Romans 4:17

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(as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed — God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

Romans 4:17 (NKJV)

As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

Romans 4:17 (NIV)

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Romans 4:17 (KJV)

That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, "I have made you the father of many nations." This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Romans 4:17 (NLT)

as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Romans 4:17 (ESV)

as it is written and forever remains written, "I have made you a father of many nations" in the sight of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

Romans 4:17 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then he became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing.

Romans 4:17 (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

God Speaks of What Is Not As Though It Already Is

This is one of the most important theological statements in the New Testament about how God operates. He is described here as the One who "calls those things which do not exist as though they did." When God spoke to Abraham and said "I have made you a father of many nations" (using the past tense), Abraham had no children by Sarah. The physical reality did not match the declaration. But God spoke from the reality of the covenant, not from the reality of the circumstances. Faith, modeled after Abraham, learns to do the same: speak God's Word over situations that have not yet come into visible alignment with it.

Abraham Believed Against Hope

Verse 18 says Abraham "contrary to hope, in hope believed." This is the definition of New Covenant faith. It is not optimism, which believes when circumstances support it. It is faith, which believes God's Word when circumstances contradict it. Abraham looked at his body, which was "already dead" (v. 19), and at Sarah's womb, which was also "dead," and he did not waver at the promise of God (v. 20). He gave glory to God and was fully persuaded that what God had promised, God was able to perform (v. 21). That is the pattern of faith Paul is holding up for all who are sons of Abraham by faith.

Verse 16 sets this up: "it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed." Faith is the access mechanism for grace, and grace makes the promise sure. If the promise depended on human performance, it would be uncertain because human performance is uncertain. But because it operates through faith in what God has declared, it is as reliable as God Himself. Romans 4:17 describes a God whose word is more real than current circumstances.

Application for Your Life

Speak God's Word Over What Does Not Yet Exist in Your Experience

Romans 4:17 is the biblical basis for confessing what God says even when it does not match your current circumstances. This is not positive thinking or self-deception. It is Abrahamic faith: believing what God has declared and speaking it as though it is already so, because in the realm of the spirit and covenant, it is. When God says you are healed (1 Peter 2:24), when the symptoms are still present, the faith response is to agree with God's declaration rather than only agreeing with the symptom. You are following the same God who called Abram a father of nations before he had a single child.

Do Not Give More Authority to Circumstances Than to the Word

The mistake many believers make is treating circumstances as the final word and treating Scripture as a hopeful wish. Romans 4:17 reverses that hierarchy. God's word carries more weight than present circumstances because God calls things that do not yet exist into existence. The circumstances are subject to change. God's Word is not. When the two are in conflict, the faith posture is to hold the Word above the circumstance and trust that the circumstance will eventually come into alignment with what God has declared.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, You are the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they do. I align myself with that reality today. You have declared things over my life in Your Word that have not yet appeared in my physical circumstances. I choose, like Abraham, to believe You rather than the circumstances. I give glory to You, fully persuaded that what You have promised You are able to perform. I speak Your word over my situation: what You say is, is. What You call me, I am. What You have declared belongs to me, I receive. In Jesus' name. Amen.