Question: "What is meant by ‘call those things which are not as though they were’ (Romans 4:17)?"
Romans 4:17
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Answer: The context of Romans 4 is salvation (and receiving righteousness, my words) by faith. Paul uses the example of the patriarch Abraham to show how our relationship with God is based on faith and not the works of the Law. Romans 4:17 states, “As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ [Abraham] is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”
The truth that God “calls into being things that were not” is expressed various ways in various translations: God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (KJV), “calls into existence the things that do not exist” (ESV), “calls into being that which does not exist” (NASB), and “summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do” (NET).
It is possible to understand the last part of Romans 4:17 as meaning that God has the ability to create ex nihilo. This idea is brought out in translations that say that God “creates new things out of nothing” (NLT) or simply “creates new things” (CEV). The “nothing” in this context would be the deadness of Sarah’s womb (verse 19), and the “new things” that God creates would be Abraham’s offspring mentioned in verse 18. God gives life to the dead and creates something from nothing.
The other translations emphasize the decree of God—the fact that He “calls” or “summons.” When God speaks, it’s as good as done. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham (“father of a multitude”) while Sarah was still childless. God spoke of Abraham’s descendants when as yet there were none. God truly has the ability to speak of impossible things and, in the speaking, make them possible.
Abraham heard God’s promise and believed it. That faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness (Genesis 15:6) and provides the example of all who would later exercise faith in God (Romans 4:11). Looking into the future, God can speak of things that do not exist as if they do exist. God has power over death and the ability to create life. Abraham believed this, and so do we, if we are spiritual descendants of Abraham (see Galatians 3:29).
Some Word of Faith groups misuse Romans 4:17 to teach the name-it-claim-it doctrine. According to this false doctrine, we can speak God’s Word over our finances, our bodies, our automobiles, etc., and see miraculous results to our benefit. All we need is a “confession” and enough faith, and God will transform the physical realm into an environment of blessing. We can “speak those things that are not as though they are,” sit back, and enjoy the fruit of our words. Of course, Romans 4:17 is not remotely about the power of our words; it is about the power of God’s promises and His faithfulness to keep those promises. Isaac, the son of promise, was not born because Abraham “confessed” or “declared” certain words but because God promised he would be.
This article says is it beautifully, so I will just recap here:
1. Abraham never spoke anything in existence and neither do we. It was God who did this and does this. I have never seen in the bible where we speak anything into existence. All we do is get a word from God and believe that and we put our trust in what God said, not what we say. If we do speak it, we are only speaking what God already declared, not we come up with.
2. The context here is: just like Abraham believed God for a child, Isaac, and it was counted to him for righteousness. We as well, believe God for salvation and we receive the righteousness that comes from Christ. So, Abraham received righteousness by faith, and so do we, receive our righteousness by faith. That is the context here, not the power of our words!
3. Lastly, look at it again: who spoke those things that are not as though they were? It was God who was doing that, never us! This may hurt but we need to deal with it. Why?
4. Because it gives birth to the “name it and claim it” false theology. Not to mention that false theology of “we speak things into existence”, again, that was a God power reserved for God alone! And this false teaching gave birth to the “new age” false religion of, we are gods just like Daddy God in heaven so we can do everything that He does, hence, we can speak it just like God in heaven making us little gods on the earth. Saints that is NOT Christianity but new age mysticism that needs to be avoided at all costs.
5. Now some of you may be thinking, yeah chaplain but the word also says,
“the power of death and life are in the tongue” I say yes, they are, but the power of death and life. It never said we can create anything in that verse just the power of death and life are in our tongues and therefore, we will enjoy the fruit of it, i.e. the fruit of the words we speak. So, this is death and life, blessing and cursing, positive speech or negative speech, kind words over hurtful words etc. Never does it say in that text we can create anything out of nothing from our words. That is a power reserved for God and God alone! Anyway, that’s a lot to chew on so I’ll leave you to do that, blessings.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, I’ll just pray a short prayer on this one: Lord forgive us for thinking we can do things that only YOU can do. Forgive us for this teaching and receiving this false teaching, we repent, in Jesus’ name, Amen!