<p>2:23 <i>And the scripture was fulfilled which said: And Abraham believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness; and he was called the friend of God</i>- James 2:23 speaks as if the comment &quot;Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him for righteousness&quot; was a one-off statement made at that time when Abraham believed; and it was subsequently justified when Abraham demonstrated his faith by offering Isaac. So the comment that &quot;Abraham believed&quot; surely must refer to Abraham's response as he stood there looking up at the stars.</p><p>This is quoting Gen. 15:5,6, where in the moment that Abraham looked up at the stars and believed (so Rom. 4:23 implies) &quot;So shall your seed be&quot;, God &quot;counted it to him for righteousness&quot;. God knew that Abraham's faith in those words would really be shown when he was asked to offer Isaac, the only human means of their fulfilment. Thus the Scripture recorded that Abraham was righteous when this was as yet unproved by his works. However, that Scripture was fulfilled when Abraham was prepared to offer Isaac. The point is being made that just that kind of intense faith is as if the works have already been done- which is exactly in line with James' preceding reasoning. The use of the phrase &quot;The Scripture&quot; implies that either there was a literal written account made of the words of Gen. 15:6 which was then validated by Abraham's offering of Isaac (note &quot;<i>was</i> fulfilled&quot;, past tense), or &quot;The Scripture&quot; refers to some kind of (Angelic?) record in Heaven of events in our probations, similar to the concept of the deeds of believers being written in a book of life. The evidence for either seems about equal, and there is no reason why both cannot be correct. &quot;The scripture of truth&quot; in Dan. 10:21 appears to have been some written record available to the Angels which they revealed to man. &quot;The Scripture&quot; elsewhere in James seems to refer to the general spirit of God's principles in dealing with man: &quot;The Scripture saith...The spirit that dwelleth in us...&quot; (4:5) does not seem to refer to any specific written scripture, and &quot;the royal law&quot; (i.e. what was specifically placed on record) seems to be separate from &quot;the scripture&quot; in 2:8. Similarly &quot;the scripture&quot; foresaw that God would justify the heathen (Gal.3:8), and &quot;concluded all under sin &quot;(Gal. 3:22), hinting that &quot;the scripture&quot; is more than just the written words. Writing was certainly developed by Abraham's time, and a literal written statement of Abraham's acceptance with God being verified by his offering of Isaac is an attractive idea. That &quot;the scripture&quot; which was fulfilled at the time of the offering of Isaac (James 2:20) was something written is suggested in Rom. 4:22,23, where the fact &quot;it was imputed to him&quot; in Gen. 15:6 &quot;was not written for his sake alone&quot;. The fact Abraham was justified for his faith was written for Abraham to see at some time in his life. The point has been made&nbsp;that the descriptions of Sodom in Gen. 10:19 (cp. Gen. 14:3) imply that Genesis 10 was written before Sodom's destruction as recorded in Gen.19. Thus it is reasonable to suggest that Gen.15 may also have been in written existence.</p>