Romans 4

The Illustration of Justification

4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh,¹ has discovered regarding this matter?² 4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous³ by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God. 4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited⁴ to him as righteousness.”⁵ 4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.⁶ 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous,⁷ his faith is credited as righteousness.

4:6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

4:7 “Blessed⁸ are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

4:8 blessed is the one⁹against whom the Lord will never count¹⁰ sin.”¹¹

4:9 Is this blessedness¹² then for¹³ the circumcision¹⁴ or also for¹⁵ the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”¹⁶ 4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised,¹⁷ so that he would become¹⁸ the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised,¹⁹ that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised,²⁰ who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.²¹

4:13 For the promise²² to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 4:14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.²³ 4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression²⁴ either. 4:16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace,²⁵ with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham,²⁶ who is the father of us all 4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”).²⁷ He is our father²⁸ in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who²⁹ makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.³⁰ 4:18 Against hope Abraham³¹ believed³² in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations³³ according to the pronouncement,³⁴ “so will your descendants be.”³⁵ 4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered³⁶ his own body as dead³⁷ (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 4:20 He³⁸ did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was³⁹ fully convinced that what God⁴⁰ promised he was also able to do. 4:22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham⁴¹ as righteousness.

4:23 But the statement it was credited to him⁴² was not written only for Abraham’s⁴³ sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 4:25 He⁴⁴ was given over⁴⁵ because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of⁴⁶ our justification.⁴⁷

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