Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Eight

                                                                                                                                              Verses 39-40

These Jews protested to Jesus that they were descendants of Abraham as if that were enough to make them right with God. If these Jews had only opened their spiritual natures to learn from their scriptures when they read them, they would have understood that Abraham did some good works, but he also sinned. That fact should have made them realize that sin was Abraham's problem and theirs as well. Genesis 12:10-20.

Jesus told them that if they were Abraham's seed, then they should do the same work that Abraham had done in order to be right with God. Had these Jews paid close attention to their scriptures, they would have learned that Abraham became right with God simply because he believed God's promises that He would give to him and his seed the land that God had promised him for an everlasting inheritance. Genesis 15:1-21; Genesis 17:1-14. These Jews should have noticed that God did not give spiritual righteousness to Abraham because of his good works. God gave Abraham His own righteousness because of his faith. Genesis 15:6. God also gave the rite of circumcision to Abraham and all his seed to symbolize that God would cut the unrighteousness out of Abraham's seed who believed in God's promises to them, and who were faithful to God, and God would replace their unrighteousness with His own righteousness. Genesis 17:9-14.

Abraham had to believe that God would raise him and all of his righteous seed from the dead in order for God to keep His promises to him. Abraham also had to have believed that God would provide some way to remove the unrighteousness from him and all of his faithful seed. Abraham displayed his faith when he told the young men that both he and Isaac would return from the burnt offering on the mountain. Abraham also displayed his faith that God would provide a sin offering for all of his seed who would become saved by God's grace when he told Isaac that God would provide Himself as a Lamb in Isaac's place. Genesis 22:1-18; Hebrews 11:17-19.

Abraham's sin offering and burnt offering were not meant for just Abraham and his seed. God promised Abraham that because of his faith and the faith of his righteous seed, God would provide a way to bring every living human that He ever created to that same blessed faith that will save them either by His grace or by the burnt offering. God will give that same faith to every living human either for salvation by His grace or for resurrection from the regions of the dead for Him to recreate to live forever in their own promised land on God's new earth. Genesis 22:18. Abraham made a burnt offering on Mount Moriah of a ram provided by God which meant that God would provide a higher or a lesser form of salvation for all living humans. God gave this same promise to Noah when He commanded Noah to make the first burnt offering. Genesis 8:20-21. But a sin offering must always precede a burnt offering.