Dive into the thrilling first anniversary episode of The Jimmy Akin Podcast! In Episode 52, Jimmy tackles the question: When was Abraham justified? With his signature blend of biblical scholarship and engaging storytelling, Jimmy takes you on a journey through Genesis 11-25, exploring Abraham’s life and faith, and reveals surprising insights from Romans, James, and Hebrews. Packed with historical context, theological depth, and a touch of humor, this episode will keep you hooked as Jimmy uncovers the mystery of Abraham’s righteousness.
TRANSCRIPT E052 When Was Abraham Justified? (1st Anniversary Special!)
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The New Testament depicts the patriarch Abraham as the father of all who have faith.
And a key question is when Abraham was put right with God—or, to put it another way, when he was justified.
This has been a subject of controversy among Christians.
And many in the Protestant community have one specific moment when they think Abraham was put right or justified.
But—as we’ll see—the situation is more complex than that.
Let’s get into it!
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Howdy, folks!
This is the first anniversary episode of The Jimmy Akin Podcast, and I’ve got a special show lined up for you.
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The Life of Abraham
To understand when Abraham was justified—or right with God—let’s begin by getting an overview of his life so that we can understand how his justification fits into the bigger picture.
The story of Abraham stretches from Genesis 11 to Genesis 25—so it’s 15 chapters long.
We first meet Abraham in Genesis 11, only he isn’t called Abraham at this time.
His original name was Abram, and his name appears in a genealogy of the Semites, or people descended from the patriarch Shem.
At the end of this genealogy, we read:
Genesis 11:26, ESV
When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
So that’s the first mention of the man who would eventually be called Abraham. He was the son of a man named Terah, and he had two brothers.
We then get a mini-genealogy that zooms in on the family of Terah, and we read:
Genesis 11:27-31, ESV
Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai. . . . Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
There are several things here that set up later parts of the story. The first is that Abram’s brother Haran fathered Lot, so Lot is Abraham’s nephew, and he’ll come back into our story later.
Also notice that the family comes from a place called Ur of the Chaldeans.
Scholars debate precisely where this city was, but most have concluded that it was a site in southern Mesopotamia.
Abram also got married to a woman named Sarai—whose name would later be changed to Sarah.
Unfortunately, Sarai was barren, and she didn’t have a child.
Terah then decides to migrate with his family. So they loaded up the truck and they went to Beverlee.
Actually, they were going to go to the land of Canaan, which is over by the Mediterranean Sea.
Now, if you look at a map, you’ll see that the shortest route between Ur and Canaan is a straight line, but they didn’t go that way.
“Why not?” you might ask.
Well, the reason is that straight line would require you to cross the Arabian Desert, which is a horrible desert that is just itching to kill you if you’re not careful.
So Terah and his family did what a lot of people did when migrating.
Instead of heading straight west to Canaan, they went north, following an arc of land known as the fertile crescent, which is called that because the land is fertile.
In other words, it’s not a horrible desert that will kill you if you’re not careful.
They thus made their way to a city in the north of the fertile crescent called Haran.
And here the truck seems to have broken down, because when they came to Haran, they settled there.
And this was where Terah passed on to his reward.
We now turn the corner into Genesis 12, where Abram becomes the central figure in the story.
Genesis 12:1-3, ESV
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So cool. God is blessing Abram and he’s going to make him a great nation and a blessing for all peoples.
That last promise—about all the families of the earth being blessed in Abram—will be understood in the New Testament as a blessing that comes to the whole world through Jesus Christ.
So Abram fires up the truck, and he, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and everybody they acquired in Haran—meaning, frankly, all the servants or slaves—head down to Canaan.
And when they get as far as a place called Sechem, God has a new message for Abram.
Genesis 12:5-7, ESV
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”
So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
So God is once more blessing Abram and will give the land of Canaan to his offspring.
This is why the land of Israel is called the promised land, because God promised to give it to Abram’s offspring.
Unfortunately, Abram doesn’t get to stay in Canaan for very long at this point.
Genesis 12:10, ESV
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
But the famine ends as we turn the corner into Genesis 13.
Genesis 13:1-2, 5-7, ESV
So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock.
So Abram and Lot are both so rich that their herds are too big for them to stay together, and the situation is generating conflict between the herdsmen who have to care for the livestock.
Some years ago, I read the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. It’s a powerful, first-hand account of what it was like to be a slave, and you should read it to understand the experience.
This part of Genesis 14 always reminds me of the book, because Frederick Douglas gives us an insight into what this kind of conflict between Abram’s and Lot’s herdsmen was probably like.
Douglass writes:
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ch. 3
It is not uncommon for slaves even to fall out and quarrel among themselves about the relative goodness of their masters, each contending for the superior goodness of his own over that of the others. At the very same time, they mutually execrate their masters when viewed separately. It was so on our plantation.
