Abraham is a key figure in the whole Bible. Back in Genesis 12 God chose Abraham and promised to make him the father of many people and that the whole world would be blessed through him. Israel saw Abraham as their father. In Isaiah 51 God urges them to look to Abraham and Sarah to understand how He works in their lives. In the New Testament, especially with Paul, he is seen as a key figure. Abraham is an example of how to live by faith, but he is more than that. God's rescue plan works through Abraham, and we inherit the promises given to Abraham (Gal 3:29).
All the Jews saw Abraham as their father, so how God worked with Abraham is crucial. Abraham was told to be circumcised, and the Jews saw this as proof that you needed to be circumcised in order to be saved, in order to truly be part of God's family. Paul spends a large part of Galatians refuting this. They saw Abraham as justified by works, ie he was in right standing with God because he was circumcised. In answer to this view Paul quotes Genesis 15:6, "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness". It was Abraham's faith that was the reason that God counted him "in".
Note that Abraham's faith was active. We have a tendency to think that "believing in Christ" is some sort of vague mental ascent, or some emotional response. This is not the case, it is a living and active trust in God. Abraham had obeyed God's call to leave his homeland and follow Him, not knowing where he was going. See how similar this is to the call Jesus made to the disciples? "Follow me." When Jesus met people He was looking for active faith.
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