Scripture quotations on this page are from the World English Bible (public domain), shown in quotation marks; all commentary is written by Scripture Trove. Source: Romans 4 · Commentary
Chapter 3 proclaimed the principle of justification by faith. Chapter 4 proves it using Abraham, the figure most revered in all of Israel, to show that this is no doctrine Paul invented. It is the way God has always worked. Before circumcision, before the law, Abraham was already counted righteous by faith.
Paul's argumentative strategy can be summed up in a single sentence: "If even Abraham was justified by faith and not by works, then no one can possibly be justified by works." This is an argument from the stronger case to the weaker. Abraham is the very person the Jewish mind would consider most qualified to be justified by works. He left Ur, obeyed God's call to leave his homeland, was circumcised at age 99, fathered Isaac at 100, and offered Isaac on Mount Moriah. If even this man was justified by faith, then no one else's claim to justification by works can stand.
The chapter's 25 verses divide into four sections, each dismantling a different Jewish assumption:
4:3 "For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”"
Romans 4:3（World English Bible）
4:5 "But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness."
Romans 4:5（World English Bible）
4:18 "Besides 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.”"
Romans 4:18（World English Bible）
4:25 "who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification."
Romans 4:25（World English Bible）
Abraham's faith was not a superpower, not some spiritual feat beyond the reach of ordinary people.
He was simply an old man. His body had given out. His wife was old too. They had longed for a child their whole lives and had tried everything, including the human solution of Hagar, and every attempt had failed.
But one night God brought him outside the tent, pointed to the sky full of stars, and said, "So will your offspring be." Abraham looked up at those stars and made a choice. He chose to believe God's word rather than his own circumstances.
That is what faith is. It is not a feeling of certainty. It is choosing, when you have no certainty at all, to stand on the side of God's promise.
It is worth noting that when Paul writes in 4:20-22 that Abraham "did not waver in unbelief," he is not claiming that Abraham never doubted. The Abraham of Genesis is recorded with full honesty: he had doubts, struggles, and failures. In Genesis 17:17 he "fell on his face and laughed" (a quiet laugh at God's promise). He used a human method to "help" God fulfill the promise (the Hagar episode, Genesis 16). In Genesis 20 he lied yet again, saying Sarah was his sister. Abraham is not a "perfect model of faith." He is a "real model of faith." What Paul describes in Romans 4 is the overall direction of Abraham's faith. Despite the wavering, his faith as a whole was oriented "toward God," and in the end he did not "abandon" God's promise. Faith is not the absence of struggle. It is refusing to let go in the midst of struggle.
Perhaps you are facing a situation that feels "already dead": a marriage with no hope in sight, a ministry that makes no progress no matter how hard you try, a body that will not heal, a difficulty that no amount of prayer seems to answer. Paul says: the God you believe in is "the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" (4:17). His power is not limited by your circumstances.
Brothers and sisters, you do not need to see the evidence before you believe. You need to believe first, and then wait for God's timing. After Abraham believed God's promise in Genesis 15:6, he waited 25 years before he saw Isaac born (Abraham left Haran at 75 and fathered Isaac at 100). Faith is not "evidence you see right away." It is "hope you hold on to through a long wait." If God does not answer your prayer today, it is not because he has forgotten you, and not because he does not love you. It is because he is preparing a greater fulfillment that takes more time. When you, like Abraham, give glory to God (4:20), you have already won. The victory is not in the outcome but in "the posture of trusting God."
Abraham "in hope believed against hope" (4:18). Is there a situation in your life that feels "beyond hope"? Are you willing, like Abraham, to choose to trust God's promise? Or have you already quietly given up in your heart?
Paul says that faith and works belong to different "economic systems" (wages versus grace, 4:4-5). Does your faith look more like "clocking in to earn a paycheck" (using service, giving, and prayer to "earn" God's acceptance) or like "receiving a gift" (first admitting you have nothing, then freely receiving God's grace)?
In 4:25 Jesus "was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." The cross and the resurrection cannot be separated; both are needed. Do you dwell more on the cross or on the resurrection? Have you neglected one of them? Why must Christianity emphasize both the cross (sin dealt with) and the resurrection (justification confirmed)?
Positioning: The opening three rounds of argument in Romans 4:
This section is saturated with the accounting verb "credit" (λογίζομαι, logizomai), which appears 11 times in this chapter (4:3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24), five of them in this section alone.
4:1-3 "What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”"
Romans 4:1-3（World English Bible）
"Abraham, our forefather" (Ἀβραὰμ τὸν προπάτορα ἡμῶν, Abraam ton propatora hēmōn) — propatōr means "ancestor, forefather" (πρό, "before" + πατήρ, "father"). Paul writes "our" even though he is addressing Gentile believers in the Roman church, signaling that Abraham is not only the ancestor of the Jews but the spiritual forefather of all who believe. This point is developed fully in 4:11-12 and 4:16-17.
Paul's turn to Abraham was no arbitrary choice. Abraham was the patriarch of the nation of Israel, the most venerated figure in all of Jewish tradition. The reverence for Abraham in Second Temple Judaism can be traced through several landmark expressions:
If Paul can prove that Abraham was justified by faith and not by works, then justification by faith is no new invention but the way God ordained from the very beginning. This is why Abraham is Paul's ideal battleground. Capture the fortress of Abraham, and the entire Jewish assumption of "justification by works" collapses.
"Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" is cited from Genesis 15:6 (Septuagint), the cornerstone text of Paul's entire argument.
"Accounted" (ἐλογίσθη, elogisthē / λογίζομαι, logizomai) is an accounting term, "to enter something on someone's account." Abraham's faith does not in itself "equal" righteousness. It is credited as righteousness by God, much as a bank enters a deposit into your account. The money was not produced by you, but it is registered in your name. This is the "forensic" or "declarative" understanding of justification, not a "transformative" one. Justification is God's legal pronouncement ("I declare you righteous"), not a change in a person's essence ("your nature has become righteous").
When did Genesis 15:6 take place? This is the most critical timeline question of the whole chapter:
Paul uses this timeline in 4:9-12 as the decisive proof that circumcision is not a condition for justification: Genesis 15:6 (justification) came 14 years before Genesis 17 (circumcision).
Paul has already declared in 3:28 that "a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law," but the law was not given at Sinai until 500 years later. Abraham's justification therefore could not have rested on the law, and that fact is itself the strongest proof of justification by faith. With no circumcision, no law, no Moses, and no Jewish religious institution of any kind, Abraham was counted righteous by faith. This demolishes at the root the assumption that there is no salvation apart from these religious institutions.
4:4-5 "Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness."
Romans 4:4-5（World English Bible）
Paul uses a wage analogy to distinguish two entirely different "economic systems":
| Dimension | Wage System (Works) | Grace System (Faith) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | What you have done | What you have not done |
| Outcome | You receive proportional compensation | You freely receive the status of righteousness |
| Nature | Owed (ὀφείλημα, opheilēma: "debt") | Gift (δωρεάν, dōrean: "freely") |
| Your response | You expect it; no thanks required | You should be grateful |
| Relationship with God | Transactional | Relational |
"To him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed" — opheilēma, "debt." When an employer pays an employee's wages, that is not "grace" but "settling a debt" (the employee's labor obligated the employer to pay). If salvation were a "wage," then God would "owe" us, which flatly contradicts the biblical view of God (God is "the source of all things," indebted to no one).
"But to him who doesn't work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" is one of Paul's boldest theological declarations.
"Him who justifies the ungodly" (τὸν δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἀσεβῆ, ton dikaiounta ton asebē) — asebēs, "an ungodly person, a sinner." This stands in evident tension with the Old Testament's repeated insistence that "God will not acquit the guilty" (Exodus 23:7; Deuteronomy 25:1; Proverbs 17:15).
Proverbs 17:15 says, "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both alike are an abomination to Yahweh." This verse states outright that "justifying the wicked" is something God abhors. So when Paul says in 4:5 that God "justifies the ungodly," is he not contradicting Proverbs?
Paul's resolution: God does not "pretend not to see" sin. He dealt with sin completely at the cross, and only then declared believers "not guilty" (the hilastērion of Romans 3:25-26). What Proverbs 17:15 condemns is "a human judge declaring the wicked innocent without dealing with the crime," which is judicial corruption. What Paul affirms is "God declaring believers innocent after fully dealing with sin at the cross," which is justice satisfied. The two look alike on the surface but are opposite in substance: one "bypasses justice," the other "satisfies justice and then forgives." This is the deep meaning of Romans 3:26, that God "is just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus."
"Him who doesn't work" (τῷ μὴ ἐργαζομένῳ, tō mē ergazomenō) — Paul's point is not that the believer needs no good works (Romans 6 and James 2 address that). His point is that "the reception of justification rests not on works but on faith." Justification comes first, good works after. Good works are the fruit of justification, not its condition.
4:6-8 "Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.”"
Romans 4:6-8（World English Bible）
"Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works" — Paul brings in a second Old Testament witness: David. This is a deliberate rhetorical strategy, presenting two Old Testament giants (Abraham and David) as "double attestation." Jewish legal tradition required two or three witnesses to establish a case (Deuteronomy 19:15: "At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established"). Paul calls on the two greatest figures of the Old Testament as dual witnesses to justification by faith.
Cited from Psalm 32:1-2 (LXX 31:1-2), one of David's seven penitential psalms (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). What was David's experience? He committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah (2 Samuel 11-12). Under the law he deserved death (Leviticus 20:10; Numbers 35:31), but he repented in Psalm 51, and God forgave him.
David's blessing is not "I have never sinned" but "I sinned, yet God does not count it against me." This stands in sharp contrast to the self-righteousness of the Pharisee in Luke 18:11, who prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men — extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers — or even like this tax collector." His "blessing" rests on "I have not sinned." David's "blessing" rests on "I sinned, but God forgave me." David's version is the true logic of Old Testament justification.
"Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin" — the same verb "credit" (λογίζομαι, logizomai). In Genesis 15:6 God credits righteousness to Abraham; in Psalm 32:2 God does not credit sin to the penitent. One positive, one negative, both the same grace at work: God's "accounting method" follows not what you actually owe but what his grace determines.
Paul uses David as a second Old Testament witness to show that "credited as righteous" is not an isolated case but the regular pattern of how God's grace works. Abraham, the patriarch before the law, and David, the king under the law — the two great figures of the two great eras of the Old Testament — were both justified the same way: by faith, not by works.
Positioning: In 4:1-8 Paul established the principle "justified by faith, not by works." Here he presses a sharper question: "When Abraham was justified, had he been circumcised?" The answer is undeniable: no! Genesis 15:6 came 14 years before the circumcision of Genesis 17. This chronological answer completely demolishes the Jewish assumption that "circumcision is a necessary condition for justification," and it redefines Abraham as "the father of all who believe without being circumcised."