When Colonel Lloyd’s slaves met the slaves of Jacob Jepson, they seldom parted without a quarrel about their masters; Colonel Lloyd’s slaves contending that he was the richest, and Mr. Jepson’s slaves that he was the smartest, and most of a man. Colonel Lloyd’s slaves would boast his ability to buy and sell Jacob Jepson. Mr. Jepson’s slaves would boast his ability to whip Colonel Lloyd.
These quarrels would almost always end in a fight between the parties, and those that whipped were supposed to have gained the point at issue. They seemed to think that the greatness of their masters was transferable to themselves. It was considered as being bad enough to be a slave; but to be a poor man’s slave was deemed a disgrace indeed!
Human nature hasn’t changed in the last 4,000 years, and so it’s quite likely that Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen were having the same kind of quarrels—and even fights—that the slaves Frederick Douglass knew were having.
There’s something very human about this kind of conflict, and my heart really goes out to people who are in this situation—because there are still a lot of slaves in different parts of the world, even though it’s illegal. It’s just now we call it Slavery = Human Trafficking.
Unfortunately, in the ancient world, nobody questioned slavery. Not even righteous people like Abraham. Every ancient civilization practiced it, and it was just part of society at the time.
Well, because of the conflict in Genesis 13, Abram and Lot decide to separate and go their own ways.
Genesis 13:8-9, 12, ESV
Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
But as we turn the corner into Genesis 14, that’s not going to turn out to have been such a good move, because a huge war is about to happen.
An alliance of four kings attacks an alliance of 5 kings, including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and . . .
Genesis 14:11-12, ESV
The enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
So now Lot is a war captive! And when Abram hears, he gets his allies and does something about it!
Genesis 14:14, 16, ESV
When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Then he brought back all the possessions and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
So Abram rescues lot—and the other people from Sodom—and afterwards, they have a council of kings.
Genesis 14:18-20, ESV
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Meaning that he paid a Tithe— = A Tenth—to Melchizedek as priest of God Most High.
Now, it was customary in the ancient world for people to divide up the plunder—the loot—that they got in a battle. That was part of the reward for winning a battle. So the king of Sodom makes Abram an offer:
Genesis 14:21-23, ESV
The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”
So—as a pious man—Abram refuses to take anything from the wicked king of Sodom, lest the king later say that it was really he who made Abram rich. Abram thus insists on showing that the blessings he had received from God had nothing to do with wickedness.
And for this, God rewards Abram as we enter Genesis 15.
Genesis 15:1-6, ESV
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
So because of the great battle he won—in which he rescued Lot—God assures Abram that your reward shall be very great.
Abram wants to know how he will be blessed, though, because—remember Sarai is barren and hasn’t had a child, so Abram has no son to inherit from him.
He thus says that the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.
This reflects a custom of the time. In his commentary on Genesis, Victor Hamilton notes:
Genesis (NICOT), s.v. 15:2-3
Scholars have noted that Abram’s suggestion reflects an adoption procedure known from the Nuzi texts. A childless couple adopts a son, sometimes a slave, to serve them in their lifetime and bury and mourn them when they die. In return for this service they designate the adopted son as the heir presumptive. Should a natural son be born to the couple after such action, this son becomes the chief heir, demoting the adopted son to the penultimate position.
So unless Abram has a son, that first option is what’s going to happen. One of Abram’s servants—Eliezer of Damascus—is going to be or already has been adopted.
After Abram and Sarai are dead, Eliezer will bury and mourn them, and then he will inherit the estate.
But God says no, This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.
God then shows him the stars and tells him that his offspring will be as numerous as them.
For the literal minded, that would mean Abram would have around 1400 descendants, because that’s how many stars are visible with the naked eye under ideal viewing conditions in the portion of the sky that you can see.
However, it’ll really be far more descendants than that. God is just using the stars to say, “You’re going to have a huge number of descendants.” He’s not expecting Abram to take this literally.
And notice that Abram believed the Lord, and we’re told that he counted this belief to him as righteousness.
God then makes a covenant with Abram, and he prophesies both the Exodus to Egypt and the return to the promised land.
But now—as we enter Genesis 16—we have the problem of how Abram is going to have that son God promised.
And here Sarai comes up with an idea.
Genesis 16:1-2, ESV
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.”
This was another custom in the ancient world that we know from multiple sources, whereby if a woman was unable to have children, she could provide her husband with a female servant to try to have children through her.
Not the kind of thing we’d do today, but the ancient world was a rough place.
Well, Hagar becomes pregnant, and then things turn frosty between Sarai and Hagar.
Hagar runs away, but God promises that he will also give her a multitude of descendants, so she goes back and has a son who they name Ishmael.
And when we turn to Genesis 17, God institutes the practice of circumcision, so Abram, Ishmael, and all the males in his household are circumcised.
