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 (God) nods at things being begun; or “he approves our undertakings,” mott

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 as an example of Sola Fide/Faith alone?     For