4:9-10 "Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision."
Romans 4:9-10（World English Bible）
"When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision?" — Paul asks a question of chronological sequence. It may have struck Jewish readers as a sharp one, but the answer is beyond dispute: Genesis 15:6 (justification by faith) occurred before Genesis 17 (circumcision), a gap of 14 years!
Look at the precision of this timeline:
From Genesis 15:6 (justified at 85) to Genesis 17:24 (circumcised at 99) = a 14-year gap!
This means circumcision cannot be a condition for justification, because Abraham had already been counted righteous for 14 years without it. The timeline does not lie. The order of events demolishes the claim that "one must be circumcised to be saved."
This is the most classic instance in the New Testament of Paul using "chronology" to build a theological argument. It is the same rhetorical strategy as Galatians 3:17: "The law, which came 430 years later, cannot annul a covenant previously ratified." Paul's principle is that "what came earlier is more fundamental." Faith preceded circumcision, so faith is more fundamental than circumcision; the promise preceded the law, so the promise is more fundamental than the law.
4:11-12 "He 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. He 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."
Romans 4:11-12（World English Bible）
"The sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision" — two key words:
Circumcision is not the cause but the stamp. It confirms a fact that has already happened, much as a marriage certificate does not "make" two people married but "proves" that they already are. You are first justified by faith, and then circumcision comes to set its seal. The order cannot be reversed.
Here Paul completely redefines the theological meaning of circumcision. In Jewish tradition, circumcision was "the gateway into the covenant" (Genesis 17:14: "The uncircumcised male... shall be cut off from his people"), the prerequisite for salvation. Paul says: No! Circumcision is not the "gateway" but the "seal." It confirms a justification that has already happened; it does not open the way to justification. This is a radical repositioning of Jewish religious ritual, demoting ceremony from "a means of salvation" to "a sign of salvation."
This connects to the New Testament's view of the sacraments. Baptism does not "make someone saved" (faith alone saves); it acknowledges and seals a salvation that has already happened. The Lord's Supper does not "make someone share in the body of Christ" (faith alone gives that share); it remembers and seals a union that has already happened. The sacraments are "external seals," not "means of salvation." This is the core of Reformed sacramental theology.
"That he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision" — this is the climax of Paul's argument:
Abraham is not only the ancestor of the Jews. He is the ancestor of all who "believe," including uncircumcised Gentile believers. Abraham was justified by faith while still uncircumcised, which means that in that state he was the prototype of the Gentile believer. Later he was circumcised and so became also the prototype of the Jewish believer. He is the father of both groups.
This argument dismantles at its foundation the Judaizers' rejection of Gentile believers: you cannot reject those who belong to the very same faith-pattern as your own ancestor. Jewish and Gentile Christians share one "spiritual father," Abraham. The defining mark of this family is "faith," not "bloodline."
"He is the father of circumcision to those..." — Abraham is equally the father of Jewish believers, but on the condition that they "walk in the steps of the faith our father Abraham had while uncircumcised." In other words, the Jew's inheritance of the spiritual Abraham comes not through circumcision (the external sign) but through faith (the inner reality). This echoes Romans 2:28-29 ("the true Jew is one inwardly") and 9:6 ("not all who are descended from Israel are Israel"). The true children of Abraham inherit by faith, not by physical descent.
Positioning: In 4:1-12 Paul has proved that Abraham's justification was "by faith, not by works" and "before circumcision." Here he pushes the argument toward "the law": Abraham received the promise (Genesis 12, 15, 17) 430 years before the law was given (Exodus 20). This further proves that the promise can only be received by faith, not by law.
4:13-15 "For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect. For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience."
Romans 4:13-15（World English Bible）
"God's promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world" — the original Old Testament promise was to "inherit the land of Canaan" (Genesis 12:7; 15:7; 17:8), but Paul expands it to "inherit the world."
This expansion is not Paul's free invention. It is grounded in Genesis 12:3 ("all the families of the earth will be blessed through you," the universal dimension of the Abrahamic covenant), Psalm 2:8 ("Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession," the Messiah's worldwide rule), and Daniel 7:13-14 ("to the Son of Man was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him," the Son of Man's worldwide kingdom). Paul reads the Abrahamic promise as a "cosmic promise," not merely the land of Canaan but the whole new heaven and new earth (Romans 8:17, "joint heirs with Christ"; Revelation 21-22, the new creation).
"Not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith" — Paul sets "promise" and "law" in opposition. The key timeline: God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, 17) was given 430 years before the law was promulgated (Galatians 3:17: "The law, which came 430 years later, cannot annul a covenant previously ratified").
| Dimension | Promise | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Genesis 12 (Abraham age 75) | Exodus 20 (Mount Sinai, ~430 years later) |
| Basis | God's grace | Human performance |
| Nature | Unilateral (God swore an oath) | Bilateral (humanity must also obey) |
| Means of reception | Faith | Works |
| Possibility of failure | Cannot fail (God guarantees it) | Certain to fail (humans cannot obey) |
"For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect" — Paul uses a logical deduction to show that law and promise cannot be mixed:
But God's promise cannot be empty words → therefore the promise cannot be received through the law → it can only be received through faith. This is a classic reductio ad absurdum, assuming the opponent's premise and showing it leads to an absurd conclusion.
