Romans 4:1–8, 13–17 — Abraham, Faith, and the Promise

Estimated reading time: 10–12 minutes
Key passage: Romans 4:1–8, 13–17
Central theme: Paul uses Abraham and David to argue that justification is received by faith rather than earned by works. The promise to Abraham rests on grace so that it may extend beyond the Jewish people to all who share the faith of Abraham.

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
— Romans 4:3

Three Study Questions

Why does Paul use Abraham as his primary example of justification by faith rather than by works?
What does Paul mean when he says that faith is “counted as righteousness”?
How does the promise to Abraham become a promise for people beyond Israel, and what role does grace play in that expansion?

1. Who Wrote Romans?

Romans identifies Paul as its author:

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle…”

—Romans 1:1

Romans 16:22 also names Tertius, who likely served as Paul’s amanuensis or secretary.

Paul remains the authorial voice and theological source of the letter.

2. When and Where Was Romans Written?

Romans was probably written around AD 56–58, near the end of Paul’s third missionary journey.

The most likely location is Corinth or nearby Cenchreae.

Paul was preparing to travel to Jerusalem with the collection for believers there and hoped afterward to visit Rome and eventually Spain.

3. To Whom Was It Written?

Paul addresses:

“all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.”

—Romans 1:7

The Roman churches included both Jewish and Gentile believers.

That mixed audience is essential for Romans 4.

Paul is answering a major question:

If righteousness comes through faith in Christ, what does that mean for Abraham, circumcision, the law, and the identity of God’s people?

4. Original Language and Manuscript Evidence

Romans was written in Koine Greek.

One of the earliest substantial surviving manuscripts of Romans is Papyrus 46, generally dated around AD 200.

The original autograph has not survived.

Major fourth-century manuscripts such as Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus also preserve Romans.

5. Literary Context

Romans 4 follows directly from Romans 3.

Paul has just argued that:

All have sinned
No one is justified by works of the law
Righteousness is revealed through faith in Jesus Christ
Boasting is excluded
God is God of Jews and Gentiles alike

Then Paul turns to Abraham.

Why Abraham?

Because Abraham stood at the beginning of Israel’s covenant story.

If Paul can show that Abraham himself was counted righteous by faith, then justification by faith is not a late Christian invention.

It is rooted in Scripture.

6. “What Then Shall We Say Was Gained by Abraham?”

Paul asks:

“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?”

Abraham is called:

“our forefather according to the flesh.”

For Jewish readers, Abraham was the ancestral father of Israel.

Paul therefore begins with the most authoritative possible example.

If Abraham was justified by works, Paul says:

“he has something to boast about.”

But then Paul immediately adds:

“but not before God.”

Human achievement may produce social honor.

It cannot place God in our debt.

7. “Abraham Believed God”

Paul cites Genesis 15:6:

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

This verse becomes the foundation of the argument.

The sequence is important.

Abraham receives the promise.

Abraham believes.

God counts that faith as righteousness.

This occurs before:

Circumcision in Genesis 17
The Mosaic Law at Sinai
Israel’s national existence

Paul therefore sees Abraham as proof that justification cannot depend fundamentally upon Mosaic law observance.

Answer to Study Question 1

Why does Paul use Abraham?

Because Abraham is the father of Israel.

If anyone could have been presented as justified by status, works, circumcision, or covenant privilege, Abraham would have been a natural candidate.

But Scripture says:

“Abraham believed God.”

Paul therefore argues that righteousness comes through faith.

Abraham becomes not merely the ancestor of ethnic Israel but the model of all who trust God’s promise.

8. “Counted as Righteousness”

The Greek verb is:

logizomai — λογίζομαι

It can mean:

To reckon
To count
To credit
To calculate
To regard

Paul uses accounting language.

Faith is “counted” as righteousness.

The point is not that faith becomes a meritorious work.

Faith is the means by which the believer receives what God gives.

9. Wages and Gift

Paul contrasts two systems.

He writes:

“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”

If someone earns wages, payment is an obligation.

But Paul continues:

“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

The contrast is:

Wages

versus

Gift

Human works would make salvation payment.

Paul insists justification is grace.

10. “God Who Justifies the Ungodly”

This phrase is intentionally shocking:

“him who justifies the ungodly.”

In ordinary judicial language, a righteous judge should not acquit the guilty dishonestly.

Yet Paul says God justifies the ungodly.

Romans 3 has already supplied the explanation.

God does not simply pretend sin does not exist.

Justification is grounded in Christ’s redemptive work.

Grace therefore does not deny justice.

It acts through Christ.

Answer to Study Question 2

What does it mean for faith to be “counted as righteousness”?

It means God grants righteous standing to the one who trusts him rather than earning that standing through works.

Faith is not portrayed as moral achievement.

It is reliance upon God’s promise.

The emphasis therefore falls on:

God’s grace
God’s promise
God’s initiative

not on human merit.

11. David as a Second Witness

Paul now brings in David.

He quotes Psalm 32:1–2:

“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.”

Abraham provides one witness.

