Blessed & Bearded's Biblical Blog

"a posteriori   — from the latter; knowledge or justification is dependent on experience or empirical evidence a priori   — from what comes before; knowledge or justification is independent of experience acta non verba   — deeds, not words ad hoc   — to this — improvised or made up ad hominem   — to the man; below-the-belt personal attack rather than a reasoned argument ad honorem   — for honor ad infinitum   — to infinity ad nauseam   — used to describe an argument that has been taking place to the point of nausea ad victoriam   — to victory; more commonly translated into “for victory,” this was a battle cry of the Romans alea iacta est   — the die has been cast alias   — at another time; an assumed name or pseudonym alibi   — elsewhere alma mater   — nourishing mother; used to denote one’s college/university amor patriae   — love of one’s country amor vincit omnia   — love conquers all annuit cœptis   –He...

Having sufficiently shown the condemnation of Jew and Gentile in chapters 1-3 and showing us the instrument of righteousness, that is faith, here in chapter 4 Paul primarily looks to Abraham, a major figure of the OT and patriarch to the faith, to prove that our right stating with God is by faith alone and not works or rituals.  4:1-4 4:1 So what do y’all know about Abraham?      Abraham was first known as Abram when he was called by God, at 75 years old, to leave home and go off to a faraway land that God promised to him. His full journey can be read in Genesis 12-25.      But for our purposes, we will only be focusing on 15-17. Chapter 15 is where God makes a covenant with Abram promising that he will have an heir and his heir be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5) and Abram “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.  Why, of all the great saints of the OT, does Paul chiefly point to Abraham ...