"For the law produces wrath" — katergazetai, "produces, brings about." The law is not a tool for "solving" sin but a tool for "exposing" sin, and in a certain sense it even "intensifies" sin.
Paul develops this further in Romans 5:20 and 7:7-13:
The law is like a speed-limit sign on the road. It tells you that you are speeding, but it cannot slow your car down. It only makes your violation impossible to deny. And worse: the moment a rebellious person sees the sign "Speed Limit 60," he wants to test "just how fast this car can go." The law provokes human rebellion.
"Where there is no law, neither is there disobedience" — this does not mean "where there is no law there is no sin" (human sinfulness is inherent and does not require a law to exist). It means that without an explicit written statute, the concept of "violation" cannot apply. Sin is inherent (built into our fallen nature); "transgression" (parabasis) is contextual (defined against an explicit written code). The law "juridicizes" sin, turning it into "transgression."
4:16-17 "For 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. As 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."
Romans 4:16-17（World English Bible）
"Of faith... according to grace" (ἐκ πίστεως... κατὰ χάριν, ek pisteōs... kata charin) — faith and grace are a matched pair: faith is the receiving hand, grace is the gift received. If justification were by works, it would not be grace but wages, and Paul has already ruled out the wage system in 4:4.
"That the promise may be sure to all the offspring" — bebaian, "certain, secure." If the promise depended on human "performance," it would forever be "uncertain" (because you could never know whether you had done well enough). But if it depends on God's "grace," it is "certain," because God will not change his mind.
This is one of the greatest pastoral values of justification by faith. Your salvation does not rest on the "fluctuations of your performance" (strong faith today, weak tomorrow) but on the faithfulness of God (who does not change). This gives believers the "assurance of salvation," one of the core pastoral doctrines of Reformed theology.
"God, who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence the things that do not exist" — here Paul gives two definitions of the God Abraham believed in:
| Definition | Greek | Old Testament Basis | New Testament Fulfillment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Gives life to the dead | zōopoiountos tous nekrous | At age 100 Abraham fathered Isaac from a body "as good as dead" (Hebrews 11:12) | Christ raised from the dead |
| 2. Calls into existence what does not exist | kalountos ta mē onta hōs onta | In Genesis 1 God created the world from nothing (ex nihilo) | God creates the status of the righteous from nothing |
These two definitions portray the object of Abraham's faith as a God who is "beyond nature," bound by no natural law. Abraham's faith was not "God will help me within the rules of nature" but "God can override the rules of nature to help me." This is faith at its highest.
"Calls into existence what does not exist" (ex nihilo, "out of nothing") is the cornerstone of the Christian doctrine of creation. It is entirely different from the Greek philosophical notion of the "Demiurge, the craftsman" (shaping the world out of pre-existing matter), the Hindu idea of "emanation from Brahman" (the cosmos radiating out of the divine), or the Mormon teaching of "eternal matter" (matter is eternal, and the Creator is merely an organizer). The God of the Bible is the "true Creator" who summons non-being into being. This is the God Abraham believed in: able to summon a son from a "dead body" and able to summon the status of the righteous from "nothing."
"I have made you a father of many nations" is cited from Genesis 17:5. This is the moment Abraham was renamed from "Abram" (אַבְרָם, Avram, "exalted father") to "Abraham" (אַבְרָהָם, Avraham, "father of many nations"). The renaming came exactly at the time of the circumcision in Genesis 17: at age 99 Abraham was renamed and circumcised together.
"Many nations" — ethnos, "nation, Gentile." Paul uses this verse to prove that Abraham's promise was, from the very beginning, never limited to "the Jewish people alone" but encompassed "many nations" (all peoples). This is Paul's Old Testament ground for the teaching in Galatians 3 and Romans 11 that "Gentiles are grafted into the olive tree." From the moment Abraham was called, God planned that "all the families of the earth would be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3).
Positioning: This is the chapter's climax, the soul of the whole chapter. Paul shifts from "abstract justification theology" to "the concrete content of Abraham's faith" and "what that faith means for us today." The first 17 verses are "argument"; this section is "application." Abraham's story is not only history; it is the spiritual prototype of every believer. The final two verses (4:24-25) are "the first place in Romans where the twofold redemptive meaning of Christ's death and resurrection is stated outright," the core proclamation of the whole gospel condensed into two clauses.
4:18-19 "Besides 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.” Without 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."
Romans 4:18-19（World English Bible）
"In hope, against hope, he believed" — "against hope, in hope, he believed." This is one of the most moving definitions of faith in the Greek:
This double-elpis ("hope") rhetorical structure places "objective circumstance" and "subjective disposition" in one sentence, using the same word twice to capture the paradox at the heart of faith: faith chooses to hope when there is "no reason whatsoever to hope."
Faith is not "optimism" when things look good. It is still "believing" God's promise when things look utterly "hopeless." What was Abraham facing?
| Dimension | Objective Situation | Natural Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Abraham's age | 99-100 years old | Too old |
| Abraham's body | "As good as dead" (νενεκρωμένον, nenekrōmenon: "already dead") | Reproductive capacity entirely gone |
| Sarah's age | 89-90 years old | Long past menopause |
| Sarah's womb | "The deadness of her womb" | No longer able to conceive |
From every natural angle, their chance of having a child was zero. But Abraham did not look at "nature." He looked at "the God who had spoken the promise." This is the essence of faith: shifting your focus from "my circumstances" to "God's promise."
