Objection: Only GOD Can Call Those Things That Be Not as Though They Were (Romans 4:17)
Romans 4:17:
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
First, notice that when God raised dead people, He used MEN to do it! So if MAN can quicken the dead, surely MAN can “call those things which be not as though they were” too. Elijah raised a dead person (1 Kings 17:17-24). Elisha raised a dead person (2 Kings 4:18-37) and even his bones raised another dead person (2 Kings 13:20-21). Paul raised a dead person (Acts 20:9-12). Peter raised a dead person (Acts 9:36-42). They did it with God’s help, obviously, but God did not act independently of man to accomplish these miracles. So the same sentence the objector uses says that God quickens the dead, but man accomplished these miracles through His power. It would be inconsistent to think that man could not also call those things which be not as though they were.
Second, the verse in question never says that ONLY GOD calls those things that be not as though they were. The objector is reading in something that isn’t there.
Third, God wants us to be imitators of Him, as dear children (Ephesians 5:1). (Followers in the King James Version is correctly translated imitators, as in the NKJV and most other translations. Being a follower is in the sense of doing what He does.) So if God calls those things that be not as though they were, we should be expected to do so as well as we imitate Him!
Fourth, God HAS told people to call things that be not as though they were! He changed Abram’s name to Abraham so that Abraham had to go around saying that he was the father of many nations when he had not yet had Isaac and become the father of ANY nation. Joshua, at God’s direction, told Israel, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city” (Joshua 6:16) when the city’s impermeable walls were still standing and not one square inch of that city was yet in Israel’s possession. That should be sufficient proof to you that “calling those things that be not as though they were” is NOT a privilege reserved for God alone.