Romans 4

Justification By Faith

Romans 4:1-8 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing 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 man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Paul continues the great theme he began in Romans 3:21—justification by faith apart from works—and he does so by reaching back into the Old Testament to show that this has always been YHWH God’s way of saving sinners. His question is simple: Does the gospel of grace make the Old Testament irrelevant? Paul answers by pointing to the two most revered figures in Israel’s history, Abraham and David, demonstrating that both men were declared righteous not by their works, but by faith in the God who justifies the ungodly.

Paul begins with Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation and the supreme example of covenant faithfulness. If anyone could claim righteousness through works, it would be Abraham. Yet Scripture doesn’t say Abraham was justified because of his obedience, his sacrifices, or his covenant signs. Instead, Genesis 15:6 declares, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Paul seizes on the word counted—logizomai—a term used in ancient accounting to describe crediting funds to someone’s account. In the same way, YHWH placed righteousness into Abraham’s account as a sheer gift. Abraham did not earn righteousness; he received it. Just as a person possesses money deposited into their bank account, Abraham possessed righteousness because YHWH graciously credited it to him.

This stands in stark contrast to the principle of works. Works operate on the idea of earning, deserving, and obligating. If righteousness came through works, then YHWH would be in our debt—He would owe us salvation because of our performance. But Grace and works cannot coexist as the basis of justification.

Grace gives to you; works demand from you.

Grace humbles you; works exalt you.

Grace looks to YHWH as the source; works look to you as the source.

Paul insists that righteousness can never be credited to the one who approaches YHWH on the basis of works. Instead, righteousness is given to the one who believes in “Him who justifies the ungodly.” This is the shocking beauty of the gospel: YHWH does not justify the godly—He justifies the ungodly. Not because He approves of ungodliness, but because our Messiah bore the penalty for our ungodliness at the cross. We are not justified because of our sin, but despite our sin, through the blood of Yeshua.

Paul then turns to David, the great king of Israel, who knew both the weight of guilt and the sweetness of forgiveness. David understood that if YHWH judged him strictly by works, he would be condemned. Yet he also knew the blessedness of the one whose sins are forgiven and whose transgressions are covered. In Psalm 32, David celebrates the joy of the sinner to whom YHWH “does not count sin.” Paul uses David’s testimony to reinforce his point: righteousness is credited apart from works, and forgiveness is granted not because of human merit but because of YHWH’s gracious provision. David’s hope rested not in what he did for YHWH, but in what YHWH did for him.

By bringing Abraham and David together, Paul shows that there has never been two ways to salvation—one by works in the Old Testament and one by Grace in the New. From beginning to end, salvation has always been by Grace through faith. Abraham believed and was counted righteous. David believed and was forgiven. And we, like them, enter into the same blessedness when we trust in the God who justifies the ungodly. Romans 4 reminds us that the Gospel is not a new plan but the fulfillment of YHWH’s eternal purpose: to credit righteousness to all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike, through a relationship of trusting love with Him.

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Faith, Not Circumcision, Defines God’s Chosen People

Romans 4:9-12 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul presses deeper into his argument by asking a crucial question: If righteousness is credited by faith, is this blessing limited only to the circumcised, or does it extend to the uncircumcised as well? To answer, Paul returns again to Abraham—the foundational figure of Jewish identity—and shows that Abraham was declared righteous long before he ever received the sign of circumcision. Genesis 15:6 records Abraham’s justification, while the covenant of circumcision does not appear until Genesis 17, at least fourteen years later. This timeline is essential. It proves that Abraham’s righteousness was not the result of ritual observance but of simple, trusting faith in the promise of YHWH God.

Because Abraham was counted righteous while still uncircumcised, Paul argues that the blessedness described earlier—“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven”—is available to Gentiles as well. If righteousness comes through faith and not through circumcision, then Gentiles who believe stand on equal footing with Jews who believe. Abraham becomes “the father of all who believe,” not merely the father of those who bear the physical mark of the covenant. This dismantles the notion, common in Paul’s day, that Gentiles must first become Jews—through circumcision—before God would accept them. Abraham’s own experience shows that faith, not ritual, is the doorway into the family of YHWH.

Paul also confronts a deeply rooted cultural boundary. In the synagogue, even a circumcised Gentile convert was not permitted to call Abraham “our father.” Only natural‑born Jews could use that phrase; Gentiles were required to say “your father.” But Paul boldly overturns this distinction. Through faith, he says, all believers—Jew and Gentile alike—may call Abraham “our father.” The true children of Abraham are not identified by physical descent or ritual marks, but by walking in the same steps of faith that Abraham walked in. The Jewish teachers had a saying: “What is written of Abraham is also written of his children.” Paul gladly agrees, but he extends the principle beyond ethnic Israel. The promises given to Abraham belong to all his spiritual descendants—those who believe as he believed.

Thus, Romans 4:9–12 proclaims a sweeping truth: justification by faith opens the family of YHWH to all nations. Abraham becomes the father of a worldwide people, united not by fleshly signs but by a shared trust in the God who credits righteousness apart from works. In Christ, the dividing wall is torn down, and all who believe may enter the blessedness of forgiveness and the joy of belonging to the household of faith.

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Walking in Abraham’s Faith

Romans 4:13-17 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith 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 believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Paul continues to unfold the breathtaking scope of YHWH’s promise to Abraham, showing that every covenant blessing rests on the foundation of Abraham’s righteousness by faith. The promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—including the promise that Abraham would be “the father of many nations”—were never rooted in Abraham’s ability to keep the law. They were grounded entirely in YHWH’s gracious declaration that Abraham was righteous because he believed. Faith, not law‑keeping, is the soil in which the promises of YHWH grow.

