Genesis 15:6

And he believed in the Lord.

Let it be noted that it is not said only that he believed what the Lord said, but that be believed in the Lord. There was. submissive trust,. complete yielding to the divine will,. placing of himself in the hands of God. It was not the mere act of faith on this occasion that assured the divine favor, but the faith of. life devoted to the divine service ever since he left Haran in obedience to the divine voice. His was not an abstract faith, but faith that was. moving power. Such. faith, having within itself the beginning and promise of unquestioning submission to the will of God, was "counted for righteousness," because it is the very foundation of right doing. Paul, in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6, quotes this passage in his argument against justification by the works of the law. He shows that Abraham was justified before the law was given, was justified while yet uncircumcised, hence that the keeping of the rite of circumcision or Jewish ceremonies is not necessary to justification. Paul does not, as many have insisted, argue for justification by faith alone, but for justification by faith. The faith that justifies is an obedient faith and is never alone. It always leads those who possess it to do. Just as soon as it exists in the heart there is an entire submission to the will of God. The faith that causes us to cast ourselves at the feet of the Lord and to cry, "Speak Lord, thy servant heareth: what wilt thou have me to do?" always justifies, and none other. Such was Abraham's faith. Indeed Paul, in his argument in Galatians, shows that it was the faith of Abraham's life which was the basis of his justification, for he refers to "the covenant, that was confirmed before God in Christ," 430 years before the giving of the Law. This covenant is the one described in Genesis 12:1-4, which was made exactly 430 years before the law was given at Sinai.

Much has been written on this passage by the theologians which has only served to obscure its meaning. There is nothing said about Abraham being saved by trusting in the merits of Christ; only that he believed in God; he believed whatever God said; when God said that he should become. great nation he believed it; when God said that "in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed" he believed it. This promise referred to Christ, but was, no doubt, only dimly understood by Abraham. His faith was in Jehovah, for thus God revealed himself in Abraham's time; ours must be in Christ, for "in these last days God has spoken to the world by his Son."