David provides another.

Together they support Paul’s argument from Scripture.

12. Forgiveness and Justification

David’s words emphasize forgiveness.

Paul connects that with justification.

The blessed person is the one whose sin God does not count against him.

Notice again the accounting language:

Abraham’s faith is counted as righteousness.
The forgiven person’s sin is not counted against him.

Paul’s argument therefore involves both:

positive crediting

and

non-counting of sin.

13. The Missing Verses: Romans 4:9–12

Your selected passage moves from verse 8 to verse 13, but verses 9–12 are crucial context.

There Paul explains that Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised.

Circumcision came later as a sign.

This allows Paul to call Abraham:

Father of uncircumcised believers
Father of circumcised believers who share his faith

That prepares directly for verses 13–17.

The promise therefore rests on faith before circumcision.

14. “The Promise to Abraham”

Paul says:

“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law…”

This phrase:

“heir of the world”

does not appear verbatim in Genesis.

Paul is summarizing the broader significance of God’s promises to Abraham.

Those promises include:

Land
Descendants
Blessing
Blessing to the nations

Paul sees their ultimate fulfillment expanding beyond Canaan toward God’s worldwide redemptive purpose.

15. “Not Through the Law”

Paul says the promise did not come:

“through the law”

but:

“through the righteousness of faith.”

Chronology alone supports the point.

Abraham lived centuries before Moses.

The promise therefore cannot fundamentally depend upon the Mosaic Law.

Grace precedes Sinai.

16. If the Law Is the Basis, Faith Is Emptied

Paul argues:

“For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.”

If inheritance depends upon law observance, then the promise ceases to function as promise.

It becomes conditional payment.

Paul wants to preserve the character of God’s promise as grace.

17. “The Law Brings Wrath”

Paul writes:

“For the law brings wrath…”

This does not mean the law is evil.

Elsewhere Paul explicitly calls the law:

Holy
Righteous
Good

The problem is sinful humanity.

Law exposes transgression.

Where God’s command is violated, judgment follows.

Thus law cannot itself solve the problem of sin.

18. “Where There Is No Law There Is No Transgression”

Paul says:

“where there is no law there is no transgression.”

He does not mean there is no sin apart from Mosaic law.

Romans 5:13 will explicitly say sin existed before the law.

“Transgression” here refers more specifically to violating a defined command.

Law clarifies and identifies rebellion.

19. “That Is Why It Depends on Faith”

Paul reaches the conclusion:

“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace…”

This sentence is central.

The structure is:

Faith → Grace → Promise secured

Why faith?

Because faith allows the promise to remain gift rather than wages.

20. “Guaranteed to All His Offspring”

Paul continues:

“and be guaranteed to all his offspring…”

The promise therefore reaches beyond one ethnic boundary.

Paul distinguishes:

Those who have the law
Those who share Abraham’s faith

Then he says:

“who is the father of us all.”

Abraham’s fatherhood becomes theological as well as genealogical.

21. “Father of Many Nations”

Paul cites Genesis 17:5:

“I have made you the father of many nations.”

Paul reads this promise in light of the inclusion of Gentiles.

Abraham’s significance was never intended to terminate with one nation alone.

Through the gospel, people from many nations become associated with Abraham through faith.

22. “In the Presence of the God in Whom He Believed”

Paul describes Abraham’s God as:

“the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”

This points ahead to the rest of Romans 4.

Abraham believed a God capable of overcoming human impossibility.

Abraham and Sarah were beyond ordinary expectations of producing the promised child.

Faith therefore rests on the character and power of God.

23. “Gives Life to the Dead”

The phrase has at least two layers.

First, it refers to Abraham and Sarah’s inability to produce offspring naturally.

Second, for Christian readers it inevitably resonates with:

the resurrection of Jesus.

Paul later makes that connection explicit in Romans 4:24–25.

The God of Abraham is the God who brings life from death.

24. Old Testament Background

The primary Old Testament texts are:

Genesis 12

God calls Abraham and promises blessing to the nations.

Genesis 15:6

“He believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

This is Paul’s foundational text.

Genesis 17:5

“I have made you the father of many nations.”

Paul uses this to explain Abraham’s wider fatherhood.

Psalm 32:1–2

David celebrates the blessedness of forgiven sin.

Paul connects forgiveness with justification.

25. Conversation Partners

Augustine

Augustine strongly emphasized grace as prior to human merit.

For him, even the human capacity to respond faithfully ultimately depends upon God’s grace.

His contribution

Justification cannot be understood as God rewarding independent human achievement.

Martin Luther

Romans 4 became central to Luther’s understanding of justification by faith.

He emphasized that righteousness is received by faith rather than earned through works.

His contribution

Faith receives Christ and God’s promise rather than presenting God with a record of merit.

John Calvin

Calvin emphasized the forensic or judicial character of justification.

To be counted righteous is to receive a favorable verdict from God.

His contribution

Justification depends upon God’s gracious reckoning rather than inherent moral perfection.

