Explain What It Means That God Counted Abraham's Righteousness

God promised Abram three promises which the narrator repeated several times. It is important to know to understand the rest of the bible. The first promise was that Arbam would have a great nation. The second promise to Abram was that the lad he was standing on would be for him and his people and family. The final promise was that God would bless the whole earth through one of his descendants. God created a covenant with Abram and renamed him Abraham. This was a patron covenant. It is a covenant that solely depends on God and does not rely on others.

The life of Abraham is one of varied geographical places as Abraham moves from place to place as well as an expedition through life's ups and downs with its challenges and disappointment. Abraham's spiritual life is also a journey, as he moves from periods of great faith to those moments of weakness and sin. Ultimately we find that Abraham, this man of faith, learned to trust in God as he traveled, not only from his home in Ur but as he journeyed towards faith.

Second, within this same introductory comment, Neifile uses similar logic to establish why Abraham has not yet converted. With the mention of the phrase "in word," Neifile suggests that Abraham has not seen God’s "loving-kindness" partly because he has not declared witnessing it. Right from the start of the story, Neifile implies that Abraham’s conversion hinges not on his beliefs or convictions, but on his verbal acknowledgement of Christianity. Abraham, however, is adamant in his refusal to convert. He considers "no faith to be sound and holy except the Jewish" (1.2.38), which means that the act of conversion to him is undesirable. In the story, however, the impression given by Neifile’s comment is that Abraham must simply say that he has converted; he does not have to embrace any ideological changes to his beliefs. Here, the fact that expression of Christianity is more important than actual conversion emphasizes the notion that labels can almost instantaneously transform a person from one state (unconverted) to another (converted).

Every author depicts information in light of purposes and themes. Sometimes these themes are moral issues, emotions, or existential concepts. In the case of the Old Testament, the authors wrote books that highlighted various ideas such as love, obedience, and suffering. Despite various subtopics, the Old Testament clearly demonstrates the theme of God’s faithfulness to his followers.

God of the Old Testament is a God of election. Throughout the Old Testament we see God choosing whether to bless or curse people. Youngblood explains this through Jacob and Esau. Both were from the same father yet he chooses to bless Jacob who was younger than Esau. Election removes pride and boastfulness in humans and puts all of us on the same level waiting for God’s will in different ways. Youngblood than brings out the aspect of the covenant. Since the beginning of the time, God made covenants with the people. Through these covenants, God portrays that he always keeps his promise, and he is fair, and trustworthy to all who honor God.

We can believe that the Abrahamic covenant would be fulfilled when, God called Abraham to leave his country, relatives, and family to go to the land that he was going to be given. God said, “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.” The land that the Lord took Abraham too, was the land that would be given to him and his descendants. After Abraham was gone, his descendants would be in possession of the land.

Abraham’s response to God’s promises were obedience (4-6) and confirmation (v. 7). In Genesis 15 the writer states that the Lord took upon Himself alone the responsibility for fulfilling the covenant. Genesis 17 adds the revelation that the covenant would be everlasting. One cannot research the Covenant and not about the narrative of Abram’s life.

Abraham was instructed by God to take his son Isaac to the land of Moriah (New American Version, Gen. 22.2). As Søren Kierkegaard states Fear and Trembling, Abraham is a Knight of Faith because embraces his absurd condition, i.e. God asking him to sacrifice the son that He just gave Abraham, and is rewarded with Isaac being spared, save the traumatic experience of his father trying to sacrifice him. Since Abraham is a Knight of Faith and transcends earthly query, one cannot judge his character or claim to understand him as by doing such would make them pitiful or arrogant in the eyes of Kierkegaard (Kierkegaard 91). Abraham, in his moment of infinite resignation and probable uncertainty, decided to accept his absurd condition and live at ease with a paradox because he believed that God would not steer him

Stott’s article was very insightful because he used Abraham as an example in his writing. He talked about God making a promise to Abraham and his wife. God told Abraham that “he was going to be a father of many nations.” Even though Abraham was unable to see the fruition of the promise. God was faithful to fulfill his promise. As Christian we must have faith that God will fulfill his promise, but he may not accomplish the promise on a person’s timetable. Stott talked about God being a keeper of his covenant and one who will pour out his blessing. When one is in fellowship with God, the benefits are promises from God and blessings.

