Shared Word Translation
Romans 4
Abraham Set Right by Trust
What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has found?
For if Abraham was set right by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God.
For what does the scripture say?
“Abraham trusted God,
and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Now to the one who works, wages are not counted according to grace but according to what is owed. But to the one who does not work but trusts in the one who sets right the ungodly, that trust is counted as righteousness.
So also David speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count.”
Trust Counted Before Circumcision
Is this blessedness then for the circumcised only, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say, “Trust was counted to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it counted? Was it while he was circumcised or while uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the trust he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who trust while uncircumcised, so that righteousness might be counted to them as well, and the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the trust that our father Abraham had while uncircumcised.
The Promise Depends on Trust
For the promise to Abraham or to his offspring, that he would be heir of the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of trust. For if those who are of the law are heirs, trust has been emptied and the promise made void. For the law produces wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.
For this reason, the promise is from trust, so that it may be according to grace and be guaranteed to all the offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who share the trust of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
as it is written,
“I have made you the father of many nations”—
in the presence of the God in whom he trusted, who gives life to the dead and calls the things that do not exist as though they exist.
Trust in the God Who Gives Life
Against hope, in hope he trusted that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said,
“So shall your offspring be.”
And without weakening in trust, he considered his own body as good as dead—for he was about a hundred years old—and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. But with regard to the promise of God, he did not waver in distrust, but was strengthened in trust, giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what God had promised, God was also able to do. Therefore it was counted to him as righteousness.
Trust Counted to Us
Now the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but also for ours, to whom it will be counted—to us who trust in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our trespasses and raised for our setting right.