Romans 4:19 “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul reveals to us how Abraham exercised his faith. And so because God calls Abraham the father of all those who believe (Romans 4:11), it would be beneficial for us to examine his example of faith. The context of this passage refers to Abraham receiving God’s promise that he would become the father of many nations. In this passage the Holy Spirit reveals a very important principle with regards to how faith works, for we see that Abraham did not consider his body which was already dead and he also did not consider the deadness of Sarah’s womb. In other words Abraham did not look at the very real circumstances as they existed in the natural. Abraham did not deny that his physical body was already dead, since he was about a hundred years old. He also did not deny the deadness of Sarah’s womb, since she was about ninety years old at the time. Abraham did not pretend that these circumstances did not exist, because he knew that they did exist. Instead what Abraham chose to do, was to not consider or look at his circumstances. He chose rather to look at the promise of God.
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
What Abraham did was completely scriptural, because as recorded for us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us to walk by faith and not by sight. In other words we are not to be influenced by what we see in the natural, but rather we are to be influenced by our faith in God’s promises. In all instances, the promises of God cannot be seen in the natural. Therefore those who walk according to their faith in the promises of God will walk by that which cannot be seen and ignore that which can be seen.
Michael E.B. Maher
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