Credited

After everything that happened in Genesis 14: the battle of the kings (four kings against five), Abram’s rescue of Lot, the appearance of Melchizedek, the offer from the king of Sodom—after this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision.

Since Abram’s calling, he’s been through quite a bit. He’s left his father, his home, his people and set out on a journey to a land the LORD would show him.

Abram followed the LORD to Canaan.

But then, in the face of famine, Abram took his wife and everyone with him on a misadventure to Egypt. He offered his wife to Pharaoh save his own skin.

The LORD brought Abram out of Egypt, back to the land. Then Lot and Abram separated for the sake of their livestock.

And then this battle between the 9 kings and the rescue of Lot.

Abram’s life with the LORD has been…interesting. Much, much different from ours in myriad ways.

But anyone who has lived for any length of time connected to Christ knows that this life of faith is interesting.

There are ups and downs. Hills and valleys. Good times and difficult times. There is health and sickness. Prosperity and poverty. Through it all, the LORD is with us. Even as we walk through valley of the shadow of death, He is with us.

Abram has exercised great trust and reliance upon the LORD. He’s also trusted himself and put faith in himself, which is a terribly foolish and bad idea.

What we have here, though, in Genesis 15 is an example of faith.

It’s incredible what we can learn about faith in these short 6 verses.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Genesis 15. If you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word:

Genesis 15:1–6

1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word!

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Here, the word of the LORD came to Abram and assures Abram that the LORD Himself is his shield and reward.

But Abram doesn’t immediately respond with worship: “Praise be to God! Hallelujah! Thank you, LORD!”

No, no. Abram has a few questions.

Sometimes

Faith Questions _______

A reading of the Bible will back this up; you find faithful people questioning God throughout.

David asks the LORD, “How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?”

Job asked, “Why did I not perish at birth?”

Habakkuk asks, “How long, LORD?” and “Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?”

Israel asks the LORD: “How have you loved us?”

Jesus, our Savior, asked His Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Faithful people question. That’s just a smattering of verses in the Bible. Honestly, these are the examples I could think of off the top of my head.

Psalm 13, where David asks, “How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” was the psalm I was stuck in for a period of a couple years.

This was 17-18 years ago. I wasn’t sure what was going on, why the LORD was doing what He was. I didn’t know what the LORD was up to at all.

I didn’t read much in my Bible outside of Psalm 13. Just kept reading those words over and over, praying those words over and over. Questioning the LORD over and over.

Those years and that experience formed me in ways nothing else has.

One truth I learned during that time was this: our faith is not an unquestioning faith.

Ask your questions. Seek the LORD. If you’re struggling, ask God what He’s doing, what He has planned, why He has you going through this.

Be honest with Him. And be faithful while you question Him.

Faith Questions Faithfully

In verse 1, the faithful Abram has to be told not to fear. “Do not be afraid” are the first words the LORD speaks to Abram here.

That’s because hearing from the LORD in a vision was probably a pretty frightening moment.

The LORD speaks and grown men, strong women tremble. He is full of majesty and awe; no one can look on Him and live.

“Fear not” is right. The faithful Abram has to be told: “Don’t be afraid.”

Faithful Abram is told not to fear; the word of the LORD is not going to undo Him. In fact, Abram takes this as an invitation to engage with the LORD, to lay out his doubts and questions.

For the first time there is dialogue between God and Abram. So far, there has been only monologue (12:1ff., 7; 13:14ff.). Abram has, up to this point, listened to the LORD and acted upon what the LORD said, but Abram offered no verbal response.

Abram has spoken to his wife, to Lot, to the king of Sodom; but now he speaks to God, in the form of a challenging question.

Abram faithfully questions the LORD.

However, rather than waiting for the LORD to respond to his question, Abram attempts an answer to his own question.

It makes you wonder what Abram’s thinking: “The LORD can deliver all of these enemies into my hand, but He can’t give me a son?!”

I’m guessing you’ve wondered similar things about the LORD.

“He can part the Red Sea, but He can’t point me in the direction of a job?!”

“He created all things with a word; why won’t He just speak and take away the cancer?!?”

“God gave Gideon and his 300 men the strength to defeat a vast Midianite army, but He won’t help Mizzou Football put together a winning season?!?”

Abram has all sorts of questions about the “very great reward”—not about what it is, but about why a reward would matter.

