Take a look closely at the chronology I pointed out earlier (in Rom4 and related passages):
Romans 4 -
"...For we are saying
faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.
10 How then was it credited? Being in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 And he received
the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness
of the faith that he had while in the uncircumcision, for him to be father of all those believing
while in uncircumcision, for the righteousness to be credited also to them,
12 and
the father of circumcision to those not only of circumcision, but also to those walking in the steps
of the faith of our father Abraham during uncircumcision."
[
see Genesis 17 in relation to the "befores" of this, and the "afters" of
^ this particular "divide/
time-marker," if you will... Isaac wasn't even
born yet (this was
well before THAT even!), and it was
a very long time even after he was born that Abraham "offered Isaac up"... and
Hebrews 11:17-19 says (
well after the v.8 [incident of] "
By faith Abraham, being called to go out..."),
vv.17-19 - "
17 By faith Abraham,
being tested, has offered up Isaac [James 2 example]. Even the
one having received the promises was offering up
his only begotten son,
18 as to whom it was said, “In Isaac your offspring will be reckoned,”
b 19 having reasoned that God
was able even to raise
him out from
the dead, from where he received him also in a simile" (<--meaning, it was as though he received him back from the dead)… so this example of his "offering up Isaac" is an example of "
the TRIAL of your faith"/"
testing," of it, that is, of a faith
already in existence in one's life…]