Of Abraham, it is stated that he exercised faith in God and was “declared righteous”; also, it is written that Rahab of Jericho manifested her faith by her works and so was “declared righteous,” her life being spared when the city of Jericho was destroyed. (Jas 2:21-23, 25) It may be noted that in James’ epistle (as cited) and also in Paul’s letter to the Romans (4:3-5, 9-11), in which he quotes Genesis 15:6, it is stated that Abraham’s faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” Understanding of this expression is aided by considering the sense of the Greek verb lo·giʹzo·mai, “count,” here used.

How “counted” righteous. This Greek verb lo·giʹzo·mai was used regularly in ancient times for numerical calculations or computations such as in accounting, being used when referring both to something that was entered on the debit side of an account and also to something entered on the credit side thereof. In the Bible it is used to mean “reckon, credit, count, or take into account.” Thus 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that love “does not keep account [form of lo·giʹzo·mai] of the injury” (compare 2Ti 4:16); and the psalmist David is quoted as saying: “Happy is the man whose sin Jehovah will by no means take into account.” (Ro 4:8) Paul showed to those who looked at things according to their face value the need to make a proper evaluation of matters, to look at both sides of the ledger, as it were. (2Co 10:2, 7, 10-12) At the same time, Paul was concerned that “no one should put to [his] credit [form of lo·giʹzo·mai]” more than was correct as regards his ministry.​—2Co 12:6, 7.

The word lo·giʹzo·mai may also mean “esteem, appraise, count, rate, or reckon (with a group, class, or type).” (1Co 4:1) Thus Jesus said that he would be “reckoned [form of lo·giʹzo·mai] with lawless ones,” that is, counted or classed as in among them or as if one of them. (Lu 22:37) In his letter to the Romans, the apostle says that in the case of the uncircumcised person keeping the Law, his “uncircumcision will be counted as circumcision,” that is, estimated or looked upon as if it were circumcision. (Ro 2:26) In a similar sense, Christians were urged to ‘reckon themselves to be dead as regards sin but alive as regards God by Christ Jesus.’ (Ro 6:11) And anointed Christians from among the Gentiles, though not fleshly descendants of Abraham, were “counted as the seed” of Abraham.​—Ro 9:8.

How could Abraham be declared righteous before the death of Christ?

So, also, Abraham’s faith, combined with works, was “counted [reckoned, credited, or attributed] to him as righteousness.” (Ro 4:20-22) This, of course, does not mean that he and other faithful men of pre-Christian times were perfect or free from sin; yet, by virtue of their exercise of faith in God’s promise concerning the “seed” and because they were striving to follow God’s commands, they were not classed as unrighteous with no standing before God, like the rest of the world of mankind. (Ge 3:15; Ps 119:2, 3) Jehovah lovingly accounted them guiltless, when compared with the world of mankind alienated from God. (Ps 32:1, 2; Eph 2:12) Thus, God could, by reason of their faith, have dealings with such imperfect men and bless them, doing so while still remaining true to his own perfect standards of justice. (Ps 36:10) However, such ones recognized their need for redemption from sin and were awaiting God’s due time to provide it.​—Ps 49:7-9; Heb 9:26.

This declaring of such Christians righteous, therefore, goes much farther than in the case of Abraham (and other pre-Christian servants of Jehovah), previously discussed. Indicating the scope of Abraham’s justification, the disciple James wrote: “The scripture was fulfilled which says: ‘Abraham put faith in Jehovah, and it was counted to him as righteousness,’ and he came to be called ‘Jehovah’s friend.’” (Jas 2:20-23) So, because of his faith, Abraham was declared righteous as a friend of God, not as a son of God because of being “born again” with heavenly life in view. (Joh 3:3) The Scriptural record makes clear that prior to Christ’s coming neither such sonship nor such a heavenly hope had been opened up to men.​—Joh 1:12, 17, 18; 2Ti 1:10; 1Pe 1:3; 1Jo 3:1.