And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
He believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness - Hebrew, trusted in Yahweh (H3068), as a child leans on the arm of his nursing-father, who guides and takes care of it. Such is the import of the original term. The Divine Guide led him slowly and progressively as a pedagogue, and his faith, 'simple, elementary, vague, as it probably was,' was accepted as including all religious excellence. 'The patriarch in other words, had such a faith in God as justifies his claim to be a Christian by anticipation, the "father of the faithful"' (Hardwick.) But since Abram is not represented in this colloquy as expressing such a belief, the statement must be considered as made by the historian; and if we inquire on what grounds he made it, the answer is, on the readiness with which Abram complied with the divine directions, and the implicit acquiescence he placed in the divine word.
Moreover, this act of faith took place before the rite of circumcision was appointed as the token of the covenant; and the conclusion, therefore, to be drawn from that circumstance, as the apostle clearly shows, is, that righteousness is not of the law, but of faith (Romans 10:5-6); and that all, whether Gentiles or Jews, will receive the free gift of justification who believe in the promises of God, which are yea and amen in Christ (Romans 4:11; Romans 4:23-25; Galatians 3:16-17).