Note that the Greek for "his body as good as dead," nenekrōmenon, is a perfect passive participle: "already made dead, and still in that state of death." This is a stark, even brutal description: Abraham's reproductive capacity was not merely in decline; it was already dead through and through. Paul uses this word to stress the extremity of Abraham's faith. He was not believing in a case of "very slim odds" but in a case of "complete impossibility."
4:20-22 "Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.”"
Romans 4:20-22（World English Bible）
"He didn't waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith":
Note that the Abraham of Genesis was not someone who "never doubted." He once laughed (Genesis 17:17: "Abraham fell on his face and laughed, saying in his heart, 'Will a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety, bear a child?'"). He once tried to "help" God fulfill the promise by a human method (the Hagar episode, Genesis 16). In Genesis 20 he lied yet again before Abimelech, saying Sarah was his sister.
Paul is not idealizing Abraham. He is describing the overall direction of his faith: despite the wavering, Abraham's faith as a whole was oriented "toward God," and in the end he did not "abandon" God's promise. Faith is not the absence of struggle; it is refusing to let go in the midst of struggle. This echoes James 1:6-8: "Let him ask in faith, with no doubting... the double-minded person is unstable in all his ways." The opposite of faith is not "doubt" but "double-mindedness."
"Giving glory to God" (δοὺς δόξαν τῷ θεῷ, dous doxan tō theō) — the essence of faith is "giving glory to God," not glory to oneself. When Abraham believed God's promise, he was saying: "God, your word is more real than my circumstances, your power is greater than my limitations, and you are more reliable than I am." That is faith: letting God be God, handing him the throne, and then resting in expectation.
This is the perfect contrast to the root of human sin. Romans 1:21 describes the sin of the Gentiles: "although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him." The root of sin is "not giving glory to God" (Romans 1:21, "did not glorify him as God"); the essence of faith is "giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20). Abraham, by faith, did what sinners refuse to do — he gave glory to God — and so he was credited with righteousness.
"Therefore it was credited to him for righteousness" — the eighth occurrence of "credit" in this chapter. Paul uses "therefore it was credited to him as righteousness" as the summary of this section. All the specific details of Abraham's faith (hoping when there was no hope, not wavering in unbelief, growing strong by faith, giving glory to God, being fully convinced that God could do what he promised) converge on a single conclusion: "therefore it was credited to him as righteousness," a precise echo of Genesis 15:6.
4:23-25 "Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification."
Romans 4:23-25（World English Bible）
"It was not written for his sake alone, but for our sake also, who will be credited as righteous" — Paul pulls Abraham's story from "history" into "the present":
Genesis 15:6 is not only about an old man four thousand years ago. It is about every person who believes in God. Here Paul lays out a principle vital for interpretation: Old Testament events are "not just historical records" but "spiritual prototypes written for us." This is the same interpretive principle as 1 Corinthians 10:11: "These things happened to them as examples and were written down for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come."
The God Abraham believed in is the one "who gives life to the dead"; the God we believe in is the same, only with more specific content: God "raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."
| Dimension | Abraham's Faith | Our Faith |
|---|---|---|
| Temporal direction | Looking forward (a future promise) | Looking backward (an accomplished fact) |
| Object | God (who gives life to the dead) | The same God (who has already raised Jesus) |
| Content of faith | "So will your offspring be" (Genesis 15:5) | "Jesus has been raised from the dead" |
| Structure | Trusting God's word even when the evidence seems impossible | Identical |
The "structure" of faith is the same: trusting God's word even when the visible evidence seems impossible.
"He was delivered up for our trespasses, and raised for our justification" — this is the most concentrated "gospel summary" in the whole chapter, and the first place in Romans where the twofold redemptive meaning of Christ's death and resurrection is stated outright. The two clauses contain the double foundation of salvation:
| Dimension | Death | Resurrection |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | παρεδόθη (paredothē, "was delivered up") | ἠγέρθη (ēgerthē, "was raised") |
| Tense | Aorist passive | Aorist passive |
| Purpose | διὰ τὰ παραπτώματα (dia ta paraptōmata, "for our trespasses") | διὰ τὴν δικαίωσιν (dia tēn dikaiōsin, "for our justification") |
| Function | Pays the price of sin | Confirms the validity of justification |
"Was delivered up" (παρεδόθη, paredothē) — the same verb is used when Judas "betrayed" Jesus (Matthew 26:15-16; Luke 22:48) and when Pilate "handed over" Jesus to be crucified (Matthew 27:26). But Paul uses the passive voice to signal that "the true agent is God himself." It was not Judas, not Pilate, not the Roman soldiers who ultimately "delivered up" Jesus, but God himself who "delivered up" Jesus (compare John 3:16, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son"; Romans 8:32, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all"). The cross was not "an accidental tragedy" but "God's predetermined plan."
"Jesus' death dealt with the problem of sin": he was "delivered up" for our trespasses, and the price of sin was paid. "Jesus' resurrection secured the effectiveness of justification": if Jesus had only died and not risen, we could never know whether God accepted his death as a valid atonement, but the resurrection is God's "seal": the atonement succeeded, and justification is in effect.
