A Brief History of Good Faith - Part 2

[et_pb_section bb_built="1"][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.11"]The Bible says that Abraham's acceptance of God's good faith offer of a contractual relationship was credited to Abraham's account as righteousness or right standing or a person in good standing with God and man. Therefore, being righteous is having an excellent reputation.The Bible also talks about a breastplate of righteousness. Because this righteousness denotes a reputable person of good standing, then the breastplate of righteousness is in essence a passport issued to every Kingdom citizen denoting all of their rights and privileges.If you remember, the breastplate of righteousness is part of the whole armor of God. I picture the breastplate of righteousness stamped with the seal of the Kingdom, which gives the wearer the right of entry into the presence of King Jesus.As I said before, righteousness is right standing, a good standing or a good reputation before both God and man. But it is so much more than that. It is your entry pass, your personal invitation to the event, your official credentials that are required to get you past the guards at the door to the throne room; it is your audience before The King. When the angelic guards to the throne room see your breastplate of righteousness, they step back out of your way and snap to attention because it is your access to the throne. It's Jesus saying that His door is always open to you because of your excellent reputation.Abraham's willingness to trust The Lord's good faith offer of relationship and citizenship in the Kingdom of The Lord and his understanding of the concept of good faith relationships would eventually become a blessing to all nations.For without good faith, there could be no real relationships, no contracts, no agreements, no appointments and no organized business at all.Abraham was Noah's tenth great grandson. That's the word "great" ten times and then grandson. Ten generations had passed and the earth's estimated population in Abraham's day was around 25 million, but scattered across all of Asia, Africa and Europe and the time was right for the Lord to find someone to teach the concepts of good faith relationships.Abraham wasn't just some sheepherder or dirt farmer. His name "Abram" means "Chief" or "Prince" and he was the son of King Terah of Agade, the son of King Nahor of Ur, the son of King Serug of Ur and Agade, the son of King Reu of Lagash, the son of King Peleg of Babylon, the son of King Eber of Babylon, the son of King Shelah of Babylon. Abram was a prince of a long line of kings!By the way, Sarai means "Princess" because she was also the daughter of King Terah of Agade, which made her Abram's half sister, whom Abram married."Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, unto a land that I will show you: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3 ).Now I cannot prove it, but my research leads me to believe that Abram's brother Nahor led a military coup in Agade causing King Terah to flee the Kingdom with Abram and his family and servants to live under the protection of Abram's other brother Haran, bringing dishonor and contempt upon them from the surrounding nations.So here is the original good faith offer or contract that the Lord made to Abram:IF (conditional) you will leave your Kingdom, leave your father's house (court or palace of the house, heritage and ancestry of King Terah), and trust Me enough to move to a specific place that won't be revealed to you until you get there, then: I the Lord will make of you a great and mighty nation (singular, i.e. not nations), and I will prosper you personally, and I will give your name a twist to one of great estate and honor, and I will make you a blessing to others, and I will prosper those who prosper you and bring into contempt him that is contemptuous of you, and through you all the families of the Earth will be prospered.Just as an aside: It was never the Lord's original intent for Abram to be the father of many nations. The Lord's original intent was to make Abram the founder and King of one great and mighty nation.The additional nations that resulted from Abram sleeping with Sarah's maidservant, sprung from Ishmael's sons, the twelve princes of what we now know as the Arabic nations and Islam. The original Twelve Imams of Islam are the 12 sons of Ishmael, the grandsons of Abraham. The eldest son's descendants were wandering tribes which dwelt in tents and conferred their names on the Arabian nations, founded the Arabic language and were known as Arabs.Abram figuratively signed the Lord's good faith contract, packed up his family and in good faith allowed the Lord to lead him to the place where the Lord wanted him, fulfilling the conditions of the contract. Even though it took some time, Abram, now Abraham stood in good faith, fully expecting the total fulfillment of the contract, never breaching it in word or deed.Even though the Lord approached Abraham, Abraham never asked the Lord to approach him; it was the Lord's idea, it was the Lord's offer, it was the Lord's information, it was the Lord's system; Abraham had little or nothing to do with it, other than after being presented with an offer to enter into an agreement with the Lord, in good faith. And it was accounted or credited to Abraham's account as righteousness or reputable.What if the Lord were to make you an offer like He did Abraham? What if He offered you Salvation? What if He offered you Deliverance? What if He offered you Healing? What if He offered you Peace? What if He offered you Prosperity? What if He offered you His Own Holy Spirit? He has!  He absolutely has. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]