How to Change What Is not Good
David W Palmer
(Romans 4:17 KJV2000) (As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead, and calls those things which are not as though they were.
When we first read it, the last part of this verse seems challenging to grasp; it seems that the grammar doesn’t make sense, because the tenses are confusing. In the KJV bible, it reads: “God … calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Clearly, its topic is speaking, what we say, and how we say it, so it is giving us some insights into the Law of Confession. What does this mean, and how can we apply it in our lives today?
First, let’s unpack the wording, tenses, and grammar to clarify its meaning. We note that this is speaking of “God, who gives life to the dead.” So, we know that this is describing the way our amazing God operates—especially as it relates to giving life to something that would otherwise have been dead, no longer working, or non-existent.
In the context of Romans 4, the Holy Spirit is talking about Abraham, his faith, and how he became the father of many nations—after being childless until he and Sarah were far too old to produce children naturally:
(Romans 4:19 NKJV) And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.
When this says “his own body, already dead,” it is speaking of his reproductive ability; his physical body and spirit were still together, meaning he was alive in the normal sense.
At this point in his life, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. This means that God confessed that he was the father of many nations when, to the casual observer, he wasn’t; what’s more, God said this when Abram didn’t even have any natural hope of ever becoming what God just called him.
So, in calling him Abraham—the father of many and vast nations—God was speaking of something that hadn’t happened yet as though it was already a past and established fact. It was not a present reality, but God spoke of it as already existing and indisputable history. We must remember that he did this in his role as the one who “gives life to the dead.” In this case, he was in the process of resurrecting Abraham’s youth so his aging body could reproduce. (He also changed Sarah’s name for the same reason—that they could have a child together.)
So, the way the KJV reads really is exactly what God did: “God, who quickeneth (gives life and resurrection to) the dead, and calleth (calls) those things which be not as though they were.” In the process of fixing Abraham and Sarah’s problem of childlessness, God spoke of a non-factual present, as though it was an already established, historic fact. He was speaking of things that be not as though they were. He was speaking about things that do not yet exist as though they did.
This describes God’s method for changing impossible situations. In Abraham’s case, because he had already given the dominion of earth to mankind, God had to get Abraham to imitate his method to get this to work on earth. Plus, he had to set up a legal arrangement that allowed him to step into man’s domain so he could help us. This goes back to one of the reasons God made a covenant with Abraham in the first place:
(Genesis 17:1–7 NLT) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. {2} I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” {3} At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, {4} “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! {5} What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. {6} I will make you extremely fruitful.
