What does the Scripture declare concerning Abraham’s righteousness?...

"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."

Abraham was called out of the large, prosperous city of Ur of the Chaldees. There was no basis of which we know for his being selected in this manner, other than the will and grace of God.

The concept of election, of foreknowledge, of predestination, of grace is based on the Lord’s calling of people in this fashion. There is no basis for the Lord’s selections other than His own will and purposes.

The Scriptures are a record of a righteous God seeking men, not of righteous men seeking God. The Scriptures are a record of God’s grace.

One starry night, after Abram had rescued Lot from Chedorlaomer, the Lord spoke to him a word of comfort and assurance: "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."

Abram (Abraham) told the Lord what was on his heart: "And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir."

Then God promised Abraham: "And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir."

At this point God brought Abraham from his tent.

... Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:5,6).

The Lord gave to Paul the Apostle the responsibility of explaining the transition from the old covenant to the new covenant. This explanation brought Paul into conflict with such leaders as the Apostle Peter.

Paul based his explanation of the transition—of the way the new covenant differs from the old covenant—on the manner in which Abraham received the status of righteousness in the sight of God.

God gave to Abraham a promise concerning the Seed who would come from his own body and who would be multiplied as the stars of heaven.

Abraham believed and received God’s promise, although his natural circumstances at that time did not seem to confirm what God was saying.

The Lord God counted Abraham’s belief in the promise as being righteousness.

The righteousness proceeded from Abraham’s belief in the promise of the Lord, not from any success or failure in the practice of the moral law of God—the law expressed later in the Ten Commandments and Levitical statutes.