The God Who Counts Things That Are Not as Though They Are
1. Paul Tells Us Which Circumstance Establishes the Doctrine
When Paul explains how a person is counted righteous before God, he takes us to one particular moment in the life of Abraham. We might naturally want to look through Abraham's entire story and point out his faith, his obedience, his failures, and his good works. But Paul does not permit us to do that. As we explored in a previous postprevious post, Paul tells us the crediting of righteousness is "not found" at other places in the chronology of Abraham's life. He tells us exactly where to look:
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
—Romans 4:3; Genesis 15:6
Why does Paul choose Genesis 15:6?
Abraham had already believed God in Genesis 12. He had already obeyed God by leaving his country and going where God told him to go. And there would be much more faith and obedience in Abraham's life after Genesis 15. Yet when Paul establishes the basis upon which righteousness is counted, he deliberately points to Genesis 15:6.
That is not an accident. Paul is the one interpreting Abraham's story for us, and he tells us which circumstance establishes his point.
This is not simply Paul's interpretation of an Old Testament story; this is the apostle entrusted with the gospel explaining the terms by which God counts righteousness under the New Covenant (Gal. 1:11-12). Paul takes us to this one event in Abraham's life to show us the grounds of the righteousness that God now grants through faith in Jesus Christ. If we want to understand Paul's doctrine, this is the story he tells us to understand it through.
But Paul does not merely point to Genesis 15:6 and leave us wondering why this moment is the basis for the New Covenant. He tells us why faith alone is theologically indispensable.
2. Abraham Believed God for What He Could Not Produce
He did not believe because the circumstances were favorable. He believed because God was able to do what He had promised.
Paul says Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Then Paul repeats the conclusion:
“That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.”
—Romans 4:22
This is why Genesis 15:6 matters so much.
Paul is not describing righteousness as something Abraham gradually built up by combining faith with an increasing record of obedience. Abraham had faith before Genesis 15. He had works before Genesis 15. He had faith and works afterward. But Paul identifies one particular circumstance in which righteousness was counted to him: when Abraham believed God's promise concerning what he could not possibly produce himself.
The impossibility is important.
Abraham could not manufacture the fulfillment of God's promise. His effort could not make the promised child appear. There was nothing he could contribute that would bring God's promise to pass. The fulfillment belonged entirely to God.
And this is where Paul moves from Abraham to us.
Paul says that the words “it was counted to him” were “not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.” We are to understand the same principle from Abraham's experience.
Now there is something fascinating happening in both directions.
3. Both Believed and Counted Before Seeing
Abraham called God able before the promise was visible; God called Abraham righteous before the righteousness was visible.
Abraham believed God could bring about what had not yet appeared. Though he and Sarah had no natural ability to produce the promised child, Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” He trusted God before he could see the fulfillment.
God, likewise, reckoned Abraham righteous at the moment of faith, before that righteousness had been fully manifested in his life.
Both were counting something before it could be seen.
God was not pretending Abraham was something he was not, nor was Abraham's later obedience unnecessary. Rather, God did not wait for a lifetime of righteous behavior before reckoning Abraham righteous. He reckoned him righteous when Abraham believed the promise.
And Abraham did not wait for visible evidence before trusting God. He believed in the God who “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Romans 4:17).
This is the New Covenant theme Paul gives us: Abraham trusted God for what had not yet appeared, while God reckoned Abraham righteous before that righteousness had been manifested.
Faith rests upon God's promise before the fulfillment can be seen.
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