Abraham’s seriousness and dedication in regards to his covenant with God control tense actions and events between Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is compelled in his actions by his understanding and faith that his belief in God will reap benefits. Without hesitation, he considers doing everything that God tells him to do. Abraham’s willingness and sacrifice of Isaac show the great power that God has over Abraham. Abraham’s desire for God’s approval and blessings compel him toward grave actions without the concrete command from God. Abraham merely implies God’s intentions from the limited conversations held between Abraham, God, and the angel.

Throughout the history of the world, God has been working to bring humanity back to him. Due to the loss of constant communion in the fall, God set forth multiple promises to eventually establish his eternal Kingdom, the New Testament, is the culmination of these promises. The Gospels are the most specific in how Jesus Christ fulfilled the covenants God made with Abraham and David. More importantly he is the fulfillment of the new covenant, which washes away sin and brings humanity back into communion with God. What is modeled in the Gospels is reaffirmed in Acts, by the way the church is to function according to the culmination of the Covenants. Acts begins to reveal the great mystery that is the inclusion of the Gentiles in God’s covenant. Paul’s Epistles take the culmination a step further and defend the idea that the fulfillment of God’s covenants does not just affect the people of Israel, but the Gentiles as well. The General epistles teach that the people are no longer bound by the mosaic covenant since the New Covenant was fulfilled via Jesus Christ. Yet practice of the law is still an important factor of the Christian life style even if superseded by the New Covenant. Revelation shows that covenants are leading up to the lord’s victory and salvation of his people. The sins of the Jews and Gentiles are washed away by Jesus the blood of the lamb so in reality the battle is already won because of the New Covenants fulfillment in Jesus. It is clear from

Thank you for you timely comments, at least for me! Not only was Abraham faithful, but he was so immediately! I will always remember the movie Ephraim’s Rescue where Brigham Young reports the conditions of the saints stranded in the mountains. He asked for willing men to go and rescue the saints, and Ephraim said that he could be ready that very moment to go and rescue them. Instead of waiting around we can receive immediate blessings for obeying the lord just as you said. Who doesn’t want that? I also think of the scripture in D&C 58 which says, “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;” The lord is expecting us to bring about much righteousness.”

Abraham sojourned in faith as God led him on his journey through the land of Canaan. He demonstrated a pattern of reliance on and fellowship with God during his trek by building altars at stops along the way. Genesis 12:7 points out that God spoke to Abraham in Shechem, promising the land to his descendants and Abraham constructed an altar. Genesis 12:8 shows that Abraham communed with God after moving from Shechem to Bethel by erecting an altar. Abraham’s movements through Canaan appear to be at God’s leading and as a result of their communion, but God does not yet give him possession of the land. The land through which he and his family are traveling is occupied by other inhabitants. A key point here is that while Abraham and his family are traveling as

Covenant making and covenant people have been a part of God’s plan since the beginning of time. In the Old Testament, and with Jesus Christ being just a foreshadow of things to come, covenants often made God and God’s holiness visible (Fehren, 1996). Furthermore, covenants were the vehicles or processes in which God used to institute promises and manage people (Korver, 2015). In the simplest terms, a covenant is an agreement between two or more parties concerning shared responsibilities and privileges, once ratified, covenants cannot be changed in any way, including the parties involved or the covenant provisions (Korver, 2015, p. 29). Covenants, may either be unconditional or conditional. Thus, an unconditional covenant, such as the one offered to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), requires no conditions to be placed on the recipient (Korver, 2015). Hence, the onus of the Abrahamic covenant was completely on God, and Abraham needed only to accept God’s offer. However, the enjoyment of the blessings made in the Abrahamic Covenant was dependent on how well Abraham and the future nation of Israel adhered to and listened to God’s commands (Merrill, 2006). Therefore, some action was required on behalf of Abraham and Israel to reap the full benefits of God’s blessing. Conditional covenants, such as the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19:1-8), requires the recipient to meet certain conditions before enjoying the benefits of the covenant (Korver, 2015). Typically, conditional covenants

Previously, I mentioned several biblical characters who completed an assigned task by their faithfulness to God. Abraham became the father of faith because of faithfulness. Likewise, God was faithful in the Scriptures in promising humankind that a savior would redeem all nations. Faithfulness is a sign of a spiritual presence in the divine work of God.