October 21, 2025
It’s Torah Tuesday! Where we take a passage from Torah and explain its relevance today.
Today we will look at Genesis 15:6 –
And he believed the LORD, and counted it to him as righteousness.
To give some context, God approaches a man named Abram in Genesis 12 and tells him “come follow me.” Sound familiar? Abram comes from a family out of the land of Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 12:7). What is interesting is that the Chaldeans worshipped celestial beings, meaning the sun, moon and stars. When we think of the patriarch of our religion, do we think about him being first a pagan? Let’s pin that for a minute.
Back to the context. Abram’s response to God’s calling in Genesis 12 to go to the land of Canaan was the first time we see someone in Scripture that did not grow up knowing God saying yes to following Him. The first “grafting in” if you will. Now let’s jump forward to Genesis 15:5, where God tells Abram to look up at the stars. Now remember what Abram used to worship. He tells him, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them…so shall your offspring be.” What God is saying here is, “Look up at what you used to bow down to and worship. If you’ll believe me, follow me and obey me, I will make your descendants greater than anything you used to worship.”
The very next verse we see that Abram believed and it was counted to him as righteousness. Other scriptures to reference this are Romans 4, Galatians 3:6 and James 2:23.
The question is, what is righteousness?
God gives Abram a promise in Genesis 15 that he would have an heir and that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. God gives a promise BEFORE He gives the sign of the covenant, circumcision. BEFORE Abram has officially come into covenant with Yahweh, Abram took God at His word. Righteousness comes from faith. Always has, and always will. God puts HIS seed within Abram the minute Abram believes. However, belief is not just a thought or even a prayer. Belief is not fulfilled until there is obedience.
You’re probably familiar with the story of Abraham and his promised son Isaac. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, but God saves Isaac at the last minute because of Abraham’s obedience.
Genesis 22:16-18 says:
“By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be bless, because you have obeyed my voice.”
It is because of Abraham’s belief that he obeyed. He knew God promised him descendants through a promise, and that promise was his son Isaac. If God had only promised physical descendants then Abraham would’ve been blessed through Ishmael’s lineage. But he was blessed through Isaac’s lineage because of his faith and obedience in the promises of God. This blessing reaches all the nations.
Romans 9:7 tells us that it is through Isaac that Abraham’s offspring will be reckoned. Meaning, it is those that live by faith and obedience who will be sons of God. It has always been that way. How many times does God tell Israel – you unbelieving nation! He’s saying – “what will it take for you to take me at my word?! To believe AND obey?!”
You see, righteousness comes from faith. Period. It has never come through the works of the law. Salvation through works has never been God’s plan. Salvation comes through faith by grace alone. Always has, always will. This is probably the biggest misconception of Paul’s writings in the New Testament. Salvation has always come from faith, BUT it does not negate the law’s meaning – to show us how to WALK IN RELATIONSHIP with Yahweh.
Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, are God’s instructions for those that want to be in relationship with Him. They weren’t meant to save, they were meant to point out where we fall short, how to be set apart from the nations and how to act holy. Just like there are laws within the United States, there are laws within the kingdom of God. Do this + don’t do this = good standing. Only criminals look at law as bondage.
God wants us to want him. He longs for it. Having faith in Him is one thing, being obedient is something else. You could have all the belief in the world for something, but when it comes down to it, do your actions match your words?
John 1:1 tells us that Yeshua IS the Word of God. He IS Torah. He IS the embodiment of the very instruction that God set forth. When we walk in faith through obedience, we are walking with Yeshua. Believing He died for your sins is justification. Walking out that faith in obedience with your life is sanctification. He’s calling you to be set apart.
So we see that righteousness by faith has always been God’s plan. Another example is Noah who was found blameless in God’s eyes. These men didn’t have the written Torah, but knew, trusted and obeyed God by faith. That’s the heart of the Father for his people.
Lavah Ministries 