It’s not like he has any children to pass it on to. The guy who’s going to inherit everything Abram has, including this “reward”, is a servant in his house, a guy named Eliezer.

Abram asks, rather pointedly, “What can you give me?”

BUT Abram asks with reverence and honor. He questions faithfully. Abram begins by addressing his question: “Sovereign LORD…”

That’s huge! Abram’s going to ask some very direct, very pointed, very heartfelt questions, but he addresses them to the Sovereign LORD.

This translates Adonai Yahweh. Sovereign LORD, Lord God, formally, Majestic Lord Yahweh—a title of the true God with a focus on His authority and majesty, but also with an implied relationship based in promise and covenant.

Abram is questioning God, but questioning Him as the One who has authority and sovereign power. Abram knows He’s in charge. He is the Ruler. Abram can trust Him based on all that, and, as a bonus, has the privilege of a relationship with Him.

Faith questions faithfully. Abram is a man of faith; when He questions the LORD—which he is invited to do—he does so faithfully.

Take your doubts, your fears, your questions, your anger, your uncertainty, your struggles to the Sovereign LORD.

Do so faithfully, honoring the LORD, with reverence.

It’s amazing what we can learn about faith in these 6 short verses. Faith questions faithfully, and,

The Word of the LORD Informs and Bolsters Our Faith

Now that Abram has asked his questions, the word of the LORD came back to him.

What Abram needs is the word of the LORD to set him straight, to inform him, to remind him of the promise God made to him.

Very simply, the word of the LORD tells Abram what he needs to hear: Eliezer won’t be his heir, but Abram will have a son—his own flesh and blood.

Our faith needs to be informed by the word of the LORD.

I’ve studied the Bible seriously for about 25 years. I have a degree in the Bible, and almost graduated with honors (stinkin’ John Zizz beat me out by one one-hundredth of one percent; I’m not bitter).

I get to delve into the Bible daily (just like you). One of the perks of being a pastor is getting paid to study and teach and reflect on God’s Word.

All that to say, my faith is still being informed by the word of the LORD.

I’m never going master this book; it’s always going to be working on me and my faith. The Bible will continue to confront and correct and challenge me.

The Bible—the word of the LORD recorded and preserved for us—informs our faith; it tells us what we need to hear. It assures us, comforts us, convicts us.

The word of the LORD is informative and bolstering to our faith.

It’s the word of the LORD that comes to Abram and causes him to double-down in faith; to remain steadfast. It’s the word of the LORD that bolsters his faith.

Abram needs the word of the LORD.

So do I. So do you.

This is one of the main reasons we gather together on Sunday morning: to hear the word of the LORD preached and proclaimed, read aloud, taught.

This is why you need to be part of Bible-believing church, a community that believes and teaches that the Bible is the word of the LORD—infallible, inerrant, dependable, and sufficient—that every word of the Bible is true and breathed out by God.

The word of the LORD comes to Abram, informing and bolstering/strengthening his faith.

And then the LORD illustrates His promise for Abram’s sake.

Do they still do “show-and-tell” at school? I was the king of show-and-tell.

My great-uncle Jim came to visit us when I was in the third grade. He was a bachelor-vagabond. Tons of fun. He was up for anything, so I decided to take him to show-and-tell with me.

I stood in the front of the class and said something like, “For show and tell, this is my great-uncle. His name’s Jim. He lives in his RV. Oh, and he’s not married.”

At that, my old-maid school teacher, Ms. Evelyn Ringwald perked up and introduced herself. It was a one-sided love connection; Ms. Ringwald made Uncle Jim very uncomfortable.

But it was the best show-and-tell of the day, maybe year.

The LORD God decides this night is show-and-tell for Abram and the rest of the class.

The LORD takes Abram outside and tells him to look at the stars, try and count them. "See all the stars? So shall your offspring be.”

What an incredible illustration of the promise He made!

If you think you’re beyond the need for show-and-tell, you’re wrong. We do show-and-tell every week.

The Lord’s Supper / Communion is Jesus’ authorized picture to impress upon you His love for you.

As you come to the table with your wobbly faith or tired faith on the Lord’s Day, it’s as if Jesus is saying, “Here, let me see if I can give you a picture of what I’ve done for you, to bolster your faith, to strengthen you.”

God doesn’t have us count the stars, but He does have us come to the table to taste and see just how good He is to us.

