Passage: Romans 4:1-4
The Big Idea
To prove that we’re justified by faith alone, Paul turns to Israel’s greatest hero, Abraham. If Abraham had been justified by works, he’d have something to boast about, but not before God. Scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Abraham was a normal sinner who simply believed God’s Word, and God credited righteousness to his account like a deposit. Grace and works are opposites: wages are owed, but grace is a gift.
Abraham, the Hero (4:1-3)
Paul asks what Abraham, our forefather, discovered. If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:1-3, quoting Genesis 15:6).
Paul is building on the truth that we’re justified by faith alone, not by any good works. And he starts with the first hero of the Jewish people, Abraham, someone they honored even more than Americans honor George Washington.
What does Scripture say? Go back to Genesis 15:1-6. God promised childless Abraham that his descendants would be as countless as the stars. And Abraham believed the Lord, and God credited it to him as righteousness.
The lesson couldn’t be clearer: Abraham’s right standing with God had nothing to do with doing anything. He simply believed God’s Word.
All our righteousness is a free gift received through faith in God’s Word.
Just a Normal Sinner
Like many folk heroes, Abraham was remembered as a really good man, and people assumed that’s why God favored him.
That’s far from true! Abraham was a normal sinner. (He twice lied about his wife to save his own skin, Genesis 12 and 20.)
The verse doesn’t say Abraham was made righteous in all his actions. It says he was accounted righteous.
- First, God counts us righteous.
- Then He begins making us righteous in practical ways.
Counted Righteous
How does this “counting” work?
It’s like a bank. Money deposited into your account belongs to you, no matter who put it there. That’s our righteousness: a free gift God deposits into our account.
And righteousness is more than the absence of guilt. It’s a positive good. God doesn’t only declare us innocent; He declares us righteous.
Wages or Gift (4:4)
Now to the one who works, wages aren’t counted as grace but as what is owed (Romans 4:4).
This is a key verse!
- Grace and works are opposites.
- Grace is receiving a freely given gift from God.
- Works is trying to earn merit before God.
- A works system tries to put God in our debt, so He owes us His favor because of our good behavior. In works-thinking, God owes us salvation or blessing.
- But no one can put God in debt.
God isn’t praising laziness here. As the theologian John Murray observed, the contrast isn’t simply between someone who works and someone who doesn’t, but between someone who works to earn and someone who believes.
Grace Takeaway
Abraham didn’t earn God’s approval; he believed God’s promise, and God credited righteousness to his account. The same deposit is available to you. You can’t put God in your debt, and you don’t have to. Simply believe what He has said about His Son, and His righteousness is counted as yours. Then watch Him begin, day by day, to make it real in your life.
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