As a result of revelation, Saul of Tarsus experienced a tremendous upheaval in his personal life

Gal. 3:5 He therefore who bountifully suppl= ies to you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does He do it out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith? 6= Even as ``Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'' 7 Know then that they who are of fai= th, these are sons of Abraham.

Galati= ans 3:5 speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit and works of power coming out = of the hearing of faith. The law= only exposes and demands; the hearing of faith supplies us in a bountiful way.&= nbsp; Verse 6 shows us the example of such a person—Abraham.<= o:p>

The fi= rst few words of Galatians 3:6 are very important, for they show to us the focus of= our faith. Verse 6 says, “E= ven as Abraham believed God.” = It does not say that Abraham believed the promises of God, but he BELIEVED GOD! To fully appreciate this phrase, we need to look into Abraham’s history.

Jehovah appeared to Abraham at least six times:

1) In Ur of the Chaldeans. Here Abraham did not accept God= 217;s calling (Acts 2:2-3; Gen 11:31).

2) In Ha= ran Jehovah called to him again and he responded to this calling (Gen. 12:1-4).=

3) After the slaughter of the kings to rescue Lot (Ge= n. 15:1)

4) In Gen. 17 after 13 years of silence due to his producing of Ismael.

5) In Gen. 18 as a man on the human level to reaffirm= his promise.

6) In Gen. 22 to test Abraham regarding the sacrifici= ng of Isaac.

If you= study these portions of the word carefully you will see that Abraham did not resp= ond to God’s calling immediately. After he did respond, Abraham began to focus on the blessing and how= it would be accomplished. So, Abraham’s faith needed to be perfected, to believe God and to focus on God, Himself, as the very supply needed to fulfill His promises.=

Abraha= m, like many of us, did not respond to God’s first calling. Eventually, Abraham responded and = left Haran to begin his journey of faith. God promised Abraham a land, a seed and decendents that would be as the sand= s of the sea and the stars of heaven—and Abraham believed God! However, Abraham couldn’t understand how God would ke= ep His promise (because Sarah was seemingly beyond the age for conceiving) and even considered, Eliezer, his household servant could be his heir. He felt = this way because . However, God told him that the h= eir would come out of his body. So Abraham produced Ishmael according to Sarah’s suggestion. This caused God not to appear to Abraham again for 13 years! Why did Abraham do this? He did this because of his feeling= of the growing impossibility that Sarah could ever produce children. But, this is God’s way! Faith is perfected in the sphere of impossibilities! Go= d was exhausting every natural or human way to work out the promise so that Abraham’s faith could be perfected.

Once again God appeared to Abraham to reaffirm his promise. This time God appear= ed to him as El Shaddai, the All-sufficient God, the God of rich supply to meet e= very need! Here El Shaddai spoke to Abraham again to encourage him regarding the promises made and changed Abram’s (exulted father) name to Abraham (father of a multitude) and = made a covenant with him in the form of circumcision. After such a wonderful scene God t= old Abraham that Sarah his wife would be a mother of nations, and kings of peop= les will come forth from her. At = this word, Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart, “= Will a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety year= s old, bear a child?” What an impossibility! What a joke! How could such a thing possibly happen! “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” What God was proposing was again impossible, so Abraham proposed something possible. But God said “= ;No, But Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac (laughter) and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.”&nb= sp; Here Abraham’s faith is again being tested, proved, and perfec= ted.

God= 217;s next appearing to Abraham is as a man.&nbs= p; He dined with Abraham and again spoke to him regarding the birth of Issac. This time Sarah overhe= ard the conversation and she laughed. This can’t be! <= o:p>

What d= oes all this mean? Impossible! It cannot be done. It’s all over. There is no way. This is the perfect environment for faith to be perfected. Faith = in what? The promise of God? No, our faith in God Himself needs= to be perfected.

Finally, Sarah brought forth Issac according to God’s speaking.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> What a joyous time! But the final test to Abraham̵= 7;s faith was about to come. God = told Abraham to offer his only son as a burnt offering. After such a process to get Isaac = was God now taking him away! How = could God keep His promise? This isn’t fair! But what is remarkable here is the fact that Abraham did not flinch! He was no longer focused on God= 217;s promise to him. Rather he = believed God Himself and fully trusted in Him.&= nbsp; Abraham’s eyes were not on the blessing, but on God. Abraham became like God in that he offered his only begotten son to God for His satisfaction. Abraham was infu= sed again and again by the hearing of faith which became the bountiful supply a= nd produced works of power in his life. He was made righteous because the righteous God was infused into Him through the hearing of faith. So then they who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. To be blessed in such a way we nee= d the continual hearing of faith by looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfe= ctor of our faith (Heb. 12:2).