Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Romans 4
Abraham Was Set Right by Trust
What then should we say Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, found?
For if Abraham was set right by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God.
For what does Scripture say?
“Abraham trusted God,
and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Now to the one who works, wages are not counted as a gift but as something owed.
But to the one who does not work yet trusts the one who sets right the ungodly, that trust is counted as righteousness.
In the same way, David speaks of the blessedness of the person to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the person whose sin the Lord will certainly not count.”
Counted Before Circumcision
Is this blessedness, then, only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say, “Trust was counted to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it counted? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as 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 also be counted to them. And he became father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also walk in the footsteps of the trust our father Abraham had while uncircumcised.
The Promise Comes Through Trust
For the promise to Abraham or his offspring that he would inherit the world did not come through the Law but through the righteousness of trust. For if those who are from the Law are heirs, trust has been emptied and the promise cancelled. The Law produces wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. For this reason the promise comes from trust, so that it may be according to grace and be guaranteed to all the offspring—not only to those from the Law but also to those who share Abraham’s trust. He 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 whom he trusted—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they exist.
Trust in the God Who Gives Life
Against hope, in hope Abraham trusted that he would become father of many nations, according to what had been spoken: “So will your offspring be.” Without becoming weak in trust, he considered his own body as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Yet regarding God’s promise he did not waver in lack of trust but was strengthened in trust, giving glory to God, fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do. Therefore “it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Now “it was counted to him” was not written for his sake alone, but also for ours. It will be counted to us who trust in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over because of our trespasses and raised because of our setting right.