Abram heard from the LORD. He saw the promise illustrated, even if he couldn’t understand yet that the LORD would give to him physical descendants AND spiritual descendants in every generation and from every nation.

Abram’s wavering faith needs the informing, bolstering word of the LORD.

And so does ours.

It’s amazing what we can learn about faith from these short 6 verses: faith questions faithfully, faith is informed and bolstered by the word of the LORD, and,

Righteousness Comes By Faith

Genesis 15:6 is one of those verses that you need to underline and memorize and hold onto. It’s possibly the key verse in Genesis, and maybe the entire OT.

This verse tells us why believing/having faith is crucial.

This verse has the first use of the noun “righteousness” in the Bible; the first use of “count, reckon, credit” in the Bible; and the first occurrence of “believe” in the Bible.

Genesis 15:6 NIV

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

You realize this was written for you, right? That’s what Paul writes in Romans. These words were not just written for Abram, but for us as well.

This verse tells of God’s gracious decision about Abram: God counted Abram’s believing attitude as righteousness.

“Righteousness”is not something Abram had in himself, but God counted Abram’s faith as what He wanted and gave Abram right standing with Himself.

And so it is for all who have faith. Righteousness comes by faith. One is made right with God through faith. Justification—right standing with God—comes through faith; always has, always will.

Genesis 15:6 NIV

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

You realize this is written for you, right?

Speaking first of Abram, Paul writes:

Romans 4:20–22 NIV

20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Then, speaking to us, Paul takes Abram’s story and ties it to ours:

Romans 4:23–25 NIV

23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Righteousness is credited to those who believe in the One who raised Jesus from the dead.

Faith in the God of the Bible is what saves a person.

Faith justifies.

Faith results in righteousness, right standing with God.

Sola Fide. Faith Alone!

Abram would wait for many more years before he received the fruit of the promise.

But through faith he found immediate acceptance with God—the One who credited his faith as righteousness.

That word—credited—is one of my favorite words. Credited / reckoned / counted —whichever word your Bible uses, the meaning is the same.

Where righteousness is concerned, it’s unearned. Abram was counted righteous before he did anything righteous. Abram had faith, so righteousness was credited to his account.

It’s crazy, right?!

Imagine just believing that there’s going be money in your bank account. And at that, the bank determines your faith is all that’s needed and BOOM! $500 Billion dollars deposited immediately.

Gospel math is even crazier.

Righteousness is credited to us—sinners of the worst kind—the moment we place our faith in Jesus.

And not just partial righteousness or a decent amount of righteousness, but PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS—the perfect, spotless, sinless righteousness of Jesus:

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When we believe, the moment our faith is placed in Jesus, our sin is transferred to Jesus and paid for by His body and blood, and Jesus’ righteousness is credited to us, imputed to us.

Righteousness comes by faith.

Faith is fundamental, from the time of Abram, right through the OT into the NT, up to today and beyond.

If you are “in Christ,” His righteousness is extended to you, as it was to Abram. Faith leads to acceptance and blessing in Christ, and the granting of all the promises.

Genesis 15:6 NIV

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

This was written for you, you know? This is still the way God put people right with Himself.

In Reader’s Digest a few years ago, they told the story of an elementary school teacher. She was showing a copy of the Declaration of Independence to her class. It passed from desk to desk.

Finally, the document came to a first-generation American. The young boy read the document carefully, and then before passing it to the next desk, grabbed his pencil and scribbled his own name at the bottom.

This, as if to say: “This isn’t merely for those folks in the 18th century—this is for ‘my sake’ as well.”

Romans 4:23–24 NIV

23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Abram’s story is for us as well.

It’s for you; that is, if you have been given faith to believe.

It’s for you; that is, if you’ve believed in Jesus.

If you have believed in Jesus, you are clothed in His righteousness.

Read Genesis 15:6 and then sign your name below it. It’s that big of a deal.

It’s written there for me.

And for you.

“Lord God, how grateful we are for this lesson about faith. Abram’s faith being credited to him as righteousness. We know that all who believe in you are righteous in your sight. Jesus has given us His righteousness. What an indescribable gift!

We are stunned by your undeserved grace. We are struck by your mercy. We are blown away by this righteousness credited to us—we who are entirely UNrighteous apart from Jesus.

How good you are to us. Thank you for your Word which informs us and strengthens our faith. Make us more and more like Jesus, this we pray. Amen.”