Faith Like Abraham

Why Romans 4 Matters

Romans was written to teach the gospel clearly and to unite Jews and Gentiles under one faith.

That matters because the Roman church was not made up of one cultural group. It included Jewish believers and Gentile believers. They came from different backgrounds, had different relationships to the Law, and likely had different assumptions about what made someone part of God’s people.

Paul’s message is direct: the righteous shall live by faith.

That theme is not only for Gentiles. It is not only for Jews. It is for everyone.

Romans 4 proves that justification by faith is not a new idea Paul invented. It goes all the way back to Abraham, the great father of Israel.

If Abraham himself was justified by faith, then no one can claim that works, rituals, ethnicity, or Law-keeping are the foundation of being right with God.

Paul is showing us that the gospel has always been God’s way.

Recap: Romans 1–3 Sets Up Romans 4

Romans 4 only makes sense if we remember what Paul has already argued.

Romans 1 shows that Gentiles are guilty before God. They rejected the truth God revealed through creation and worshiped created things instead of the Creator.

Romans 2 shows that Jews are guilty too. Having the Law did not automatically make someone righteous. Knowing the truth and disobeying it only increased accountability.

Romans 3 brings everyone into the courtroom. No one is righteous. No one can boast. The Law exposes sin but cannot fix the sinner.

Then comes the turning point: God has revealed a way to be made right with Him through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 4 now proves that this has always been the way God justifies sinners.

Before Paul moves forward, he takes his readers backward — all the way to Abraham.

The Objection: What About Abraham?

Romans 3:28 says we are made right with God through faith and not by works of the Law.

That raises a serious question for a Jewish audience.

What about Abraham?

Abraham was the father of the Jewish people. He received the covenant promises. He was circumcised. He obeyed God. He left his homeland. He was willing to offer Isaac. Surely if anyone could be used as an example of works, it would be Abraham.

But Paul says the opposite.

Abraham is not proof of justification by works.

Abraham is proof of justification by faith.

That would have been powerful. Paul does not choose a random example. He chooses the most important patriarch in Israel’s history and shows that even Abraham had no ground for boasting before God.

Abraham was not saved by being impressive.

He was saved by believing God.

Abraham’s Story: Called Out of Idolatry

Abraham did not begin as a spiritual hero.

Joshua 24:2 tells us that Abraham’s family came from a background of idol worship. He was called out of Ur, a pagan environment, by the grace of God.

That matters.

God did not choose Abraham because Abraham had a perfect background. God called Abraham by grace and gave him a promise.

In Genesis 12, God promised to bless Abraham, make him a great nation, and bless all the families of the earth through him. That promise would eventually lead to Christ.

Then in Genesis 15, Abraham believed the Lord, and God counted it to him as righteousness.

That is the verse Paul builds on in Romans 4.

Abraham was not declared righteous after circumcision in Genesis 17.

He was not declared righteous after offering Isaac in Genesis 22.

He was counted righteous by faith in Genesis 15.

That timeline matters.

His obedience mattered, but it was not the basis of his justification. His works showed the reality of his faith, but faith was the means by which righteousness was credited to him.

Works or Faith?

Romans 4:1–4 makes a simple but powerful contrast.

If Abraham was justified by works, then he would have something to boast about. He could say, “I earned this. God owes me.”

But Paul says that is not what happened.

Abraham believed God, and righteousness was counted to him.

Then Paul uses the image of wages. When a person works, their paycheck is not a gift. It is owed. But righteousness before God is not given as a wage to someone who earned it. It is credited as a gift to the one who believes.

This is the heart of grace.

God does not justify us because He owes us. He justifies us because Christ has provided what we could never earn.

That removes boasting.

The Christian cannot stand before God and say, “Look what I accomplished.”

The Christian can only say, “Lord, I trusted the Savior You provided.”

Faith receives. Works cannot purchase righteousness.

God Justifies the Ungodly

Romans 4:5 is one of the most shocking verses in the Bible.

Paul says God justifies the ungodly.

That does not mean God approves of ungodliness. It means God declares guilty sinners righteous through faith, on the basis of Christ’s work.

