genesis 17:17), setting the course for his son to be named Isaac (my son, Isaac, would happily tell you all about this). Abraham’s faith is real. But it’s mixed. He believes, and yet he struggles to believe.
That already tells us something important about how the Bible understands faith.
What’s the New Testament Doing?
The New Testament isn’t claiming Abraham was sinless or never wobbled. Instead, it’s looking at the fundamental direction of his life. Genesis shows us the messy process of faith. Romans and Hebrews highlight the settled posture of faith.
In the end, Abraham receives his son, Isaac, by God’s power, not his own (Genesis 21:1–3). And, later, James can say:
“Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?” (James 2:21)
In the most trying of circumstances, Abraham continues in faith. This comes after many stumbles. But it shows where Abraham’s life finally lands: radical trust in God’s promise.
What’s “Faith” in the Bible?
IIn the Bible, faith means trusting in god alone to save us by his promises, which ultimately culminate in the coming of his Son.
Biblical faith isn’t perfect consistency, absence of doubt, or never trying to take control. It means continuing to come back to God’s promise, continuing to rely on God rather than yourself, even after serious failures.
That’s why the key verse in Abraham’s story is:
“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
Paul builds his whole gospel argument on it in Romans 4. It’s why Hebrews talks up Abraham’s faith.
Abraham is not the hero of the story. God is. Abraham trusted him.
Is Abraham a Good Model or Not?
Yes, Abraham is a good model, but not as a model of flawless faith.
He is a model of faith that starts real but weak; faith that sometimes panics; faith that fails badly at points; faith that keeps being pulled back to God’s word.
And that’s why he’s so helpful for us.
The Deeper Theological Point
Abraham is not saved because his faith is impressive. He is saved because God is faithful. The emphasis isn’t placed on the subject of the faith (Abraham trusts God). It’s placed on the object of the faith (Abraham trusts God).
“To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)
Even when that trust is fragile and inconsistent.
So What?
If Abraham had to be perfectly consistent, none of us would have any hope. But we do have hope. His life says that real faith can be mixed with fear. It says that real believers can make serious mistakes. It says that, even when they do, God still remains faithful to his promise.
Or, to put it simply:
Abraham is not a model of perfect faith.
He is a model of faith in a perfect promise-keeping God.
And, in that sense, he is a good model of faith.
