One verse that changed everything. Abram is struggling—years have passed, Sarai is still barren, the nursery is empty. God takes him outside: "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be." And then: "He believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness." Chashab—to reckon, to credit. God looked at Abram's faith and made a decision. Before the law, before circumcision, a man stands under the stars, trusts God's promise, and is declared righteous. Not because of what he did. Because of what he believed. This is the gospel before the gospel.

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