Without the cross, sin is not dealt with; without the resurrection, justification is not guaranteed. The cross and the resurrection cannot be separated; both are needed. This echoes 1 Corinthians 15:14, 17: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain... you are still in your sins." The resurrection is the "fault line" of the Christian faith. Without it, the whole structure collapses. In Romans 4:25 Paul compresses this twofold theological pillar (cross and resurrection) into the most economical language, anchoring it on the same trajectory as Abraham's faith: Abraham believed in "the God who gives life to the dead," and that faith finds its full realization in the resurrection of Christ.
| Theme | Content | Scriptural Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Credited as righteous | Righteousness is not earned; it is "credited" to the believer's account: an accounting-style status transfer | 4:3, 5, 22 |
| Circumcision as seal, not condition | Abraham was first justified by faith, then circumcised: the order cannot be reversed | 4:10-11 |
| The promise belongs to faith, not law | Receiving the promise by law-keeping would empty faith: only grace can guarantee the promise | 4:13-16 |
| Faith in the God who raises the dead | The object of Abraham's faith is a God beyond nature: we believe in the same God | 4:17, 24 |
| Cross and resurrection | Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification: neither can be missing | 4:25 |
Romans 4 is the most complete argument that "justification by faith is no New Testament invention." Romans 3 proclaimed the principle of justification by faith (3:21-31), but for Jewish readers that proclamation faced a fatal objection: "This 'justification by faith' of yours, Paul, sounds like a Christian invention. Abraham, Moses, David, and the other great figures of the Old Testament never heard of 'justification by faith.' You are overturning a thousand years of Jewish religious tradition." Romans 4 is Paul's answer to this objection. He takes Abraham, the ancestor most revered by all of Israel, as his lead exhibit, proving that justification by faith is what Abraham experienced before the law and before circumcision, the way God has always worked. This is not an overturning but a return, a return to the original grace of the Abrahamic covenant.
Where does this chapter fit in the six-part structure of Romans? It is the central chapter of the third section, "Justification by Faith" (3:21-5:21). 3:21-31 is the "doctrinal declaration" (establishing the core principle), 4:1-25 is the "historical evidence" (the argument from Old Testament cases), and 5:1-21 is the "theological expansion" (the framework of two representatives, Adam and Christ). Romans 4 serves as the bridge among the three chapters, picking up "a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law" (3:28) and opening into 5:1, "Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," anchoring the abstract principle of justification in the historical figure of Abraham.
The five layers of this chapter's "justification of Abraham" argument:
| Verses | Argument | Jewish Assumption Destroyed |
|---|---|---|
| 4:1-8 | Abraham was justified by faith, not by works | "Abraham was counted righteous because he kept the law" |
| 4:9-12 | Abraham was justified before circumcision (Genesis 15:6 is 14 years before the circumcision of Genesis 17) | "Circumcision is a necessary condition for justification" |
| 4:13-15 | The promise is not through the law: if through the law, faith is emptied | "The law is the pathway to inheriting the promise" |
| 4:16-22 | Abraham believed in "the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist": beyond nature | "The promise must be fulfilled through natural means" |
| 4:23-25 | "It was credited to him as righteousness" was written for us too: Abraham is the prototype of all believers | "Abraham's justification was a one-off that cannot be repeated" |
Abraham's place in Israel's religious tradition: Abraham (אַבְרָהָם, Avraham) is the patriarch of the nation of Israel (Genesis 12:2, where God calls him, "I will make of you a great nation"), the "father of faith" (Romans 4:16), and "the friend of God" (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). In Second Temple Jewish tradition, Abraham was regarded as "the model of perfect obedience." 1 Maccabees 2:52 ("Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness?") and Sirach 44:19-21 both emphasize Abraham's deeds (especially the offering of Isaac in Genesis 22) as the basis for his being counted righteous. In Romans 4 Paul shifts the weight entirely from "works" to "faith," a revolutionary reinterpretation that challenges the whole Second Temple Jewish reading of Abraham.
The chapter's core Old Testament citations:
| Source | Location in Romans 4 | Key Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis 15:6 | 4:3, 9, 22 | "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (the first explicit statement of justification in all of Scripture) |
| Psalm 32:1-2 | 4:7-8 | David's blessing on forgiven sin ("Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin") |
| Genesis 17:5 | 4:17 | "I have made you a father of many nations" (God renames Abram to Abraham) |
| Genesis 15:5 | 4:18 | "So will your offspring be" (pointing to the stars of heaven) |
The unique status of Genesis 15:6: "Abram believed Yahweh, and he credited it to him for righteousness" (וְהֶאֱמִן בַּיהוָה וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה, ve-he'emin ba-YHWH va-yachshveha lo tsedakah) is the first verse in all of Scripture that explicitly states "justification." The New Testament cites or echoes it in four places: Romans 4:3 (the foundation of Paul's justification theology), Galatians 3:6 (Paul's argument against the Judaizers), James 2:23 (James's "faith and works" argument), and Hebrews 11:8-12 (Abraham's central place in the hall of faith). This verse is the "root of justification" for New Testament theology.
