Easter Meditation
This has no shots at anyone, so read it, and enjoy it. If you MUST take a shot at it, I request that you wait until the end of Resurrection Day, Easter Sunday.
PART ONE
IMHO it is always best to begin with Scripture, especially when the first instance of imputation happens.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Paul explains this further in Romans 4:
Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
When we look at the context of the Hebrew (remembering that every verse ripped from its context becomes a pretext) we see that this is the prologue to the Covenant, which God makes with Abraham. In the mind of God, a covenant is a "one sided contract" whereby God says, "I will do this, and you do that, but I know you will fail"-- and that is because you are a sinner needing my grace.
Notice that there are three parts to this covenant, God offers it, Abraham accepts or believes it, then God acts to declare Abraham righteous based solely upon his belief (not works) and then rewards Abraham with righteousness. Since it is evident that God alone first offers the covenant to Abraham we will skip to what Abraham did in response to the presentation of the covenant: He believed.
Looking further at the Hebrew word "believed" we can see that the verb is a simple hiphil stem, meaning past, and since the vav (and) is consecutive with it the verb becomes a perfect past tense action. The depth of the meaning of that verb is amazing:
539 אָמַן, אָמַן [ʾaman /aw·man/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 116; GK 586 and 587; 108 occurrences; AV translates as “believe” 44 times, “***urance” once, “faithful” 20 times, “sure” 11 times, “established” seven times, “trust” five times, “verified” three times, “stedfast” twice, “continuance” twice, “father” twice, “bring up” four times, “nurse” twice, “be nursed” once, “surely be” once, “stand fast” once, “fail” once, and “trusty” once. 1 to support, confirm, be faithful. 1A (Qal). 1A1 to support, confirm, be faithful, uphold, nourish. 1A1A foster-father (subst.). 1A1B foster-mother, nurse. 1A1C pillars, supporters of the door. 1B (Niphal). 1B1 to be established, be faithful, be carried, make firm. 1B1A to be carried by a nurse. 1B1B made firm, sure, lasting. 1B1C confirmed, established, sure. 1B1D verified, confirmed. 1B1E reliable, faithful, trusty. 1C (Hiphil). 1C1 to stand firm, to trust, to be certain, to believe in. 1C1A stand firm. 1C1B trust, believe.
Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
There can be no sense of wavering in the fact that Abraham (father of many) BELIEVED
As to what he placed his faith in, it is YAHWEH (Tetragrammaton)
ה, יְהוִה [Yâhovah /yeh·ho·vaw/] n pr dei. From 1961; TWOT 484a; GK 3378; 6519 occurrences; AV translates as “LORD” 6510 times, “GOD” four times, “JEHOVAH” four times, and “variant” once. 1 the proper name of the one true God. 1A unpronounced except with the vowel pointings of 0136. Additional Information: Jehovah = “the existing One”.
Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
The verb "counted" does not mean enumeration, but rather it is akin to having a debit card that never runs out of righteousness as its "currency"
חָשַׁב, חֹשֵׁב
[chashab /khaw·shab/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 767; GK 3108 and 3110; 124 occurrences; AV translates as “count” 23 times, “devise” 22 times, “think” 18 times, “imagine” nine times, “cunning” eight times, “reckon” seven times, “purpose” six times, “esteem” six times, “account” five times, “impute” four times, “forecast” twice, “regard” twice, “workman” twice, “conceived” once, and translated miscellaneously nine times. 1 to think, plan, esteem, calculate, invent, make a judgment, imagine, count. 1A (Qal). 1A1 to think, account. 1A2 to plan, devise, mean. 1A3 to charge, impute, reckon. 1A4 to esteem, value, regard. 1A5 to invent. 1B (Niphal). 1B1 to be accounted, be thought, be esteemed. 1B2 to be computed, be reckoned. 1B3 to be imputed. 1C (Piel). 1C1 to think upon, consider, be mindful of. 1C2 to think to do, devise, plan. 1C3 to count, reckon. 1D (Hithpael) to be considered.
Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
This verb is in the Qal stem, and it is a present imperfect. It means that the action of the verb has a point of origin, but that its effects are on going.
i To express an incomplete action denoted by the controlling verb, which could be at the moment or after the action of the verb;
ii. To express a repe***ive or habitual action; it does not express the time or the moment of the action of the verb, that is, the moment when the action of the verb takes place, hence the time of the action of the controlling verb could be in the past, the present or the future
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30081211/Chapter-Nine-The-Imperfect-Tense
The ISBE (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1901) explains imputation thus:
The word "imputation," according to the Scriptural usage, denotes an attributing of something to a person, or a charging of one with anything, or a setting of something to one's account. This takes place sometimes in a judicial manner, so that the thing imputed becomes a ground of reward or punishment. The word is used in the King James Version a number of times to translate the Hebrew verb chashabh and the Greek verb logizomai. These words, both of which occur frequently in Scripture, and which in a number of instances mean simply "to think," express the above idea. That this is the case is clear also from the other English words used in the King James Version to translate these Hebrew and Greek words, as, for example, "to count," "to reckon," "to esteem." Thus chashabh is translated in the King James Version by the verb "to impute" (Le 7:18; 17:4; 2Sa 19:19); by the verb "to reckon" (2Sa 4:2); by "to count" as something (Le 25:31 English versions). The verb in 1Sa 22:15 is sim. Similarly, logizomai is translated by the verb "to impute" (Ro 4:6,8,11,22,23,24; 2Co 5:19; Jas 2:23); by the verb "to count" (Ro 2:26; 4:3,5); "to account" (Ga 3:6); and by the verb "to reckon" (Ro 4:4,9,10). In the Revised Version (British and American) the word used to render logizomai is the verb "to reckon."
These synonyms of the verb "to impute" bring out the idea of reckoning or charging to one's account...
What this all comes down to is the fact that because Abraham believed, God imputed His Own Righteousness unto Abraham. By extension EVERY Christian has that happen to him/her forever.
I don't know about you, but after digging that up, and doing a short exegesis, I want to shout PRAISE GOD!! HE HAS GLORIOUSLY SAVED ME!! FOREVER HE KEEPS ME!!!!
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Originally Posted by John T
