Genesis

Genesis 15: God counts sinners righteous

Begin in prayer

Before we read how God counted Abram righteous and confirmed His promise, let us set aside every claim to earn His favor. Ask Him to help us hear His Word and see the righteousness sinners receive through Christ.

Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Psalm 32:1-2

Father in heaven, please open our eyes to understand the righteousness You give by grace and the promise You faithfully keep. Show us Jesus and the work that makes sinners right with You. Make us more like Him, and please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The LORD comes to Abram in a vision and names Himself as his shield and reward. Abram speaks of remaining childless, and God promises an heir from his own body and offspring as numerous as the stars. Abram believes the LORD, who credits his faith as righteousness. When he asks how he will know the land is his, God tells him to prepare animals for a covenant ceremony. As Abram falls into deep sleep, God announces his descendants' affliction, their deliverance and their return after the Amorites' guilt is full. Fire passes between the pieces, and the LORD confirms His covenant, naming the land He gives Abram's offspring.

As you read Genesis 15, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God counts sinners righteous through faith and binds Himself to keep His promise.

After Abram refuses Sodom's goods, the LORD names Himself as his shield and reward, giving him a security greater than a king's offer. Abram brings his childlessness before God and names the servant who stands to inherit his household. God promises an heir from Abram's own body and directs him to the stars, setting His power beside the family's inability. Abram believes, and God credits him with righteousness, a gift received apart from works, as Paul explains (Romans 4 verses 3 to 5). Jeremiah later describes passing between divided animals as an oath whose breakers face death (Jeremiah 34 verses 18 to 20). Here fire passes between the pieces, and the LORD confirms His covenant, securing the land by His own pledge. His promise includes four hundred years of affliction and a judgment on the oppressing nation, so its certainty allows suffering along the way. The return waits until the Amorites' guilt is full, showing God's patience with those He will judge. Both the righteous standing and promised inheritance rest on God's gift, which reaches sinners through the Savior He has promised.

How does Genesis 15 show us that God counts sinners righteous through faith and binds Himself to keep His promise?

God promises an heir and counts believing Abram righteous.

Abram names the childlessness that troubles him, and the LORD answers with a son from his own body. The stars show how numerous the promised offspring will be, while the One who made them stands behind His word. Abram trusts Him, and God credits righteousness to him as a gift.

God gives Abram a pledge that rests on His own faithfulness.

Abram asks how he will know that the promised land will be his, and God gives him a covenant ceremony. He prepares the animals, then falls into a deep sleep as darkness and terror surround him. The fire passes between the pieces, showing that God binds Himself to keep the covenant He makes with Abram.

God governs suffering, deliverance and the time of judgment.

The promised descendants will live as foreigners, serve another nation and suffer affliction for four hundred years. God will judge their oppressors and bring them out with wealth, while Abram himself will die in peace. Their return waits until the Amorites' iniquity is full, showing that God's patience has a righteous limit. His faithfulness through suffering leads to the Savior, who bears judgment for His people and secures their lasting inheritance.

Memorise

He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what record am I relying on instead of receiving righteousness through Jesus?

After God promises the heir, we read, “He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness.” The LORD gives the promise and declares the believing man righteous. Abram's hope rests on the God who speaks and binds Himself to keep His word.

Our sin leaves us without a righteous record to offer Him. Paul explains that this credit of righteousness also belongs to those who believe in the God who raised Jesus (Romans 4 verses 23 to 25). Jesus obeyed without sin, then died in His people's place, carrying their guilt and bearing God's judgment. God raised Him to bodily life, and His completed obedience and sacrifice provide everything needed to make them right with God.

Turn from your sin and come to Him, giving up the record you have hoped would earn God's favor. Trust Him alone, and receive the forgiveness He gives to everyone who repents and believes. If you trust Him, God's verdict rests on Christ's righteousness and His faithful word. Please bring your fears to the One who gives both the promise and the grace to receive it.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God counted believing Abram righteous, and Christ gives the righteousness sinners cannot earn. Jesus died for His people and rose again, giving forgiveness to everyone who repents and trusts Him. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for the righteousness He gives and the promise He keeps, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so invite each one to bring a fear or ask for faith in Christ if they want to.

Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.

Romans 4:23-25

Lord God, thank You for giving righteousness through faith and keeping the promise that human strength cannot fulfill. Please lead each of us to repent and trust Jesus, whose finished work is sufficient. Help us bring our fears to You, wait on Your Word, and obey with grateful hearts this week. Amen.