Its relationship to Galatians 3:6-9 and James 2:21-24:
"Abram believed Yahweh, and he credited it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6) is the Old Testament's "first explicit statement of justification." The New Testament cites or echoes it in four places:
| Source | Mode of Citation | Emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Romans 4:3, 9, 22 | Direct quotation + 3 echoes | The foundation of Paul's justification theology: proving justification by faith is no new invention |
| Galatians 3:6 | Direct quotation | Paul's argument against Judaizing: "Those who are of faith are the children of Abraham" |
| James 2:23 | Direct quotation | James's "faith and works" argument: "Faith was working with his works... and the Scripture was fulfilled" |
| Hebrews 11:8-12 | Implicit echo + placing Abraham at the center of the hall of faith | The faith theology of Hebrews: "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out" |
The differing emphases of these four citations:
Together these four citations prove that Genesis 15:6 is the "root of justification" for New Testament theology. Whether Paul, James, or the author of Hebrews, all treat this verse as the Old Testament foundation for the doctrine of justification by faith.
| Theme in This Chapter | New Testament Echo | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Abraham justified by faith (4:3) | Galatians 3:6-9; Hebrews 11:8-12; James 2:21-24 | James adds the "works prove faith" angle: complementary, not contradictory |
| Justifying the ungodly (4:5) | Luke 18:13-14 | The tax collector's prayer, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner," sent him home more pleasing to God than the Pharisee |
| Credited as righteous (4:3-8) | Galatians 3:6; Philippians 3:9 | "Not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ" |
| Hope against hope (4:18) | Hebrews 11:1, 11-12 | "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for" |
| Delivered up for our trespasses (4:25) | Isaiah 53:4-6, 12 | "Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all" |
| Raised for our justification (4:25) | 1 Corinthians 15:17 | "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain" |
This chapter uses Abraham as its case, with an interpretive argument built on "what the Scripture says": first that justification is not wages, then that justification precedes circumcision, and finally that the promise is not by the law either. Step by step Paul lets the reader see that justification by faith is no new invention but the very logic of Genesis itself.
| Greek | Transliteration | Chinese Union Version Rendering | Theological Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| λογίζομαι | logizomai | credit | Appears 11 times in this chapter: an accounting term, "to enter on the ledger": not a change of substance but a declaration of status |
| δικαιόω | dikaioō | justify | A legal declarative verb, "to pronounce righteous" (distinct from "to make righteous") |
| περιτομή | peritomē | circumcision | The covenant sign of Genesis 17: Paul redefines it as "a seal of justification that has already occurred" |
| σφραγίς | sphragis | seal | Circumcision is the "seal" of the righteousness of faith: it confirms a fact that has already happened (4:11) |
| ἀσεβής | asebēs | sinner / the ungodly | The object of God's justification is not the good person but "the ungodly" (4:5) |
| κληρονόμος | klēronomos | heir | The inheritor of the promise: 4 times in this chapter (4:13, 14; and 8:17, "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ") |
| ἐπαγγελία | epangelia | promise | 5 times in this chapter: the central term in the "promise versus law" contrast |
| ζῳοποιέω | zōopoieō | gives life to the dead | 4:17: one of God's two attributes (creation + resurrection) |
| ex nihilo | — | out of nothing | 4:17, "calls into existence the things that do not exist": the cornerstone of Christian creation theology |
| παρεδόθη | paredothē | was delivered up | 4:25: the passive voice signals God's sovereignty: Jesus' being "handed over" is God's own act of salvation |
| παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα ἐπ᾽ ἐλπίδι | par' elpida ep' elpidi | hoping against hope | 4:18: the double-elpis rhetoric of the Greek: the paradox at the heart of faith |
| νενεκρωμένον | nenekrōmenon | the body as good as dead | 4:19: perfect passive participle, "already dead through and through": the extremity of Abraham's faith |
λογίζομαι ("to credit, to reckon") appears 11 times in Romans 4, the highest concentration in the whole letter. Paul uses the word again and again to underscore the forensic-declarative nature of justification (as opposed to a transformative understanding):
| Verse | Usage | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 4:3 | Faith "credited" as righteousness | Positive: righteousness entered on the ledger |
| 4:4 | Wages "not credited" as grace | Negative: the wage system excludes grace |
| 4:5 | Faith "credited" as righteousness | Positive: the non-worker's faith is entered |
| 4:6 | "Credited" as righteous apart from works | Positive: David's testimony |
| 4:8 | The Lord will not "credit" sin | Negative: sin not entered against the account |
| 4:9 | Faith "credited" as his righteousness | Restating Genesis 15:6: anchoring the argument |
| 4:10 | How was it "credited"? | Probing the timeline |
| 4:11 | The seal of righteousness "credited" | Circumcision confirms the existing credit |
| 4:22 | "Credited" as his righteousness | The conclusion of faith |
| 4:23-24 | "Credited" as righteousness: written for us | Extending from Abraham to all believers |
This dense use is not rhetorical repetition but legal argumentation: Paul hammers the same point like an attorney. Justification is God's verdict, not a human feeling; its reliability rests on God's word, not on a person's state.
λογίζομαι ("to credit, to reckon") appears 11 times in Romans 4, the highest concentration in the whole letter. Paul uses the word again and again to underscore the forensic-declarative nature of justification (as opposed to a transformative understanding):
| Verse | Usage | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 4:3 | Faith "credited" as righteousness | Positive: righteousness entered on the ledger |
| 4:4 | Wages "not credited" as grace | Negative: the wage system excludes grace |
| 4:5 | Faith "credited" as righteousness | Positive: the non-worker's faith is entered |
| 4:6 | "Credited" as righteous apart from works | Positive: David's testimony |
| 4:8 | The Lord will not "credit" sin | Negative: sin not entered against the account |
| 4:9 | Faith "credited" as his righteousness | Restating Genesis 15:6: anchoring the argument |
| 4:10 | How was it "credited"? | Probing the timeline |
| 4:11 | The seal of righteousness "credited" | Circumcision confirms the existing credit |
| 4:22 | "Credited" as his righteousness | The conclusion of faith |
| 4:23-24 | "Credited" as righteousness: written for us | Extending from Abraham to all believers |
This dense use is not rhetorical repetition but "legal argumentation": Paul hammers the same point like an attorney. Justification is God's "verdict," not a human "feeling"; its reliability rests on God's "word," not on a person's "state."
