This week, we continue studying the life of Abraham in Genesis chapters 18 and 19. Abraham bargains with God for the sake of the city of Sodom and does so according to God’s righteousness and justice. By righteousness, we mean God’s “rightness” in all things. He is always and altogether right. By justice, we mean “how God acts in accord with his rightness.” If his righteousness is who he is, his justice refers to how he acts in light of who he is. A key reason that God chose Abraham (and us!) is so that he (and we) would “do righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19). We are to do what is right, seek what is right, and appeal to what is right.
The story of Abraham’s life opens with a profound and powerful event: his response to God’s call to leave his homeland and go to the land God will show him (Gen 12:1). Abraham's life is marked by moments of both faith and doubt, courage and fear. Through it all, God was was faithful, enabling Abraham to keep turning back to him in faith and courage.