God also changes Abram’s name to Abraham, and he changes Sarai’s name to Sarah.
In Genesis 18, God and two angels appear to Abraham—and we know that there are two angels because they’re explicitly called angels in the first verse of the next chapter—Genesis 19:1.
But Abraham seems to think that they are just travelers, and he serves them a meal.
During that, God prophesies that Sarah herself will have a son in a year’s time, though she initially laughs at the idea given how old she is.
God also announces that he’s heard that things are really wicked down in Sodom, and if that’s the case, he’s going to destroy it.
Abraham then intercedes for Sodom, and God agrees that if there are as few as 10 righteous men in Sodom, he won’t destroy it.
In Genesis 19, the two angels go to Sodom and find that things there are—indeed—very bad.
The only righteous man they find is Lot, so they arrange to save him, and then Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed.
In Genesis 20, Abraham and Sarah go to a land called Gerar, and Abraham introduces Sarah as his sister rather than his wife.
This is a mental reservation, because Sarah is—in fact—Abraham’s half-sister. They had the same father but different mothers.
But Abraham was afraid he’d be killed if the king of Gerar knew that he was also Sarah’s husband, so he only introduced her as his sister.
In Genesis 21, Abraham and Sarah’s son—Isaac—is born. But when it’s time for him to be weaned, Sarah sees Ishmael—who is a teenager at this point—mocking Isaac, and she gets really mad.
She insists that they kick out Hagar and Ishmael, but God has mercy and provides for them.
In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham, and we read:
Genesis 22: 1-2, ESV
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
This is a test because Isaac is the thing that Abraham loves most in this world.
He was without a child for years and years, and now he finally has this miraculous child in his own age.
So the test is whether he loves God or Isaac more. You can understand the dynamics of this test different ways, but the fundamental crux of the test is whether Abraham will obey God or put his natural affections for Isaac first.
It turns out that Abraham is willing to do what God says, and God then miraculously provides a ram as a substitute for Isaac, so Abraham doesn’t have to go through with it.
In Genesis 23, we have a sad event, as Sarah passes on to her reward.
Abraham then buys a field with a cave tomb to bury Sarah, and this is the only part of the promised land that legally belongs to him in his own lifetime.
In Genesis 24, we have a happy event, though, as Abraham sends his chief servant to lead a caravan back to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac from among their own kinsmen.
The servant returns with Rebecca.
Genesis 24:67, ESV
Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
In Genesis 25, Abraham also gets remarried after Sarah died and he became a widower.
Genesis 25:1, ESV
Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.
And Keturah bears Abraham several more children.
But Abraham is quite elderly, and soon it is time for him to go to his reward.
Genesis 25:7-10, ESV
These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.
And I think it’s charming both that Abraham was buried with Sarah and that his first two sons—Ishmael and Isaac—buried him together, despite the conflict that there had been when they were small.
In any event, that’s the story of Abraham, and now that we’ve heard it, what can we figure out about when Abraham was right with God?
Justification in Protestant Thought
In several recent episodes, I’ve discussed how justification—or being put right with God—is understood in Protestant and Catholic circles.
For example, in Episode 40, I talked about how the Protestant slogan sola fide or = “by faith alone” can be understood in a perfectly correct sense, even though it’s never used in a positive way in the Bible.
You simply have to understand the faith in question as faith formed by love.
Similarly, in Episode 45, I talked about the role that the New Testament authors say that good works have on judgment day.
One of the things I noted is that in Protestant circles the term justification is often used for a single event that occurs right at the beginning of the Christian life.
Because they use the term justification to refer only to this event at the beginning of the Christian life, Protestants commonly assume that there was one and only one point where Abraham was justified.
But—as we’re going to see—the situation is more complex than that.
Romans 4:1-3
In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul appeals to the story of Abraham, and specifically, he refers to a part of the story that is in Genesis 15.
At this point in Romans, Paul is arguing that you don’t need to be circumcised to become a Christian and be saved, and to prove this, he says:
Romans 4:1-3, ESV
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Now, to understand this, we have to compensate for the fact that English has this weird double-vocabulary where there are multiple different terms for the same thing.
You’ll notice that that Paul is talking about how Abraham was justified, and to show that he didn’t need to be circumcised to be justified, Paul quotes from Genesis 15 where it says that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
It’s not obvious in the English translation, but there is one complex of words in Greek that you can translate either as righteousness—which English gets from German—or as justification—which English gets from Latin.
In English, we split them apart, but in Greek, they refer to the same concept.
That’s why Paul can ask how Abraham was justified and then quote a verse about him being counted = righteous.
And biblical scholars talk about this and lament the fact that we have to deal with weird split in English usage.
Of course, there are ways to smooth it out and make it more consistent. For example, you could translate this passage in Romans as:
Romans 4:1-3
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as justice.”
Or you could translate it: