Genesis 15:6
And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 (NKJV)
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 (NIV)
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 (KJV)
And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
Genesis 15:6 (NLT)
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 (ESV)
Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 (NASB)Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Then Abram believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord; and He counted (credited) it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
Genesis 15:6 (AMP)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
Genesis 15:6 (AMPC)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
And he believed! Believed God! God declared him "Set-Right-with-God."
Genesis 15:6 (MSG)Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
New Covenant Meaning
Righteousness Was Always Received, Never Achieved
Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6 to make a single, devastating point: the righteousness of God has always been received through faith, never earned through performance. Abraham was declared righteous before circumcision was instituted (Romans 4:10) and centuries before the Law was given at Sinai (Galatians 3:17). The Law did not introduce righteousness. Faith received righteousness long before the Law existed. This dismantles every system that places moral achievement as the path to standing with God. Abraham simply believed what God said, and God reckoned that believing as righteousness. The pattern has not changed. In Christ, the believer is the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), not by achieving it but by receiving what the cross provided.
Faith Is the Posture of Receiving, Not the Effort of Earning
What did Abraham actually do in Genesis 15:6? He looked at an impossible promise and believed the God who made it. He did not devise a plan to make it happen. He did not negotiate better terms. He did not perform a series of religious acts to qualify for the declaration. He believed. And God reckoned that believing as righteousness. Faith in the New Covenant works the same way. It is not a spiritual effort that earns God's favor. It is the posture of a person who has stopped trying to generate their own standing and has rested in what God has already declared in Christ. The effort is gone. The striving is gone. What remains is receiving: opening your hands to what God has already made available through the finished work of Jesus.
Romans 4:22-24 makes the application of Genesis 15:6 unmistakably clear: "Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." The record of Abraham's believing in Genesis 15:6 was written for your sake. The same God who reckoned Abraham's faith as righteousness reckons your faith in the risen Christ as righteousness. You are not in a different category than Abraham. You are in the same category, brought in through the same door: faith in the promises of God, now fulfilled in Christ.
Application for Your Life
Stop Trying to Produce the Righteousness That Has Already Been Given to You
One of the most persistent patterns in the Christian life is trying to generate a righteousness that God has already given. It shows up as constant self-evaluation, religious busyness, performance cycles, guilt when you fail and pride when you succeed. Genesis 15:6 cuts through all of it. Abraham was reckoned righteous when he believed, not when he performed. In Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says you are the righteousness of God. Not working toward it. Not maintaining it by your conduct. Already are it, in Christ. Let that settle. The effort to produce what you already possess is exhausting and unnecessary.
Believe What God Has Said About You
Genesis 15:6 begins with Abram looking at the stars and hearing an impossible promise. It was not rational. It was not provable at the moment. It was simply what God said. And Abraham believed it. The same call is on every believer: believe what God has said about you in Christ. You are beloved. You are righteous. You are accepted. You are sealed. You are co-heir with Christ. These are not aspirations. They are declarations. Faith is simply deciding to treat God's word as more reliable than the contradicting evidence in front of you. That is what Abraham did looking at stars. That is what you do looking at your circumstances. Believe what God has said.
Prayer Based on This Verse
Father, I receive what Abraham received: righteousness through faith, not through performance. I am not trying to earn standing with You today. I am not working my way toward Your approval. In Christ, I am already the righteousness of God. That was declared over me the moment I believed, just as it was declared over Abraham the moment he believed. I choose to rest in that declaration today. When the old patterns of religious striving come up, remind me: the work is finished. The righteousness is already mine. My job is to believe and receive. That is what Abraham did. That is what I am doing. In Jesus name. Amen.