“as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’–in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:17 ESV).
We would do well to take a closer look at Romans 4:17 and its reference to God who “…calls into existence the things that do not exist.“ This can help us identify misinterpretations that may arise when we isolate this portion of Scripture from its original context. We can begin by defining the word “context” as “the part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.” (1) To put it another way, the surrounding chapters and verses of a Biblical text help establish its meaning. When individual verses are quoted outside their context, it is sometimes possible to make the Bible say some very unbiblical things.
In the context of Romans 4:17, God’s ability to summon forth things that do not yet exist relates to…
- Abraham.
- His wife Sarah.
- Their advanced physical ages and their inability to have children.
- God’s promise to make Abraham the father of many nations, a promise that seemed impossible from a human perspective.
In a larger sense, scholars often employ the Latin phrase “creation ex nihilo” to express God’s capacity to call something into being out of nothing. This doctrine states that God’s divine act of creation brought the elements of time, space, matter, and life into being from a prior state of non-existence. Romans 4:17 supports this concept in speaking of “…God who gives life to the dead and calls things that don’t exist into existence” (CEB).
The issue is that it is possible to isolate this portion of Scripture and quote it in a manner that makes it appear to support something else. For example, there are some who believe that we can simply speak (or confess) God’s Word over some aspect of our lives and bring something into being. Others point to God’s creative work in Genesis chapter one as a template for those who wish to speak something desirable into existence.
These concepts reflect serious errors. For example, Genesis chapter one does not function as a model we can follow to “speak things into existence.” In addition, the context of Romans 4:17 precludes us from using this portion of Scripture as a license to call something into existence that previously did not exist. As the wise old rule of Biblical interpretation tells us, “If a Biblical passage makes good sense, we should accept it as it is, lest we end with nonsense.”
Image Attribution: ba1969 (Billy Frank Alexander)
(1) context. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved March 06, 2026 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/context