And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6
Abram believed the promises of God and God accounted that belief to him as tsedaqah.
What is righteousness?
Never cheating on your taxes?
Never breaking the speed limit?
Flossing daily?
Well, those are a kind of righteousness.
We conform to the law, the legal standards, so we are “righteous” in a sense.
But God didn’t say, “Abram followed the rules and that was accounted to him as righteousness.”
The Hebrews thought of righteousness not so much as what GOD is, like we do
But more of what He DOES to fulfill His promises, His covenant with us.
This pronouncement of Abram’s righteousness comes in connection with the covenant God made with Him.
Job asked the question, “How then can man be righteous before God?” (Job 25:4)
We aren’t Hebrew. What covenant do we fall back on?
What about the covenant in John 3:16?
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
We believe Jesus died for our sins. We believe that means we will receive eternal life. We believe that promise God made.
So as a result.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
And God accounts that to us as righteousness.
Not what we do, what we believe.
Just like Abram.