After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
It is important to recall the significance of this moment in Abram’s life, the story of Israel and the doctrine of Justification by faith. Chapter 15 of Genesis is one of the most significant chapters in the Bible. Paul will use the above story to teach us about justification by faith. Those who would eventually receive the Law from Moses would later teach that you had to keep the Law to be saved. But since Abraham’s belief, as stated above, was before the Law. So we see that this passages tells us that Abram’s belief was “counted as righteousness.” The story if one about a man who did not have a child to pass on his name. For men in those days to not have an heir is a bad thing. But we have to remember that God has promised (in chapter 12) to bless all mankind through Abraham’s descendant.
The only way that Abraham could be counted a righteous was to simply believe the promise that God gave him. The promise? That even in his old age God would give him and heir and through that heir mankind would be blessed. At this point Abraham had no idea that this heir would be Jesus the Messiah. But the truth for us is that righteousness was counted to him by his BELIEF. It did not get righteousness because of something he did, but rather something God would do for him. That is how we obtain righteousness: By Faith.
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