Romans 4
Paul uses Abraham as the model of justification by faith, not works. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, before circumcision, before the Law. David too speaks of the blessedness of forgiveness apart from works. Abraham is the father of all who believe.
RomansChapter 4 of 1625 versesBerean Standard Bible
In this passage: Abraham
If God speaks to you through Romans 4, record what He said in Doxa and come back to it.
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has discovered?
If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 25: Abram Believed God: The Night He Counted the Stars (Genesis 15)
Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 25: Why was his faith credited to him as righteousness?
'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Paul's key argument: faith has always been the way — even before the law existed.
“Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Read Genesis 15:6›Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness
“Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Read Genesis 15:6›Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”
Read Psalms 32:1›Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.
And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 29: Abram Becomes Abraham: A New Name at Ninety-Nine (Genesis 17)
Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 29: How does Abraham's covenant point to Christ?
And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,
because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.
Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 18: How does this reach all the way to Jesus?
Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 18: How does this point to Jesus?
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.
Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 30: Why Did Abraham Laugh? God Names Isaac a Year Early (Genesis 17)
Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 30: Why Did Abraham Laugh? God Names Isaac a Year Early (Genesis 17)
being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham,
but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 25: Abram Believed God: The Night He Counted the Stars (Genesis 15)
Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 25: Why was his faith credited to him as righteousness?
He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.
He was pierced for our transgressions — delivered over for our sins
“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
Read Isaiah 53:5›Read next
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Cross-references for Romans 4
“Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”
“And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”
“He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,”
““As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
Romans 4 on Doxa
- Abram Believed God: The Night He Counted the Stars (Genesis 15) · Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 25
- Credited as Righteousness: How Abram Was Made Right (Genesis 15) · Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 25
- Abram Becomes Abraham: A New Name at Ninety-Nine (Genesis 17) · Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 29
- El Shaddai and the Letter God Hid in a New Name (Genesis 17) · Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 29
- Terah, Sarai, and Abram: The Barren Family God Called From Ur (Genesis 11) · Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 18
- Sarai Was Barren: Why God Empties a Family Before He Calls It (Genesis 11) · Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 18
- Why Did Abraham Laugh? God Names Isaac a Year Early (Genesis 17) · Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 30
- When the Odds On Your Life Don't Matter: Abraham's Story
- Encouraging a Church Member Who Is Still Waiting on a Promise
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If God speaks to you through Romans 4
Doxa is where you record what God has said to you, in the words it came in, weigh it against Scripture with people you trust, and come back to it in the years that follow.
