Abram(/Abraham) was counted as righteous for believing God(Elohim). Abraham had been patient, his cry for help was going to be answered, he was declared righteous due to his faithfulness in God(Yahweh). The Hebrew word for believe is H539 aman, aw-man’ it means to be faithful. It doesn’t mean to have a strong emotion toward Jesus, it means to be faithful, he was faithful to God(Elohim) and He declared that as righteousness for him. Just along the same lines in the Hebrew, the word faithfulness is a word that’s built upon aman, aman is the root for it and it H530 emunah, and it means faithfulness. Being faithful and faithfulness are two words that one is just the root of the other. Paul talks about this too, he said you have faithfulness to me you are a hundred years old and you’re still faithful that you’re going to have a kid, how’s that for faithfulness, that’s strong faithfulness, and your wife, she’s 90, and you two are going to have a son. Paul talks about this a lot actually; he points out the fact that Abraham’s faithfulness was reckoned to him as righteousness and the thing about that is it was long before he was circumcised. Now what was the deal, remember, Paul, everywhere he went, he would go teaching and write letters. Everywhere he went, there would be Pharisees and Judaizers that would follow him and go to those places and say, we taught Paul everything he knows, and if you really want to be a part of God’s(Elohim’s) people, become a Jew. All you have to do is get circumcised first. Then we’ll teach you all the rules and then will undergo a cabal, a baptism, then you’ll be a Jew, just do that then you won’t have to worry about this Jesus(Yeshua) stuff, because we don’t really buy into that. Paul can’t just say if you have a heart for Torah and Messiah your chosen, he can’t do that, you have to become a Jew, you need to get circumcised. Paul said you know what, before Abraham was circumcised, he was declared righteous through his faithfulness.
Romans 4:3-25
For what does the Scripture say? “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 4Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. 5But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, 6just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. 8“BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.” 9Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS RECKONED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 10How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them, 12and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. 13For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith(fulness). 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16For this reason it is by faith(fulness), that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17(as it is written, “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU”) in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” 19And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith(fulness), giving glory to God, 21and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 22Therefore also IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Paul made a really big deal about this thing of Abraham being declared righteous before he was circumcised,) 23Now not for his sake only was it written, that it was reckoned to him, 24but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
He went into the same account in
Galatians 3:6-14
Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS SHALL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” 9So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. 10For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” 11Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith(fulness).
And there are some things in Galatians a little hard to understand but he is battling those that say you don’t need Messiah, just be obedient to our laws. Paul says, there’s death there, there’s nothing but death there, we do need Messiah. Abraham’s faithfulness in following Torah is why he was declared righteous.
Genesis 26:3-5 (He’s talking to Isaac here)
“Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4“And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
It’s one thing to say we’re being faithful to the Father and to His Torah, it’s another thing to say through the blood of Messiah because that’s where it flowed from, it’s another thing to say I don’t need Messiah. All I need to do is follow the rules, that’s not faithfulness, that’s just following rules. Being faithfulness implies a love and a covenant between the two people.
Gen 22:12
And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Abraham proves his faithfulness to God(Elohim) in his works. God(Elohim) always knew his heart so why test him like this? Why put him through this trial? I think to give him the opportunity to prove it to Him.
James 2:21-24
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; (doesn’t faithfulness fit so much better there, than faith? Faithfulness was with his works.) 23and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. 24You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.
You can claim faithfulness, does it hurt to prove it occasionally? No, that has to be done or else how is it faithfulness? If faithfulness is claimed without temptation to go against it, is it really faithfulness? It’s convenient. Remember the rich guy who went up to Jesus(Yeshua) and said what must I do to enter the kingdom? And He said what do the commandments say? He said well, don’t kill don’t steal, honor your father and mother hey, I’ve done all things since my youth. Well, he was a rich young man, where did he get his money? Probably from his parents. This young man said hey, I don’t steal from anybody, my parents give me a big allowance [laughter]. I haven’t killed anybody, no one makes me mad because I have money and everyone wants something from me, I’m everybody’s best friend. I honor my father and mother naturally because they give me that big allowance, and I live in a palace. In that case, was that guy faithful? He obeyed the commandments, he wasn’t unrighteous necessarily, but was he faithful? There was nothing to be faithful to. Jesus(Yeshua) said you are lacking one thing, all that money, you need to sell what you have and feed these thousands of people here that I’ve been feeding. Instead of asking for a couple loaves of bread and a few fish and making them multiply, why don’t you feed everybody. I’m sure he would have said, that would cost me everything, I can’t do that, so was this guy really faithful? No, he didn’t have any faithfulness. Faithfulness has to be tested in order to be true or else it’s just convenience. It’s all about glorifying the Father.
Abraham followed the Torah of Elohim, he demonstrated his faithfulness through his obedience to the Torah. That’s how you demonstrate your faithfulness to the Father, be obedient to His Torah. Most people don’t realize the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil was the Torah. That means the Torah of the Father has been around since the beginning, that’s why we’ve already seen it, evidence of it or proof of it being followed before now. It says blatantly here that Abraham is following it. Some people claim this passage is not referring to the Torah per se, that’s given at Mount Sinai. Even though the Torah is the word used. You got to compare it with
Deuteronomy 11:1
You shall therefore love the LORD your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
Same Hebrew word. Here is what people try and do, people want to slice and dice at His Torah. Slice it up and let’s follow this, but throw away that. Let’s cut it three ways, that’s what a lot of Protestant churches do, let’s make some of it civil, some ceremonial, let’s make some of it moral, I guess two-thirds of it isn’t moral. I don’t get it, but that’s what people want to do. Isn’t it just easier to say well, let’s go ahead and do it all? Wouldn’t that be easier than trying to figure out what not to do? These are less direct references to Abraham being obedient to the Torah of the Father.
John 14:23-24
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
Throughout Scripture His Father’s Word is His Torah, His instructions, throughout His Word.
We know that only through His faithfulness to His promises that we receive the grace of His salvation, which is His Spirit giving us faithfulness to Him. If we have that faithfulness, we’ll be obedient to the works written and prepared beforehand:
Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through (His) faith(fulness); (He is faithful to keep His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To say that His children will be like the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore. He is faithful to the covenant He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Because He is faithful, He is gracious to save us.) and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, that no one should boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Because He’s been gracious enough to save us, we are to walk according to His Torah.
1 John 2:4
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. 7Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the Word which you have heard.