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Romans 4

Paul shows that God counts believers righteous by grace through faith, tracing Abraham’s promise to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Paul turns to Abraham as he explains to the believers in Rome how God counts people righteous. Abraham believed God before he received circumcision, and David described the blessing of forgiven sin. Paul uses both witnesses to show that righteousness comes through faith apart from works. He then traces Abraham’s trust in God’s promise despite his age and Sarah’s barrenness, before turning to Jesus’ death and resurrection as the ground of believers’ justification.

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2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
4Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed.
5But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
6Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.”
9Is this blessing then pronounced only on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
12He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision.
13For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he would be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.
15For the law produces wrath; for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.
16For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
17As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
18Against hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.”
19Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God,
21and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
22Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.”
23Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone,
24but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
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Key verses
Romans 4:25The closing verse anchors the argument about righteousness in Jesus’ death for sins and resurrection for justification.
Romans 4:21Abraham’s confidence rests on God’s ability to fulfill his promise, even when the prospect of offspring seems impossible.
Romans 4:16Faith accords with grace, securing the promise for all who share Abraham’s faith across the boundary of circumcision.
Where this chapter reaches

Romans draws on Genesis for Abraham’s faith and the promise of many nations, and quotes Psalm on the blessing of forgiven sin. Galatians shares its account of Abraham’s righteousness through faith, while Ephesians shares its teaching that salvation comes by grace apart from works.

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After reading the whole chapter

How does Paul’s contrast between wages and grace shape your understanding of being counted righteous?

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What do you notice about the God Abraham trusted, and how does that shape your prayers?

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Questions people ask about Romans 4

What does it mean that Abraham’s faith was counted as righteousness?

Paul says God counted Abraham righteous when Abraham believed him. The comparison with wages makes the point: works earn a payment, while righteousness is received through faith as grace. David’s words about forgiveness help explain this standing before God, where sin is forgiven and no longer charged against a person.

Why does Paul discuss circumcision in Romans 4?

The timing matters to Paul’s argument. Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised. Circumcision then served as a sign and seal of the righteousness he had through faith. This makes Abraham the father of believing Gentiles as well as circumcised people who share his faith.

What does Romans 4:25 mean?

The verse connects Jesus’ death with human trespasses and his resurrection with justification, God’s act of counting believers righteous. It completes Paul’s move from Abraham’s trust in the God who gives life to the dead to believers’ trust in the God who raised Jesus. Both death and resurrection belong to Paul’s explanation.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).