Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
MONDAY, March 28
Romans 4:1-12. What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?
Paul raises a perplexing question here. The famous patriarch Abraham was made right with God by his faith (Genesis 15:6). But Paul points out that this was before Abraham was circumcised. Circumcision was important to later Jews because it was an act incorporating a male into the faithful community, much like baptism for a Christian. Abraham was uncircumcised, outside the faithful community—indeed, there was as yet no faithful community. Moreover, since Abraham lived nearly two millennia before Christ, he had never heard of Christ. What sort of faith was it, then, that put Abraham right with God?
Many Christians today think of either baptism or a public confession of faith in Christ as the act that puts a person right with God. But what if, as with Abraham, there is no such act, no baptism, no confession of faith, nothing at all so far as we can see? Abraham’s case suggests there may be more to God’s saving ways than we often acknowledge. This does not diminish the importance of baptism or public confessions of faith in Christ. But it does suggest that we should hold off from making judgments about who is right with God and who isn’t.
PRAY for the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
Ps 80 * 77, [79]; Jeremiah 7:1-15; John 7:14-36
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(Hebrews 11:6).