This aligns perfectly with the Reformed view that "justification is a legal declaration; sanctification is an inner transformation." Luther and Calvin both held that justification is a legal "pronouncement of righteousness" (imputed righteousness, "righteousness credited to the account"), not an essential "becoming righteous" (infused righteousness, "righteousness poured in," the Catholic position).
A Abraham justified by faith, not by works (4:1-8)
B Before circumcision; circumcision is a seal (4:9-12)
C The promise through faith, not through law (4:13-17)
B' The content of faith: believing in the face of impossibility (4:18-22)
A' Abraham's faith as the model for our faith (4:23-25)
The whole chapter is a concentric structure. The center, C, is Paul's core thesis: promise and law belong to different systems. A and A' correspond: Abraham's faith was credited as righteousness → our faith is also credited as righteousness. B and B' correspond: the timeline before circumcision → faith confronting a body "already dead."
Romans 4 connects the justification declaration of Romans 3 back to the Abrahamic covenant, showing that the gospel does not overturn the Old Testament but reveals the path the Old Testament always pointed to. Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised, and so he becomes the shared father of faith for both Jewish and Gentile believers.
Paul's reading of Abraham diverges sharply from the mainstream Jewish tradition of his day:
| Jewish Tradition | Paul's Reading |
|---|---|
| Abraham was counted righteous because of his obedience (the offering of Isaac, etc.) | Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith (4:3) |
| The "believing" of Genesis 15:6 refers to Abraham's virtue of faithfulness | The "believing" of Genesis 15:6 refers to trust that receives God's promise |
| Circumcision is a necessary condition of the covenant | Circumcision is the seal of the righteousness of faith |
| Abraham is the exclusive ancestor of the Jewish nation | Abraham is the father of all who believe: Jews and Gentiles alike |
Jewish texts such as 1 Maccabees 2:52 ("Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness?") and Sirach 44:19-21 both emphasize Abraham's deeds (especially the offering of Isaac) as the basis for his being counted righteous. Paul shifts the center of gravity from works to faith, from human performance to God's promise, a revolutionary reinterpretation.
| Character | Identity | Key Action | Insight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham | Father of faith: the shared ancestor of both Jewish and Gentile believers | Counted righteous by faith before circumcision and before the law | Faith is not a human merit: it is the hand that receives grace |
| David | A king who sinned gravely yet received forgiveness | Testified in Psalm 32 to the blessing of God "not charging sin" | Justification is not for the perfect: it is for the penitent sinner |
| Sarah | A woman whose womb was dead | Bore Isaac in the face of impossibility | God's promise is not bound by natural limits |
Abraham's justification is one of the most debated exegetical topics in the history of Christian theology, especially the question of how to reconcile "the tension between Paul and James."
The core of Paul's reading: Abraham was justified by faith in Genesis 15:6, before circumcision, before the offering of Isaac, before the law was given. Therefore justification can only rest on faith, not on works.
Argumentative strategy:
The core of James's reading: when Abraham offered Isaac in Genesis 22, his faith was "vindicated" and "completed." Therefore "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17, 26).
Argumentative strategy:
| Dimension | Paul | James |
|---|---|---|
| Focal text | Genesis 15:6 | Genesis 15:6 + Genesis 22 |
| Perspective | The starting point of faith | The completion of faith |
| Question | How is justification received? | How is genuine faith proved? |
| Definition of "works" | Works of the law (moral effort to earn salvation) | Fruits of faith (good works after salvation) |
| Opponent | The Judaizing of "salvation by law-keeping" | The false believer who "professes faith verbally but acts not" |
The two do not contradict but complement each other. Paul confronts the crisis of "earning salvation by law-keeping" (the Judaizing in Galatia); James confronts the crisis of "claiming faith verbally without any corresponding action" (the "fruitless faith" in James's congregation). They address two opposite errors: Paul forbids "replacing faith with works," and James forbids "replacing works with faith." The true gospel is "justification by faith alone, yet genuine faith will always produce works."
In On Faith and Works (De Fide et Operibus) and On the Spirit and the Letter (De Spiritu et Littera), Augustine reconciled Paul and James: "Works before justification do not count as righteousness (Paul); works after justification necessarily follow (James)." Augustine's solution was accepted by both medieval Catholicism and the Reformed tradition. Although the two sides disagreed on "the nature of justification" (legal declaration versus inner transformation), both acknowledged that "genuine faith must produce works."
In his Preface to the Epistle of James, Luther once doubted the canonical status of James. In the preface to the first edition of his German New Testament (1522) he called James an "epistle of straw" (eine recht stroherne Epistel), claiming it "does not preach Christ at all." But Luther's position later softened. He acknowledged that James has value; it simply cannot be used to overturn "justification by faith alone."
Luther's final stance on Paul and James: "Paul speaks of faith before justification; James speaks of faith after justification," essentially the same as Augustine's solution. This became the standard Reformed position: justification by faith alone, yet genuine faith will always produce works. The two stand together without contradiction.