John Calvin Commentary Romans 4:17

"(as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were." — Romans 4:17 (ASV)

Whom he believed, who quickens the dead, etc. In this circuitous form is expressed the very substance of Abraham’s faith, so that by his example an opening might be made for the Gentiles. He indeed had to attain, in a wonderful way, the promise which he had heard from the Lord’s mouth, since there was then no sign of it.

A seed was promised to him as though he were in vigor and strength; but he was, as it were, dead. It was therefore necessary for him to raise up his thoughts to the power of God, by which the dead are quickened. It was therefore not strange that the Gentiles, who were barren and dead, should be introduced into the same society.

He, then, who denies them to be capable of grace does wrong to Abraham, whose faith was sustained by this thought—that it does not matter whether he who is called by the Lord was dead or not; to whom it is an easy thing, even by a word, to raise the dead through his own power.

We have here also a type and a pattern of the call of us all, by which our beginning is set before our eyes, not concerning our first birth, but concerning the hope of future life—that when we are called by the Lord we emerge from nothing. For whatever we may seem to be, we have not, no, not a spark of anything good, which can render us fit for the kingdom of God.

For us, on the other hand, to be in a suitable state to hear the call of God, we must be altogether dead in ourselves. The character of the divine calling is this: those who are dead are raised by the Lord, and those who are nothing begin to be something through his power. The word call should not be confined to preaching. According to the usage of Scripture, it is to be taken as meaning “raising up.” This understanding is intended to set forth more fully the power of God, who raises up, as it were, by a nod only, whom he wills.