Faith as righteousness.

And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6

The old man struggled with God's promise. He was old. He was ancient. And God said he would have descendants that would become a great nation. And the old man thought to himself, "How can this ever come to be?" And God took him out on a clear starry night, and under the inky blackness of a vast expanse of countless stars, bid the old man lift his tired eyes to the heavens. "That is how numerous your descendants will be." And somehow, in the light of those stars a new star winked into existence in the old man's heart and he believed what God said. He embraced it and did not let go. He still did not understand it. But he believed.

And in that faith, God moved. He saw that Abram truly believed him. And God took the faith -- not compliance, not outward duty-- just the sheer audacity to think that God's promise as vast as the Milky Way would be true for him. And God placed that faith in the righteousness column of old Abram. And he became a righteous man in God's sight.

It is no different today. I look back at an impossible promise, that a Savior died for the sin of the world, that my sinfulness would be atoned for by a Roman crucifixion, and somehow, there sparked in my heart the faith to believe that good news. And in that moment, I was credited all the righteousness of the Son of God. I was made holy. I was a man of faith at only seven years of age, though not spectacular like Abram, still... redeemed by the decree of God to count faith as righteousness.