What Does It Mean: Abraham Believed God

And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. [Genesis 15.6]

What does it mean that Abraham "believed the LORD?"

Here is how the Amplified Bible puts it:

Then Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the LORD; and He counted (credited) it to him as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man). [Genesis 15.6 AMP]

The Apostle Paul gave us a clue to the meaning of this:

I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. [Galatians 3.5-7]

Paul compares the faith of Abraham to the work seen in full practice by Jesus that continued on in the early Church for a while and continues only sporadically today: the Holy Spirit's work of miracles.

God counts our faith as righteousness and, as revealed in the Amplified Version, righteousness is "doing right in regard to God and man" which is precisely what Jesus demonstrated. So, faith can be said to be doing right in regard to God and man, and Jesus showed us specifically what that looks like.

How do we compare then to Abraham? The answer can be seen in how we compare to Jesus!

Father, I see more clearly today that my life only pleases You as I look like Jesus - in faith.