This is what makes the gospel different from human religion.

Human religion says, “Become godly enough, and maybe God will accept you.”

The gospel says, “God justifies the ungodly who trust Him.”

That is not cheap grace. Christ had to die for that grace to be given. But it is free grace because sinners do not earn it.

This is good news for anyone who knows they are not enough.

You do not come to Jesus because you have cleaned yourself up. You come because you need Him to cleanse you.

God does not justify people who pretend they are righteous.

He justifies sinners who stop pretending and trust Him.

David and the Blessing of Forgiveness

Paul does not only use Abraham. He also brings in David.

David knew both the horror of sin and the joy of forgiveness. In Psalm 32, David speaks about the blessing of having transgression forgiven, sin covered, and guilt not counted against him.

Paul uses David to strengthen the same point.

Blessing does not come because a person has earned a perfect record. Blessing comes because God forgives sin and does not count it against the believer.

That is justification language.

To be justified is not only to be forgiven in a vague way. It means God does not count our sin against us, and He counts righteousness to us.

In Christ, the believer’s record is changed.

Our sin was counted to Christ at the cross.

His righteousness is counted to us by faith.

That is why David could speak of joy. Forgiveness is not small. It is freedom from the guilt that once stood against us.

Before Circumcision: Sign, Not Source

Romans 4:9–12 is one of Paul’s strongest arguments.

When was Abraham counted righteous — before or after circumcision? The answer is before.

Abraham was counted righteous in Genesis 15. Circumcision came later in Genesis 17.

That means circumcision was not the source of his righteousness. It was the sign of a righteousness he had already received by faith.

This is important for understanding religious rituals.

A sign is not the same as the source.

A wedding ring does not create a marriage. It points to a marriage covenant. In the same way, circumcision pointed to covenant belonging, but it did not create Abraham’s justification.

For Christians today, the application is direct.

Baptism matters, but baptism does not replace faith.

Church attendance matters, but attendance does not save.

Communion matters, but communion does not justify the unbelieving heart.

Serving in ministry matters, but ministry cannot make someone right with God.

Christian routines matter, but routines without faith are empty.

The sign must never replace the Savior.

Abraham Is Father of All Who Believe

Because Abraham was justified before circumcision, he becomes the father of all who believe — both uncircumcised Gentiles and circumcised Jews who share his faith.

This is huge for Paul’s argument.

Abraham cannot be claimed by one ethnic group as if salvation belongs only to them. Abraham’s story was always bigger than one nation. God promised that all families of the earth would be blessed through him.

That promise finds its fulfillment in Christ.

So Abraham is not merely the father of the circumcised. He is the father of everyone who walks in the footsteps of his faith.

Jew and Gentile come the same way:

• Not through ethnic privilege
• Not through ritual status
• Not through Law-keeping
• Not through religious background
• Through faith

That is why the gospel creates one family from many nations.

Checkpoint: Faith or Habits?

This is where Romans 4 starts pressing into our lives.

Abraham was declared righteous before circumcision. That means habits, signs, and rituals cannot save.

But that does not mean spiritual habits are bad.

Spiritual habits are good in their proper place:

• Prayer
• Church gathering
• Bible reading
• Baptism
• Communion
• Serving

The danger is not having Christian habits. The danger is trusting them.

A person can do Christian things while their heart is far from Christ. A person can attend church, serve, sing, and know the language, while still relying on religious routine instead of genuine faith.

So we need to ask honestly:

Am I trusting Christ, or am I trusting my Christian activity?

Do my habits flow from faith, or am I using them to feel righteous?

Spiritual habits should strengthen faith. They should never replace faith.

Promise Before Law

Romans 4:13–17 makes another timeline argument.

God’s promise to Abraham came before the Law.

The Law given through Moses came centuries later. Paul makes a similar point in Galatians 3, explaining that the Law did not cancel the promise God had already made.

This matters because if the promise depends on Law-keeping, then faith collapses.

Why? Because sinners break the Law.