Jacob Arminius

Arminius also affirmed justification by faith and rejected salvation by meritorious works.

He differed from later Reformed theology especially over predestination and grace, not over the foundational importance of faith.

His contribution

The Reformation debate should not be caricatured as Calvinists believing in grace and Arminians believing in works.

Both affirm grace and justification through faith.

John Wesley

Wesley strongly defended justification by faith.

At the same time, he insisted that genuine faith produces holiness.

His contribution

Works do not cause justification, but genuine justifying faith should produce a transformed life.

N. T. Wright

Wright emphasizes Abraham’s role within God’s covenant purpose to bless the nations.

He reads Romans 4 not only as a discussion of individual salvation but also as an explanation of who belongs to God’s covenant family.

His contribution

Paul’s argument concerns both:

how sinners are justified
who belongs to Abraham’s family

These themes need not be separated.

26. Justification: A Major Theological Debate

Romans 4 sits at the heart of long-standing Christian disagreement.

Protestant Reformation Emphasis

Justification is primarily understood as God’s declaration that the sinner is righteous on the basis of Christ, received through faith.

Roman Catholic Emphasis

Catholic theology also affirms that justification begins in grace, but it understands justification more broadly as including both forgiveness and an actual transformation of the believer by grace.

New Perspective Emphasis

Some modern interpreters emphasize that Paul is also addressing the question:

Who belongs to the covenant people?

Works of the law may refer especially to Jewish identity markers such as circumcision, food laws, and Sabbath.

These approaches should not simply be collapsed into one another.

But Romans 4 itself clearly emphasizes several things:

Abraham did not earn righteousness.
Faith is central.
Grace excludes boasting.
Circumcision does not create justification.
The promise extends to Gentiles.
God remains the one who justifies.

27. Faith Versus Works — What Paul Is Not Saying

Paul is not teaching that good works are worthless.

Later in Romans he expects believers to live transformed lives.

He is asking a different question:

On what basis does a sinner receive righteous standing before God?

Paul’s answer is not:

moral achievement.

It is:

faith in the God who gives the promise.

Works follow grace.

They do not purchase it.

28. Contemporary Application

Do not turn faith into another achievement

Faith itself can be misunderstood as though it were a spiritual accomplishment earning God’s favor.

Paul’s logic does not permit that.

Faith receives.

Grace gives.

Leave boasting behind

If justification is gift, there is no room for spiritual superiority.

Remember Abraham’s wider family

Paul’s argument breaks down ethnic exclusivity.

God’s promise reaches beyond one people to those from many nations who share Abraham’s faith.

Trust the promise when circumstances seem impossible

Abraham believed:

“the God… who gives life to the dead.”

Faith ultimately depends not upon favorable circumstances but upon the faithfulness and power of God.

Let justification produce gratitude

If righteousness is gift rather than wages, Christian obedience should grow from gratitude rather than fear of earning acceptance.

Discussion Questions

Why does Paul begin his argument with Abraham rather than Moses?
What is the difference between receiving wages and receiving a gift?
Why is the timing of Abraham’s justification before circumcision important?
Does “faith counted as righteousness” mean faith itself is a meritorious work?
How does David’s Psalm 32 quotation strengthen Paul’s argument?
What does Paul mean by calling Abraham “father of us all”?
How does the promise to Abraham connect individual salvation with God’s plan for the nations?
How should justification by faith affect Christian pride and judgment of others?

Berean Reflection

Paul could hardly have chosen a more important figure than Abraham.

Abraham stood near the beginning of Israel’s story.

He received the covenant promises.

He became the ancestor of Israel.

Yet Paul returns to a deceptively simple statement:

“Abraham believed God.”

Before Sinai.

Before the Mosaic Law.

Even before circumcision.

Abraham trusted the promise.

And:

“it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Paul’s conclusion is not that obedience is meaningless.

It is that obedience is not the foundation upon which God becomes indebted to us.

Salvation remains gift.

That is why Paul contrasts:

wages

with

grace.

And it is why Abraham can become:

“the father of us all.”

The promise is large enough to include people who do not share Abraham’s ethnicity but do share his faith.

At the center stands the God Abraham trusted:

the God who gives life to the dead.

That description points beyond Abraham.

It points toward the resurrection.

The same God who brought life from Abraham and Sarah’s apparent impossibility raised Jesus from the dead.

Christian faith therefore ultimately rests not in the strength of our faith, but in the faithfulness of the God in whom we believe.

Scripture as Our Final Authority

Augustine reminds us of the priority of grace.

Luther emphasizes justification received rather than earned.

Calvin highlights God’s gracious reckoning of righteousness.

Arminius reminds us that affirmation of genuine human response need not mean salvation by works.

Wesley emphasizes that justifying faith should bear fruit in holiness.

N. T. Wright reminds us that Abraham’s story also concerns the creation of a worldwide covenant family.

Each helps illuminate an aspect of Romans 4.

None is the final authority.

Scripture remains our final authority.

And Paul’s argument rests finally on Scripture’s own testimony:

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”