Genesis 15:6 (ESV)
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
What is the craziest thing about our faith? Some people would argue that the whole thing is crazy. Others argue against the standards of God, believing our morality to be out of whack. Of course, some hate the concept of a God who would judge anybody for anything. Some think that what we believe about the world being created from nothing is loony. Yet others argue that the concept of miracles is farfetched.
But I’m wondering if the verse above is the nuttiest thing about the faith. In Genesis 15, God and Abram are having a conversation. The bottom line of the conversation is that God made some specific promises to Abram, promises that seem impossible. Yet, when Abram believed God, God counted it as righteousness.
Stop and think about this concept from outside of the Christian worldview. How in the world could a simple belief be exchanged for a life of right living? We already saw that Abram had doubted God. We already saw that Abram subjected his wife to a horrific experience in Egypt because of Abram’s selfish fear. Yet, when Abram simply believed God, that was it; his record came up righteous as opposed to sinful. That seems crazy.
No other world religion can even come close to this belief system. Of course, there are religions that reject the concept of justice and which assume that there is no judgment to come. These are fairly unsatisfying. Though they allow for men not to fear the wrath of a deity, they also offer no concept of proper retribution for the evil men of the world. We find it very difficult to find any satisfaction in a belief system that would allow Hitler, Stalin, and child molesters to face the exact same eternity as the rest of humanity.
Other religious systems assume that there is some sort of justice, be that from a deity or a universally-imposed system of reward and punishment. To all of these religions, except for Christianity, the rewards are based on right living. You do good, you get good. You do bad, you get bad. Live right, and your stock goes up. Live wrong, your stock goes down. Fulfill the requirements, carry out the rituals, give to the cause, and you win. Refuse to obey, refuse to perform the rights, do them wrongly, and you lose.
But here in Genesis 15:6 we see the alternative to all world religions and belief systems. Christianity fully rejects the notion of no judgment for humanity—God is just. Yet, Christianity also rejects a performance-based system. Instead, in the craziest part of the faith, we see that a man is counted as righteous before God, not because he was righteous, not because he did something right, not because he avoided sin, not because he carried out the ritual, but simply because and only because he believed God.
Of course, Abram was on the beginning cusp of the faith. He believed God, and God counted him as righteous. Later, God would show us that to become his children, we are to believe in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus is God who fulfills the plan of God. And, as crazy as it seems, when we put our entire hope for our entire eternity in Jesus and Jesus alone, we are counted righteous by God, forgiven, and made into children of the Creator.
Lord, your story is amazing. Your plan is beyond human imagining. All man-made religions place the burden of righteousness on our shoulders, as if man in his frailty could ever live up to your standard. Only you offer genuine hope to fallen humanity while also being just. Thank you for your mercy and your justice. Thank you for Jesus, who fulfilled all the work I could never fulfill. Thank you for counting me right before you, not based on my actions, but based on Jesus and the faith that you have given me to trust in him.
Pastor Travis Peterson 