God Calleth Those Things Which Be Not As Though They Were

Recently in a church Bible study, someone seemed to use “Rom 4:17 (“God … calleth those things which be not as though they were”) to say a verse on a particular topic doesn’t mean what it says. I’m thinking we should never use the verse like that. If we are free to say Rom 4:17 means a verse doesn’t mean what it says when what it says contradicts our position, then we can use it on any verse and topic that way. And it would be valid for false teachers to do the same thing. In effect, there would be no way to really understand the Bible, because how could we know when God actually meant what He said? To the contrary, passages like Eph 3:3-4 teach the scriptures can be readily understood.

So what does Rom 4:17 mean? If I am not mistaken, the context (17-21) is talking about God telling Abraham that he was going to be a (physical) father of many nations, even though Abraham / Sarah were too old to have a child. The point is that when God has a plan for the future; he is going to make sure that plan gets done, so it is “as good as done” at the point in time God plans/promises it.

Perhaps Rom 13:8 is another good example of this. It seems to say Jesus was “slain from the foundation of the world.” But I thought He died in thirty something AD? The fact is God planned Jesus’ death from the foundation of the world (I Pet 1:18-20), and since God was going to make sure that plan was implemented, then Jesus’ death was “as good as done” from the foundation of the world. God called something (the Messiah’s death) which was not as though it were – as it was as good as done once God planned it.

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