Consider Abraham: "He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."  Understand then that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:6-9 [Read in new window])

We can identify at least three blessings that we receive "along with" Abraham

1. The Gift of Righteousness.
God "announced [or preached] the Gospel in advance to Abraham". Jesus tells us that "Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day: he saw it and was glad" (John 8: 56). We are not able to read in Genesis details of the gospel message preached to Abraham, or his response to it. Yet it must be true that Abraham was awakened to see that he was a sinner and could not save himself from the judgement that he justly deserved. He saw enough to make him "glad". Today, we look backwards in time to the Person and work of Christ; Abraham looked forward to them. He was credited with, or provided with, a righteousness not his own and pronounced innocent in his standing before God, with all his sins forgiven. We understand this to be the doctrine of justification. He was saved in the same way as we are. God’s people are saved the same way in all ages. There is only one Church throughout history, and membership of it is obtained in the same way as Abraham obtained it. Truly, "he is the father of us all" (Romans 4 :16).
 
2. The Guarantee of Security.
Another way in which we are blessed "along with" Abraham is our shared privilege of entering into a covenant with God. It is in the very nature of God’s character to bind Himself to His people in a covenant. Essentially, all covenants are summed up in the phrase, "I will be their God and they will be my people." We understand this to be the doctrine of adoption. God cherishes us with His fatherly love, keeps us from evil, cares for all our needs, hears and answers our prayers. God pledges or binds Himself to do all this. He never acts on a whim or in an arbitrary or capricious manner. The covenant made with Abraham in Genesis 17 was of a different order from others. It was made not only with Abraham but with all who have faith. It is everlasting, whereas the one made with Moses, for example, concerning rules for Israel’s worship and society, was superseded, as we read in Jeremiah 31 and the Book of Hebrews.
 
3. The Granting of Privileges to believers’ children
. Abraham had certain specific promises made to him of a physical and earthly nature: possession of the land of Canaan, by physical descendants through Isaac. But, as Calvin points out, "It is quite certain that the …promises … were spiritual and referred to eternal life." First, concerning the land of Canaan: we are told in Hebrews 11:10 that Abraham had a much deeper understanding of what was held out to him: "he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." The granting of the land was a stimulus for him to believe in an eternal home. Similarly, he knew that spiritual and eternal blessings would follow him to his children. His descendants would become ‘the new Israel’ and his posterity, not just the Jewish nation, but also the universal Church. We understand the outworking of God’s covenant to Abraham through his children to be the usual, (but, of course, never guaranteed and never exclusive) means God uses to build His Church and achieve His eternal purpose through the generations.

Peter on the Day of Pentecost, announcing the reorganisation of the Church to include the Gentiles, reassured his hearers that the promise of forgiveness of sins and the indwelling Spirit were, as always, for "you and your children" (Acts 2: 39). But, sadly, observation and experience show us that not every believer’s child will come to faith. Only, as Peter continues, "those whom the Lord our God will call." Romans 9:6-8 makes clear what many Christians have discovered by bitter experience: "It is not the natural children who are God’s children." In Israel, there were those who were not circumcised in heart - only in their bodies: "A man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit" (Romans 2:29). Nevertheless, despite these cautions, Abraham was commanded to place the sign of the covenant even on Ishmael who grew up to be a covenant breaker rather than a covenant keeper. For him, the sign of circumcision did not prove to be the seal, or stamp of Divine approval and ownership.

All Christians accept that baptism is now the rite that marks initiation into the community of the Church. In the Church of the Old Testament, the sign of initiation, (then circumcision) was placed on all believers’ children, even though there could be no absolute certainty that God would elect every one of them. Possessing the sign did not mean, and still does not mean in baptism, that the reality to which the sign points, will eventually follow. Indeed, part of the meaning of the sign is that the child needs to have his sins washed away, to be saved. A baptism service is, in part, a gospel, or evangelistic service.

Yet the sign does indicate something that is true for every child and it is this truth that cheers the Christian - that each child, born of at least one believing parent, has a special status: he or she is ‘holy’ (1 Corinthians 7:14). This does not mean that they are saved. It is obvious that it cannot. But means they are ‘set apart’ from other children. Therefore when we baptise a child of a believing parent we proclaim this special status.

Such children enjoy great, present, privileges. The privileges arise from growing up in a Christian family and in the fellowship of the Church. These privileges are instruction and admonition in God’s truth; godly examples to illustrate the truth; the prayers and nurturing love. These are very precious advantages. By such means God speaks to their hearts and may call them to Himself. These are usually His ordained means.

There are encouragements to faith. Cornelius was assured that if he sent for Peter that not only would he be saved, but also his house. (Acts 11:14). The whole household of Stephanus was baptised. (1 Corinthians 1:16) When the Philippian jailer sought salvation, the apostles assured him, even before they know the details of his background, that his whole household would be saved. It seems to be the case that when an individual is saved, grace invades his family circle. The promises are of great consolation to any Christian parent and provide a focus for prayer and faith. It enables parents, as Rev William Still of Aberdeen said, to bring up children in faith not fear.

"Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham…" Isaiah 51:1-2.