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Genesis 15:4-6
New Catholic Bible
Genesis 15:4-6
New Catholic Bible
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto him, “He will not be your heir; your own child will be your heir.” 5 Then he led him outside and told him, “Look into the heavens and count the stars, if you can count them. Such,” he continued, “will your descendants be.”
6 Abraham believed the Lord, who credited it to him as righteousness.[a]
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- Genesis 15:6 Righteousness in its general sense means the attitude with which human beings submit to the plans of God so that God the Savior can fulfill in them his purpose of freeing them from sin and rendering them righteous. St. Paul (Rom 4; Gal 3:5-9) and St. James (Jas 2:20-23) will explain the value of Abraham’s faith and righteousness: he becomes righteous in virtue of his faith, even before submitting to the ritual practice of circumcision (see Gen 17), which will be the outward sign of a faith that is to be lived interiorly. Faith, however, is not simply the acceptance of a theoretical truth; it is a principle of action that calls for a certain kind of behavior, without which the faith would be illusory and crippled (see Deut 6:25; 24:13; etc.).
