The promise of God rests on grace and is guaranteed to all who believe. The Law failed because of man's sin (Jer 31:32), and it also brought division between Jews and Gentiles. Here Paul's motivation is the universal nature of salvation and promises made to Abraham.
God gives life to the dead and calls into being things that do not exist. He is a creator God. The whole universe was created out of nothing. He created a nation out of nothing. When God saves us He is doing a creative work.
So how did this faith operate in Abraham? This faith that Paul tells us we all need. First, he believed against all hope. God had told him something would happen, namely that he would become the father of many nations. This was impossible for Sarah and Abraham could not have children. This is why it says that he hoped against hope. Now this is not a licence for believing anything you like and thinking that God will therefore do it because you have faith! Such notions are unscriptural nonsense. Rather he believed what God had told him, he believed the promise that God gave to him. God's word is more dependable than the circumstances, it is a more reliable guide to the outcome than an assessment of the situation.
Abraham was not blind to the circumstances. He knew his own body was as good as dead, and that Sarah was barren, but he decided to put more credence on God's word than on the circumstances.
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