Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Long before we learn of any act of obedience or disobedience, we read that the LORD called Abram to a new land in order to establish a new nation. Abram was not called because of his righteousness, for Abram was a sinner (as we will see in Gen. 12 & 20). In fact, we are never told why the LORD specifically called Abram. All we know is that the LORD did call him.

When Abram arrived in the land of Canaan, the LORD said to him:

Genesis 12:7 “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

The LORD reaffirmed the promise made in Gen. 12:1-3. But right after the reaffirmation of God’s promise, Abram sinned against the LORD.

Genesis 12:10-13 10 Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; 12 and it will come about when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”

Abram was concerned for his own skin. He received the promise from God, that He would make Abram a great nation. But instead of acting in faith, Abram asked his wife to lie, and deny that she was Abram’s wife. Abram proceeded to repeat this same deception in Gen. 20. While we learn in Gen. 20 that Sarah was, indeed, Abraham’s half-sister, the true deception was the denial that she was Abraham’s wife.

In between these two incidents, the LORD visited Abraham (Gen. 18), and once again reaffirmed the promise made concerning him.

Genesis 18:17-19 17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? 19 “For I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

Was Abraham called because of his faithfulness, or spiritual piety? No. Abraham was called, chosen, because the LORD decided to. Abraham possessed no self-merit, no exclusive claim on God’s favor. In his life Abraham displayed faithfulness and faithlessness. Twice he lied about his wife (Gen. 12 & 20). But Abraham also displayed great faith by heeding God’s call (Gen. 12), and by offering his only son, Isaac, as an offering (Gen. 22).

God does not predestine people based on what they do or their potential. God’s sovereign choice is based on the counsel of His own will.

Ephesians 1:11 1 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

The scope of God’s purpose of Abraham may be greater than ours, but it is no less certain. All Christians have been called according to God’s purpose.