Saved by Grace - Class Notes

Genesis 17:1

1.) For the first time in the Bible God refers to himself as El Shaddai which means God Almighty. What does the name God Almighty mean to you and your relationship to God?

There is nothing God cannot do including miracles that I know in the normal physical world are impossible.

2.) Is it possible to have the world view of Darwinism Evolution and believe in the God Almighty?

No. Darwinism says we were created as a one cell organism by chance and then evolved into what we are today random chance and survival of the fittest over billions of years. At best, liberal Christianity tries to reconcile this with God by saying God initiated the process but after that what happened was out of his control. That is not a God Almighty.

3.) Why did God tell Abram to walk before him blamelessly and how could Abram possibly do that?

We know that no one can be perfect and without sin.

1 Kings 8:46
Romans 3:23

Blameless implies a heart devoted to the Lord not sinless perfection.

Psalms 101:2

Read the following verses:

2 Corinthians 5:21

Colossians 1:21-22

4.) If through Jesus we have the righteousness of God and are blameless before God, how should we live?

As Christians we like to claim the righteousness of Christ but we often act like that relieves of the precept to walk blameless before God. Righteousness is our salvation. However, if you are not striving to walk blamelessly before God you are either quenching the Spirit by walking away for God or maybe you need to question the reality of your salvation.
We are called in both the Old and New Testament to walk blamelessly before God.

Philippians 1:9-11
Philippians 2:14-15

5.) What does a blameless walk before God look like as a Christian?

The call for living blameless before God looks the same in our day as it did for Abraham and the New Testament Christians. We must remember that our God is the God Almighty. The decisions we make and the actions we take should reflect our fear and love for our God. We strive for blamelessness not because we strive for salvation as that is ours in Jesus already. We strive for blamelessness because we love God with all our heart, soul and mind and desire obedience and desire to please Him. It means a heart devoted to God, not to the world and its promises and worries.

Genesis 17:3-8

6.) What is promising and hopeful to us about God restating his promise to Abraham?

Abraham and Sarah failed when they gave Hagar to Abraham because they believed it was to late for Sarah to have a child. Despite this setback in their faith, God was still faithful to them.
God will still be faithful to us despite our failures to be faithful to him.

7.) "Abram" means "exalted father"; "Abraham" means "father of a multitude. Who are the multitudes?

Israel, the Arab nations through Ishmael, many more people descended from his sons listed in Genesis 25:1-4 and Galatians 3:7-9.

Genesis 17:9-14

8.) What is different between this covenant and the covenant that God made with Abraham in Chapter 15?

This time God gave Abraham an obligation for his part of the covenant. Abraham and every male in his group had to be circumcised.

9.) It is clear that not getting circumcised was a breaking of the covenant and one would not be accepted by God if refused. However, did circumcision guarantee acceptance by God?

Circumcision was a sign that one was Jewish and in a covenant with God. However, it did not make them automatically accepted by God. God requires a circumcision of our heart – by being totally devoted to God – walking blamelessly before him.

Deuteronomy 10:16
Deuteronomy 30:6
Jeremiah 4:4
Romans 2:28-29