We get the best clarity by looking at verses 14 and 15 in the Interlinear Bible. If the heirs of Abraham are heirs because of obedience to the law, then the need for faith is gone and the promises made by YHWH have been rendered useless. For the law causes wrath, because where no law exists there is no transgression. “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham.”

This is why Paul insists that the promise must come by Grace. Grace cannot be earned by past works, present works, or promised works. By definition, Grace is given without regard to anything in the one who receives it. If the promise rested on the Law, it would collapse under the weight of human weakness. But because the promise rests on Grace, it stands firm. It is sure. It is unshakeable. And it is available to all who share the faith of Abraham, whether or not they share his lineage.

Paul then shows how the promise of Genesis 17:4–5 finds its true fulfillment. Abraham was indeed the father of Isaac and the physical ancestor of Israel, but his deepest calling was far greater: he was appointed to be “the father of many nations.” This promise blossoms in the gospel, where believers from every tribe, tongue, and people become Abraham’s spiritual children. Those who walk in the same faith he walked in—trusting YHWH’s word, resting in YHWH’s Grace—are counted among his family. In Christ, Abraham becomes the father of us all, and the worldwide people of YHWH stand as living proof that the promise was always meant to reach far beyond the borders of Israel.

Thus, Romans 4:13–17 declares that the inheritance of YHWH’s people is secured not by law, not by ritual, not by ancestry, but by Grace through faith. The God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not yet exist has opened His covenant to the nations, gathering a family as numerous as the stars—united by the same faith that made Abraham righteous.

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Faith and the Promise of God

Romans 4:18-25 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Paul brings Abraham’s story to its climactic point, showing that the promise of YHWH is received through faith alone. Abraham’s life becomes a living testimony that salvation is rooted not in human effort, but in YHWH’s gracious promise and power. Just as believers are united with Christ in His death and resurrection—and their faith is “counted for righteousness”—Abraham was declared righteous because he trusted the God who brings life out of death. The same life‑giving power that raised Yeshua from the grave was at work in Abraham, both physically in the conception of Isaac and spiritually in the strengthening of his faith.

Abraham’s example teaches us the true nature of faith. Isaac’s conception was miraculous, but still natural. Abraham did not sit passively, waiting for God to create a child in Sarah’s womb without human involvement. Instead, Abraham and Sarah acted in obedience to YHWH’s promise, trusting Him for a supernatural outcome. Faith does not mean doing nothing; it means doing everything with reliance on God. True believers, like Abraham, obey. Obedience is faith in motion—faith taking steps. A faith that never acts is a dead faith, and dead faith justifies no one. Abraham walked in the steps of faith, and all who follow him must walk in those same steps.

Faith also corrects what sense and reason cannot. Sense says, “It will not be.” Reason says, “It cannot be.” But faith says, “It both can and will be, for YHWH has promised it.” Abraham’s faith was strong, yet it was also strengthened. He grew in faith as he trusted YHWH, and he was strengthened by his faith as he leaned on YHWH’s character. How desperately we need this strengthening. Little faith can save if it is true faith, but there are countless reasons to seek an increase of it—especially for ministers and teachers. Struggles in faith should not be indulged. When spiritual leaders fall into doubt, they must be lovingly pulled out, not pitied. No believer belongs in Doubting Castle, least of all those who shepherd others.

Some translations (e.g. KJV) render verse 19: And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Whether the text means he considered these facts or refused to consider them, the point is clear: Abraham did not allow circumstances to outweigh YHWH’s promise. He did not waver through unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. He was “fully convinced that what God had promised He was also able to perform.” This is the heart of saving faith—confidence in YHWH’s ability and willingness to do exactly what He has said. Many people hesitate to come to Christ because they are not convinced that YHWH can or will fulfill His promises for them. This is a satanic lie that must be rejected. The God of Abraham is not too small. He is able to perform all He has promised.

Abraham’s faith saw the work of YHWH accomplished both in the immediate—Isaac’s birth—and in the eternal, as his faith was counted to him for righteousness. And Paul insists that this was not written for Abraham’s sake alone. Abraham stands as an example for us. “It will be counted to us who believe,” Paul says with glorious confidence. The same righteousness credited to Abraham is credited to all who believe in the God who raised Yeshua from the dead. Saving faith is not merely believing that Yeshua existed, or that His teachings are good, or that His life was beautiful, or even that He is Lord and God. None of these beliefs, by themselves, save. Only faith in what Yeshua accomplished—His death “delivered up for our trespasses” and His resurrection “raised for our justification”—brings salvation.

The resurrection is essential to our redemption because it proves that God the Father was perfectly satisfied with the Son’s sacrifice. Yeshua Messiah was delivered to judgment for our sins, and raised to life because His work fully accomplished our justification. If death had held Him, His sacrifice would have failed. But because He rose, His death is shown to be all‑sufficient. His resurrection is YHWH’s seal upon the finished work of the cross.

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Romans 4 challenges believers to examine whether they are relying on their own works or resting in YHWH’s Grace. Faith involves trusting YHWH fully, acting in obedience, and depending on His promises rather than attempting to earn favour through performance. Abraham’s example encourages believers to embrace active, obedient faith that trusts YHWH’s power and provision.

In this chapter, Paul demonstrates that the Old Testament does not contradict the Gospel of Grace—it anticipates it. Abraham, justified by faith, stands as the pattern for all who will ever be saved. The Gospel is not a departure from the Old Testament, but its fulfillment; and Abraham’s faith points us directly to Christ, in whom every promise of YHWH finds its “Yes” and “Amen.”

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