SCRIPTURE RIPPING
ROMANS 4 : 17
Romans 4:17 "(as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were."
This is a common scripture that is ripped from its context. It is usually broken down to the statement that “call the things that are not, as though they were” to mean that we as Christians have the power or ability to “call” or speak something we want into existence.
Do Christians really have this ability to create reality with our words? To find out let's use the principles of Biblical hermeneutics to find out the real context of this Scripture the first rule in biblical hermeneutics is context is King. So let's read the surrounding context of this verse to discover its true meaning.
~Romans 4:16- For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
~Romans 4:17- (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.
~Romans 4:18- Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be.
~Romans 4:19- And without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb;
~Romans 4:20- yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God,
~Romans 4:21- and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
The surrounding context talks about God promising Abraham that he would be a seed of many nations and that Abraham simply believed God. God made the promise Abraham believed and through this promise Abraham had to bear a son through Sarah but Sarah physically was not able to have children, yet God promised she would have a child and Abraham by faith believed this. In verse 17 it says Abraham believed. God is the one who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were and only God can create something out of nothing, Christians do not have this ability, that would be deifying man which is a common theme in prosperity doctrines claiming that we can create our own prosperity through our words. This is actually what is taught in New Age doctrines and the occult where they repeat phrases over and over or make incantations as in witchcraft or Shamanism to get a desired result. This is vastly different from believing in God for something versus man speaking something into existence that he wants. If man had this ability why would he need to have faith in God?
If I asked God for something and prayer I am relying on his wisdom to answer that prayer as he sees fit and as he wills not as I will for his wisdom is infinitely greater than mine. He may show me that what I want is not really what is best for me. Many times I can look in the past at prayers that were not answered in the way I wanted to and thank God for that for if they were it would have been disastrous. God is the creator, we are the creation, man has no ability to create something from nothing that is God's job.
This is a common scripture that is ripped from its context. It is usually broken down to the statement that “call the things that are not, as though they were” to mean that we as Christians have the power or ability to “call” or speak something we want into existence.
Do Christians really have this ability to create reality with our words? To find out let's use the principles of Biblical hermeneutics to find out the real context of this Scripture the first rule in biblical hermeneutics is context is King. So let's read the surrounding context of this verse to discover its true meaning.
~Romans 4:16- For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
~Romans 4:17- (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.
~Romans 4:18- Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be.
~Romans 4:19- And without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb;
~Romans 4:20- yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God,
~Romans 4:21- and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
The surrounding context talks about God promising Abraham that he would be a seed of many nations and that Abraham simply believed God. God made the promise Abraham believed and through this promise Abraham had to bear a son through Sarah but Sarah physically was not able to have children, yet God promised she would have a child and Abraham by faith believed this. In verse 17 it says Abraham believed. God is the one who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were and only God can create something out of nothing, Christians do not have this ability, that would be deifying man which is a common theme in prosperity doctrines claiming that we can create our own prosperity through our words. This is actually what is taught in New Age doctrines and the occult where they repeat phrases over and over or make incantations as in witchcraft or Shamanism to get a desired result. This is vastly different from believing in God for something versus man speaking something into existence that he wants. If man had this ability why would he need to have faith in God?
If I asked God for something and prayer I am relying on his wisdom to answer that prayer as he sees fit and as he wills not as I will for his wisdom is infinitely greater than mine. He may show me that what I want is not really what is best for me. Many times I can look in the past at prayers that were not answered in the way I wanted to and thank God for that for if they were it would have been disastrous. God is the creator, we are the creation, man has no ability to create something from nothing that is God's job.
