Rescuing Paul (2)

Then he believed in the Lord; and He ^[a]credited it to him as righteousness.  Genesis 15:6  NASB

Credited – You see that little footnote before the word “credited’?  In the margin of the NASB you’ll find “or imputed.” Now that’s a problem.  Why?  Because the word “imputed,” like the word “credited,” strongly suggests some sort of divine accounting, a tally sheet that gives us a score about Abraham.  Accordingly, the Christian Church suggests that God gave Abraham credit on his heavenly balance sheet so that he was acceptable to God without Abraham doing anything; that is, without érga (works), a term that Paul uses in Romans 4.  But we’ve learned that the Hif’il form of the verb ʾāman in Genesis suggests that Abraham did do something.  He trusted—and his trust caused God to respond.  Of course, Abraham didn’t do érga, that is, he didn’t perform any religious acts with the intention of gaining divine approval.  In fact, in Paul’s day, the Greek term érga when applied to human beings was considered sinful.  “ . . . everything called érgon in human life is sin when measured by the final criterion. Thus érga as human works (along with the verb) are often linked with wickedness etc.”^[1]  Paul isn’t making a Greek mistake.  That’s why he refers to the Hebrew verse in Genesis.  He wants his Greek speaking audience to know that Abraham didn’t do something in order to gain favor with God.  Rather, Abraham trusted God and that trust initiated a response from God which resulted in God’s consideration of Abraham.  If we were to put this in modern Jewish terms, we’d look to a statement by Heschel:  “The purpose of prayer is to be brought to His attention, to be listened to, to be understood by Him; not to know Him, but to be known to Him.”[2]  Abraham’s trust gains God’s attention.  No religious ritual or fulfilled commandment is involved (no érga), but that does not mean that Abraham is the passive recipient of divine election.

What does God do when he pays attention to Abraham?  The Hebrew verb is ḥāšab, here a vav consecutive + imperfect.  The verb form is important.  You’ll recall (hopefully) that a vav consecutive is like translating the verb in the past, present, and future all at once.  You will also recall that the “imperfect” form means that this action is not finished.  In other words, on the basis of Abraham’s trust, God views Abraham continuously (past, present, and future unfinished) as righteous (ṣĕdāqâ) and ṣĕdāqâ means “in conformity to an expected standard.”  God views Abraham as having been aligned, aligned, and willing to be aligned with His purposes.  God’s view of Abraham places Abraham in complete relationship, now and forever.  Abraham’s trust initiates God’s response to view Abraham as a model of God’s own character.  In the end, ṣĕdāqâ is about what it means to be like God—to be human:

ṣedeq is used attributively when applied to God himself as to his character. The Lord is the just judge (II Chr 12:6; Ps 11:7; Jer 12:1; Lam 1:18) even to the utmost degree as the judge of all the earth (Deut 32:4; Ps 119:137; Isa 5:16). Therefore his standards, his judgments set out in his word are righteous (Ps 119:144, 160, 172). Being everlasting, they are the confidence of his people and will not fail. God’s hate of sin and love of righteousness (Psa 45:7 [H 8]) express his essential righteousness. Therefore righteousness and judgment are the habitation (“foundation” NASB, NIV) of God’s throne, i.e. they always characterize his actions (Ps 97:2).^[3]

Abraham qualifies.

Paul’s Greek version of this verse uses the term logízomai (to be credited), but the accounting nuance is only part of the umbrella of meanings.  The verb also means “to deliberate” and “to conclude.”  “In the LXX it takes on the nuance a. of an emotional and even volitional act, e.g., devising, or counting in the subjective sense.”^[4]  Paul uses Greek like a Jew, and in this case, “credited” is more Western than Jewish.  From the Hebrew text we should probably translate this as “and God concluded that Abraham was righteous,” or something similar.  It’s not divine accounting.  It’s an emotional and volitional act, as the LXX suggests.

Finally, Paul’s Greek term for “righteousness” is dikaiosýnē, from the Greek grouping of díkē.  That word fits the Hebrew ṣĕdāqâ since it also means “a. conforming to custom, b. fulfilling obligations, and c. observing legal norms. There is also d. an ethical use whereby díkaios, having significance for the whole of life, relates to the four cardinal virtues.”^[5]  díkē is about “law” in all its forms.  It is the Greek equivalent of Torah.  When God concludes that Abraham’s trust means Abraham’s character models His character, God recognizes that Abraham fulfills the primary condition of Torah obedience—willingness.  Paul is not suggesting that Law and Grace stand in opposition to each other.  He is, in fact, saying that Law and Grace are mutually inclusive—and the case of Abraham proves it.

Topical Index:  Abraham, righteousness, credited, ṣĕdāqâ, dikaiosýnē, ḥāšab, logízomai, Romans 4:3, Genesis 15:6

^[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 253). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

[2] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 200.

^[3] Stigers, H. G. (1999). 1879 צָדֵק. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 754). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[4] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 536). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

^[5] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 169). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.