Bible Study Romans 4
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Romans 4 · WEB

Abraham, Justified by Faith

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What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh?
2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
3For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
4Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed.
5But to him who doesn't work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
6Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works,
7"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin."
9Is this blessing then pronounced only on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11He 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.
12He 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.
13For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he would be heir of the world wasn't through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.
15For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.
16For 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.
17As 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.
18Against 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."
19Without 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.
20Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn't waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God,
21and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
22Therefore it also was "credited to him for righteousness."
23Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone,
24but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,
25who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
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Summary

Paul anchors justification by faith in the Old Testament: Abraham was reckoned righteous by faith — before he was circumcised, before the law was given. David sang of the same blessing — sins forgiven, not counted. Abraham received circumcision as a seal of a righteousness he already had through faith, which makes him the father of all who believe, circumcised or not. The promise to Abraham came through righteousness of faith, not law; the law only produces wrath because it exposes transgression. Abraham's faith was hope against hope — believing God could give life to his dead body and Sarah's womb because God gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist. The story was written for us, who believe in the God who raised Jesus from the dead — Jesus delivered up for our sins and raised for our justification.

Themes

  • Justification by faith rooted in the Old Testament
  • Abraham as father of all believers, circumcised and uncircumcised
  • Promise prior to law
  • Faith in God's life-giving power
  • Jesus' death and resurrection as the basis of justification

Key verses

  • Romans 4:17 — “God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.”
  • Romans 4:25 — “Who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.”
  • Romans 4:3 — “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
  • Romans 4:5 — “To him who doesn't work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”

Context & background

Written c. AD 56-57 from Corinth. Paul anchors the chapter in Genesis 15:6 — "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" — the single OT verse most central to Paul's gospel (cited also in Galatians 3:6 and James 2:23, though with different applications). Crucially, Abraham was reckoned righteous in Genesis 15, but circumcision was not given until Genesis 17 — a 14-year gap during which Abraham stood righteous before God without the sign. The promise that Abraham would be "heir of the world" (v. 13) goes beyond the literal "land" promise of Genesis to the universal blessing of Genesis 12:3 ("all the families of the earth"). David's "blessing" (vv. 6-8) quotes Psalm 32:1-2. "Calls things that are not as though they were" (v. 17) is one of the great statements of God's creative speech — the same power that made the world from nothing, opens dead wombs, and raises Jesus from the dead. Verse 25 is one of the most concise NT statements of the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection — "delivered up for our trespasses" (substitution) and "raised for our justification" (vindication and validation of the atonement).

Cross-references

  • Galatians 3:6-9 — Paul's parallel argument from Abraham.
  • Genesis 15:6 — "Abraham believed the LORD, and he counted it to him for righteousness" — quoted in vv. 3, 9, 22.
  • Genesis 17:5 — "I have made you the father of a multitude of nations" — quoted in v. 17.
  • James 2:21-24 — Different angle on the same Abraham text — faith demonstrated by works.
  • Psalm 32:1-2 — Quoted in vv. 7-8 on the blessing of forgiveness.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    According to Romans 4:10, when was Abraham's faith counted to him as righteousness — before or after circumcision?

  2. Observe

    What does Romans 4:21 say Abraham was "fully assured" of?

  3. Interpret

    What does Paul mean when he says God "justifies the ungodly" (v. 5) and faith is "credited as righteousness"?

  4. Interpret

    Why does Paul describe God as the one who "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" (v. 17) in the context of Abraham's faith?

  5. Apply

    Romans 4:18 says Abraham "in hope believed against hope" — he believed the promise even though his body was "as good as dead." Which response best describes what this should look like in a believer's life today?

  6. Apply

    Paul says Abraham's story "was not written for his sake alone, but for ours also" (vv. 23-24). What does this mean for how you read Old Testament narratives about specific individuals?

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