Your Righteousness Is by Grace (Abraham vs. Moses)

from the book  Seed Truths: From Genesis to Revelation

By: Mike Harding

Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, fallen mankind has known and felt in his heart that he is not right with God. While many try to deny their guilt or even run farther away from God, many people have sought for the way to be right with God again. This search is represented by what Adam and Eve did in the garden after the fall. They made fig leaf coverings for themselves. But God responded by taking away their fig leaves and covering them with animal skin tunics. This was of course God’s way of saying, “You can’t cover yourself, but I will can cover you if you let Me.” So men continue to invent religions and rituals and ceremonies and rules and laws. They try to establish their own righteousness. (See Romans 10:3.)

In the books of Genesis and Exodus, God introduces two men. These two men are symbols of two possible ways to attain righteousness before God. The first man is Abraham.

¹   Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. ² I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  Genesis 12:1-3

God called Abraham to leave everything and follow Him. God told Abraham to leave behind his father’s house and his father’s family. This means that he was to leave behind his old identity and his old source of security. He was to take on a new identity as a covenant friend of God. He was to find his destiny and his provision and his security in God. Then God gave some great promises to Abraham. God promised to make him the father of a great multitude of people, to bless him and to make him a blessing. God also promised Abraham that he would bring the Savior, the Messiah, into the world through Abraham’s lineage. Through this Messiah, God would restore life and blessing to all the families of the earth.

God made all these promises to Abraham purely by His grace. He wanted to. He chose to. Abraham was not asking or seeking at all. It was pure grace.

⁵  Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶ And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.  Genesis 15:5-6

Abraham had not had any children yet, in spite of the promise of God. It looked impossible. He was getting old, and his wife was not only barren but now past the years of childbearing. So God brought Abraham outside and said, “Look at the stars! Try to count them! That’s how many descendants you will have!”

In the verse that follows, God introduces one of the most amazing seed truths in the Bible. Genesis 15:6 is the key to attaining righteousness before God, and in the rest of the Bible, Abraham is the symbol of this righteousness. Abraham is a model for us all to follow. Genesis 15:6 is quoted four times by the apostle Paul and once by James. (Romans 4:3, Romans 4:9, Romans 4:22, Galatians 3:6, James 2:23)

Genesis 15:6 says that, “Abraham believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” In other words, Abraham believed in the word of God, the promise of God, the nature of God and the power of God. And God called him righteous.

Abraham did not have any religion or rules to follow. There were no ten commandments. There were no rituals or ceremonies or laws. He simply believed God and was counted righteous.

In the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy, God introduces another man. This man is called Moses. Moses is a symbol of another way to attain righteousness before God. God makes Moses the leader of His people. Through Moses, God gives the Ten Commandments and all the rest of His rules and laws and statutes. Through Moses, God establishes a covenant of law, now called the Old Covenant.

This was God’s way of saying, “If you think you can establish your own righteousness, don’t make up your own rules or laws or standards of righteousness. Don’t make up your own religions or gods. I am the only true God. If you think you can attain your own righteousness, I will give you My standard. I will give you my laws and my commandments. They are moral perfection. They are perfect purity and justice. No mistakes are allowed.”

When God gave Israel His laws and commandments, He gave another seed truth of the Bible. Leviticus 18:5 is also a key verse, just as Genesis 15:6 is. Leviticus 18:5 says:

⁵  'So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.  Leviticus 18:5 

Leviticus 18:5 is quoted at least four other times in the Bible, twice by the prophet Ezekiel and twice by the apostle Paul. (Ezekiel 20:11, Ezekiel 20:21, Romans 10:5, Galatians 3:12)

What you should notice right away is that Genesis 15:6 and Leviticus 18:5 are two very different things. They contradict each other. They do not agree. Moses represents trying to attain your own righteousness by your performance, by keeping God’s laws and commandments. Abraham represents receiving God’s gift of righteousness by faith.

By introducing these two men as symbols, God is going to tell us a story. He is going to teach us which of the two is the correct way to attain righteousness before God.

So what happened to Abraham? We already read that he was declared righteous the moment he believed God.

What happened to Moses? Read it in Deuteronomy 34:4-5:

⁴  Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” ⁵ So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.  Deuteronomy 34:4-5

Moses represented the Law. Moses was the main representative of the Law to the people of Israel. But Moses himself could not enter the Promised Land.

God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants. Abraham had no laws and no commandments. He received a promise by grace and he believed God’s promise. Abraham’s descendants would certainly inherit the land.

But Moses could not enter the land. Why not? Under the Law, perfection was the standard. And Moses made at least on mistake. He disobeyed God at least one time. You can read about it in Numbers 20:8-12.

If Moses himself, who represented the Law, could not attain righteousness by the Law, nobody else can either!

God is saying, “Here are two ways to attain righteousness before Me. Only one of them actually works. Make the right choice!” It’s like having a test in school, but there is only one question and only two possible answers. And it’s an “open book test”!

