Studies in Genesis, Faith, Righteousness and Trusting, Lesson XXXVI, Genesis 15:6

 

Dr. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, related in chapter 16, the events concerning the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul where the keeper of the prison seeing the doors opened by a great earthquake pleaded with Paul asking:

 

Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

 

³¹ And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

 

In our study passage in Genesis 15:1-6 where Abram exhibited fear in regard to being childless and its opposition to the promises of God that from Abram a great people would come, we were given this truth in verse 6 from the writing of Moses:

 

⁶ And he (Abram) believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

 

So these two events, separated by over 2000 years tell us plainly the way of salvation unchanged by time, for time means nothing to the basic nature of men for as the bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 

 

God has one way of salvation and the one way does not change over time.

 

It was the same for the Philippian jailor as it was for Abram.

 

And it always concerns believing God and believing God means believing His word and His word is Jesus Christ.

 

So salvation only comes by faith in God, a faith that believes that God will always do what He said He will do.

 

And He told Abram, because he believed that He counted it to him for righteousness.

 

In Genesis 15:6 the word righteousness appears for the first time in the Bible. 

 

It means being acceptable to God. 

 

It means being right before God.

 

⁶ And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

 

God counted it to him means God made Abram righteous.

 

Counted in the Hebrew means to plait or interpenetrate which means to weave or to fabricate or to make. 

 

Think of it as detailed as crocheting or knitting.

 

Abram believed God and because of this, God made Abram right before Him. 

 

Abram’s standing before God was right only because of God’s act which was moved by Abram’s faith.

 

The word counted is a word of assurance that with the word righteousness means that God made something that cannot be unmade for it was made by the word of God. 

 

God made Abram righteous which made him justified or right before God.

 

We on this side of the first coming of Christ know that God repeats this process every time a sinner, guilty before God, has faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. 

 

God declares that anyone who believes on Christ will have standing before Him for God will make that to happen.

 

It is not an act of the sinner but an act of God.

 

And we read of this act in Romans 4:1-5, What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? ² For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. ³ For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. ⁴ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. ⁵ But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

 

So righteousness has absolutely, positively nothing to do with works.

And this truth is Bible wide, from cover to cover.  

The Apostle Paul had no argument with this truth for we read in:  

Titus 3:5-7, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; ⁶ Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; ⁷ That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 

And following this in verse 8 works are put into their proper place, a place following, not in front of salvation. 

Reading Titus 3:8, This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. 

Note the timing: They which have believed maintain good works! 

Belief first, then good works!  

Good works then are a product of belief! 

Now here in Genesis 15 we are given the first time Abram speaks to God.  

God spoke to Abram in Ur of the Chaldees, but Abram only received God’s word without any reply on his part.  

But here in chapter 15 Abram addresses God as Adonai Yahweh.  

Adonai means Lord, Master, or Sovereign.  

It is used to see God as absolute ruler.   

This name of God is used by one who completely humbles himself before Him asking for help with his doubts and fears. 

It is a name used by one of faith for it recognizes God as the only source of help.  

It is a name prompted by one who trusts in whatever answer comes back from any pleading in prayer. 

We see in this passage a personal connection between Abram and Adonai Yahweh.  

We see a coming of Adonai Yahweh to Abram in his time of fear.   

It is a tender exchange for God beckons Abram to come in the night, certainly a time indeed of fearing, but also a time to:  

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. 

And in this, Abram’s fear is banished for God confirms His promise.  

Thy seed shall be in number as the stars that fill the heavens. 

In Genesis 13, when Abram was left with the dust of the desert after Lot’s departure God encouraged Abram by pointing to that dust saying:

And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

 

And here in the night where fear often visits, God asks Abram to number the stars and in these two accounts infers both the dust and the stars cannot be numbered therefore neither can your seed be numbered.

 

This account of our father of faith is given to us in order for us to be like father like son, like father like daughter. 

 

It is an account of a believer in a personal God, a God who comes in the night with assurance that all is right.

 

Abram was directed to God’s promises concerning a son, but just remember how much greater we are blessed with all the promises that we have in the finished Word of God.

 

This account is given to assure every believer to go to Adonai Yahweh, the ruler of all, the one and only one who will hear your every request and address your fears and show you by His actions that He cares for you.

 

Abram saw the stars, heard the word of the Lord and his belief was counted unto him for righteousness. 

 

Now also in this passage the phrase, “the word of the Lord came unto” is the first time it is used in the Bible.

 

This phrase occurs often after this especially with the prophets. 

 

It came to Abram from the voice of God but it comes to us in written form faithfully recorded by those to whom it was given in one form or another.

 

Now “the word of the Lord came unto” is tied to Abram’s belief counting unto him for righteousness.

 

For it was belief in the word of the Lord.

 

It is a belief that carries one to give credence to the word that leads one to make decisions within that word regarding life. 

 

It is a belief that leads to trust.

 

Belief or faith then moves one to trust but not to trust in just anything but to trust in God’s word.

 

Many times we use the words faith and trust interchangeably but there are distinctions in the words that we should know.

 

Hebrews 11:1 says:  Now faith is the substance (the foundation upon which hope is built) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 

The word faith as used in this verse means persuasion.

 

It means credence or certainty or moral conviction of the truthfulness of God.

 

Paul expressed his faith when in 2 Tim 1:12 he said this:

 

For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

 

Paul's hope was built upon a settled conviction or persuasion of things not yet actual but certain to become so.

 

Faith then is built upon knowing in whom you believe.

 

Matthew Henry in his commentary states it this way:

 

It is a firm persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promised to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those things now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first‑fruits and foretastes of them.

Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye. It is a full approval of all God has revealed, as holy, just, and good.

 

So knowing this we will know there a difference in faith and trust.

 

The word trust as used in Proverbs 3:5 is from the Hebrew word batach, baw‑takh'. 

 

It means to flee for refuge, to be confident or sure: to be bold in fleeing.

 

Another word translated trust many times in the Old Testament is from the Hebrew word khaw‑saw' which means to flee for protection, to make refuge.

 

Trust then is an action word. 

 

It is a word which indicates movement to a place of safety from a place of danger. 

 

Note the defining word flee.

 

Trust then indicates an urgency of action. 

 

Something must be done and it must be done now. 

 

It is a recognition that refuge is needed. 

 

It is a recognition that protection must be sought. 

 

But where does trust find that refuge, where does trust get that protection?

 

Trust reveals that refuge and protection must be sought. 

 

So this is where faith comes in. 

 

Faith reveals where that refuge and protection is to come from for we are told to trust in the Lord with all thine heart. 

 

By faith I am convinced that the Lord, and the Lord only, is the place of refuge and protection. 

 

My mind assents to this.

 

Faith then is the engine that causes the movement of trust.

 

Abram believed God.

 

Abram in this, shows his faith. 

 

Now God expects that faith to put on shoes which will always be used to dwell in God’s place of refuge. 

 

Faith brings a recognition there is no place of real safety other than that which God provides and that recognition clothes those of faith with the robe of trust.

 

God came to Abram in a vision by night and told him:

 

Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

 

He could have also said Fear not, Abram I am thy refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

 

And Abram could have said: The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

 

For every one of these, the shield, the refuge, the strength, the help, the rock, the fortress, the deliverer, the buckler, the horn and the high tower are God’s hiding place for those who trust.

 

God revealed himself to Abram in times of crisis.

 

And God became that one, that only one that Abram could trust for he chose to walk by faith believing that God would always deliver and be a place of refuge.

 

God many times brings into our lives difficult times and hard trials but in all of these things trusting Him will bring sharp focus upon his wonderful promises and the glorious conclusion of this journey of life.