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"And behold the word of the Lord came unto him saying, This shall not be thine heir;
but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir."
This definite statement removed Eliezer from the field conferred upon Abram in his
old age the assured hope of literal parenthood.
Not yet did Abram's faith firmly grasp the fact that this promise encircled Sarah also;
this is evident by the sequel, yet he believed the literal statement of the Lord and for the
time that was all the Lord intended. When Abram stood alone, rid of the society of Lot,
the Lord used the simile of the dust of the earth to indicate the number of his seed. Now
Abram's eyes are directed heavenward:--
"And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the
stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, so shall thy seed be."
Abram stood before that heavenly host, a childless old man, yet the simple statement
is made--grand in its simplicity--"And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him
for righteousness". This sentence brings us to one of the most important utterances of
Scripture. Upon the truth contained therein the apostle Paul founded his gospel. The
epistles to the Romans and the Galatians are impossible apart from it: It will therefore
warrant a pause and a prayerful consideration.
"He believed in the Lord."--Rom. 4: 3 says, "Abraham believed God." Had not
Abraham believed in the Lord, or believed God when he obeyed the command to leave
Ur of the Chaldees? He certainly did, for Heb. 11: definitely says that he acted "by
faith". Was not the response recorded in Gen. 12: 7 the act of a worshipper who
believed? Did not Abraham believe the Most High God when he preferred His blessing
to Sodom's gifts? Surely he did. Then what is the reason for this statement here? We
believe the whole secret is wrapped up in the fact that Abraham's belief in the Lord on
this particular occasion embraced the idea of resurrection. This is elaborated in Rom. 4:
in connection with the fuller statement concerning Abraham's seed given in Gen. 17:
That is the character of the faith which justifies.
The purpose of justification goes back as far as Gen. 12:, for Gal. 3: 8 says:--
"The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached
before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed."
Justification by faith was incipient in the covenant of Gen. 12:, it arrives at full
consciousness, so to speak, in Gen. 15: Take the words "counted for". If we turn to
Rom. 4: 1-8, we find the expression "counted for", and also "reckoned" and "imputed",
the same word being translated by these various terms. The important thing to notice is
that faith is "counted FOR", whereas righteousness, sin and reward are "counted". The
difference is this, righteousness, sin and reward are real value in themselves, whereas
faith is only of value by virtue of the work of another and the ordinance of God.
A treasury note is worth £1, yet its intrinsic value is practically nil. Drop a treasury
note in the fire and its value ceases. Drop a sovereign in the fire and its value remains the