Throughout the rest of the Bible, God continues to give us the right answer:

¹  “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. ² Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him.”  Isaiah 51:1-2

God speaks to Israel, and to us, through the prophet Isaiah. He says, “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness.” He is saying, if you want the answer to attaining righteousness, listen. I will give you the right answer. I will help you. Then He says, “Look to Abraham, your father.” Why look to Abraham? Abraham believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) He does not say, “Look to Moses.” He says, “Look to Abraham!”

⁴   "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.  Habakkuk 2:4 

Through the prophet Habakkuk, God makes it clear for us. Righteousness comes by faith in God. It is by God’s grace. It is a gift to those who trust in Him. The apostle Paul understood it, but only after he had an encounter with Jesus Christ. Paul quotes it at least three times. (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38) 

The Covenant of Law was in effect from the time of Moses to the time that Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Under the Old Covenant, there was a curse for breaking the Law. Have you ever noticed what Malachi says?

⁶   And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”  Malachi 4:6

Wow! The last word of the Old Testament is the word “curse”. Do you think that is an accident? Or do you think that is on purpose? Do you think that God is trying to say something about what Moses represents, about what the covenant of Law represents?

³³  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Matthew 6:33

Jesus said that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. For many years, I would read that verse and I thought I knew what it meant. I thought it meant, “Seek first the kingdom of God and try really, really hard to be righteous.” But one day the Holy Spirit whispered something to me. He said, “Did you notice that it says to seek HIS righteousness? Not your own?” What is His righteousness? The answer is in Romans 10:3-4: For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Now look at a story that Jesus told about a rich man and a poor man.

¹⁹   “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ ²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ “  Luke 16:19-31 (22)

One day I was reading this story, and I felt like I needed the Holy Spirit to help me understand it. It sounded from this story like rich people go to hell, and poor people are righteous. But I already knew that that was not true. I asked the Lord to show me the meaning of the story.

He said to me, “Did you notice that the story is about ‘Abraham’s bosom’? Why doesn’t it say ‘Moses’ bosom’?” I immediately understood!

Before the cross and the resurrection, those that trusted in God for His salvation went to a place called “Abraham’s bosom”. The poor man in the story, Lazarus, went to Abraham’s bosom because he trusted God, just like Abraham did, and was counted righteous. There is no place called “Moses’ bosom” because no one ever attained righteousness by the Law, including Moses himself!

¹  What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Romans 4:1-3

The apostle Paul understood righteousness by grace through faith. But he only understood it after he had an amazing encounter with Jesus Christ. (Acts chapter 9) Before Paul knew Jesus, he was a Pharisee. He was a Jew who believed in attaining your own righteousness by keeping the law of God. But after his encounter with Jesus, his eyes were opened. He began to study the scriptures again. The Holy Spirit opened his eyes and gave him understanding. He saw that Abraham was the model for us, not Moses.

²⁰    He (Abraham) did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. ²² And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ²³ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.  Romans 4:20-25

Paul wrote that Abraham believed the promise of God and was declared righteous. Now, for us in the new covenant, we are to believe the gospel. We are to believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins on a cross and was raised from the dead. If we believe that message, we are declared righteous before God in the same way that Abraham was. Hallelujah!

¹  Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. ² For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.  Romans 10:1-4 (Abraham)

Paul was grieved that Israel was still trying to establish their own righteousness through the Law of Moses. They didn’t understand. By their pride, they were blinded to God’s grace. They were blinded to righteousness by faith.

Christ fulfilled the law perfectly. He is the only one that ever did. By fulfilling it, He ended it. He brought the Law to an end. Now, we trust in Christ, not the law. Now, we receive His gift of righteousness by believing as Abraham believed.

⁵   For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” (Leviticus 18:5) ⁶ But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ “ (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ⁷ or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ “ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Romans 10:5-10 (Moses)

Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5. He talks about “the righteousness which is of the law”. But he contrasts that kind of righteousness with “the righteousness of faith”. It’s Abraham vs. Moses. If you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, you attain righteousness. Hallelujah!

¹ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? ² This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? ⁴ Have you suffered so many things in vain --- if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? --- ⁶just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6) ⁷ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. ¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” ¹¹ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for“the just shall live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4) ¹²Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”(Leviticus 18:5) ¹³ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), ¹⁴ that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.   Galatians 3:1-14

In Galatians 3:1-14, Paul quotes the three seed-truth verses about righteousness: Genesis 15:6, Habakkuk 2:4, and Leviticus 18:5. He sums it perfectly. It’s Abraham vs. Moses. Abraham wins!

By the way, did you notice that it’s called the “blessing of Abraham”? Did you notice that it’s not called the “blessing of Moses”? I bet you did!

Finally, consider one more thing. Genesis 15:6 is the seed truth scripture that establishes God’s way of attaining righteousness. So then, who wrote Genesis 15:6? It was Moses! Who wrote the first five books of the Bible? Moses! Every good Bible scholar will tell you that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. Moses knew that righteousness was attained through faith. Moses wrote that verse. Moses was a man of faith. He is in Heaven right now. Moses also no doubt knew that God was going to use him as a symbol of trying to attain righteousness through the Law. Moses knew that he couldn’t enter the earthly Promised Land because he represented the Law. But he knew that he would enter God’s heavenly kingdom because, like Abraham, Moses was a believer who attained righteousness by trusting in the salvation of God. Hallelujah!