Romans
Chapter 4
1 What can we say about what Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, discovered?
2 If Abraham was made right by what he did, he could be proud, but not in God’s view.
3 What does the scripture say? Abraham trusted God, and it was accepted as his righteousness.
4 To the person who works, the reward is not counted as a free gift, but as something owed.
5 But for the one who does not work, yet believes in God who makes the ungodly right, their faith is accepted as righteousness.
6 David speaks of the happiness of the person whom God considers right without their works.
7 Saying, “Happy are those whose wrongdoings are forgiven, and whose sins are hidden.”
8 Happy is the person who God will not count sin against.
9 Does this blessing come only to the circumcised, or also to the uncircumcised? We say that Abraham’s faith was counted as righteousness.
10 How was it counted then? When he was circumcised, or not circumcised? Not when circumcised, but when not circumcised.
11 He got the sign of circumcision as proof of his faith’s righteousness before he was circumcised, so he could be the father of all who believe without circumcision, and they could also be considered righteous.
12 The father of circumcised people is not just for those who are circumcised, but also for those who follow the faith that Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 The promise that he would inherit the world was not given to Abraham or his descendants through the law, but through having faith and doing what is right.
14 If those who rely on the law are heirs, then faith means nothing, and the promise is worthless.
15 The law brings anger because where there is no law, there is no wrongdoing.
16 So it depends on faith, so that it may be given freely, and the promise may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s descendants; not only to those who follow the law, but also to those who share Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.
17 It is written, I have made you a father of many nations, in the presence of the God he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and names things that do not exist as though they do.
18 Even when there seemed to be no reason for hope, he kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations, as God had said, “Your descendants will be as many as the stars.”
19 He did not weaken in faith, even though he was about a hundred years old and thought about how his body had no strength left, and Sarah could not have children.
20 He did not doubt God’s promise because of disbelief; instead, he was strong in his faith, praising God.
21 He was completely sure that God could do what he had promised.
22 So it was counted to him as righteousness.
23 It wasn’t just for him that it was counted as his.
24 But also for us, who will be counted as righteous, if we believe in God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
25 He was given up for our wrongs and raised to life so we could be made right with God.