The Law is holy, but it exposes sin and brings wrath because we fail to obey it perfectly. If inheritance depends on human obedience, no one receives the promise.

But Paul says the promise depends on faith so that it may rest on grace and be guaranteed.

That word matters: guaranteed.

If salvation depends on our performance, assurance dies. But if salvation depends on God’s promise and Christ’s finished work, then the believer has a foundation that does not move.

• God made the promise.
• God provides the righteousness.
• God fulfills what He speaks.

Faith rests on God’s promise, not human performance.

Abraham Believed the God Who Gives Life

Romans 4:17 says Abraham believed in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

That is not just poetic language. It fits Abraham’s situation.

Abraham was old. Sarah was barren. Humanly speaking, the promise looked impossible.

Yet God promised a son.

Abraham’s faith was not pretending the situation was easy. Romans 4 says he faced the reality of his body and Sarah’s barrenness. Biblical faith is not denial. It does not close its eyes and pretend problems are fake.

Faith sees reality, but faith also sees God.

Abraham knew the situation was impossible for man, but not impossible for God.

He believed the God who gives life where there is death and creates where there is nothing.

That is the kind of God we trust.

Faith in the Impossible

Romans 4:18–22 describes Abraham’s faith in a powerful way.

Against hope, he believed in hope. He did not weaken in faith when he considered the impossibility of the situation. He was fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.

This does not mean Abraham never struggled. Genesis shows moments where Abraham failed, doubted, acted in fear, and made mistakes. But the overall direction of his life was trust in God’s promise.

That is encouraging.

Faith is not the absence of struggle. Faith is continuing to trust God even when the struggle is real.

Many young adults face situations that feel impossible:

• Family problems
• Exams
• Money pressure
• Relationships
• Waiting
• Future plans
• Calling
• Temptation
• Fear
• Unanswered prayer

Romans 4 does not tell us to trust random dreams or personal wishes. It tells us to trust God’s promises.

Faith is not believing that God must do whatever we want.

Faith is trusting that God is able to do what He has promised.

That distinction matters.

Biblical faith is not positive thinking. It is confidence in the God who speaks and keeps His Word.

Credited as Righteous

Romans 4 keeps using the language of counting, crediting, and reckoning.

This is legal and accounting language. It means something is placed to someone’s account.

Abraham believed God, and righteousness was credited to him.

This is not because Abraham’s faith was morally perfect. Faith is not the righteousness itself. Faith is the means by which righteousness is received.

In the gospel, righteousness is credited to the believer because of Christ.

That is why justification gives real assurance.

If righteousness had to be earned, we would never know if we had done enough. But if righteousness is credited by faith because of Christ, then our confidence rests in Him, not in ourselves.

The believer can live daily as someone credited righteous — not arrogant, not careless, not lazy, but secure.

When you know you are justified by faith, obedience becomes gratitude, not a desperate attempt to earn acceptance.

Written for Us

Romans 4:23–24 says the words about Abraham were not written for him alone. They were written for us too.

That is beautiful.

Paul is not treating Abraham as a distant religious figure with no connection to our lives. He is saying the same principle applies today.

God counted righteousness to Abraham by faith.

God counts righteousness to us when we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

The object of Abraham’s faith was God’s promise. The object of our faith is God’s promise fulfilled in Jesus.

Abraham looked forward to what God would do. We look back to what God has done in Christ.

The same saving principle remains: righteousness is received by faith.

Jesus Died and Was Raised for Our Justification

Romans 4 ends by pointing directly to Jesus.

Paul says Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

The death of Jesus deals with our sins. He was handed over to bear the judgment we deserved.

The resurrection shows that His work was accepted and that justification is secured for those who believe.

This is why the resurrection matters.

If Christ is not raised, faith is empty and sin remains. But Christ has been raised, and because He lives, the believer’s justification is not wishful thinking.

The empty tomb is God’s declaration that the payment was accepted.

Jesus did not merely die as an example of love. He died for our sins. He rose so that sinners could be made right with God.

That is the gospel Abraham’s story points toward.

Key Doctrines in Romans 4

Romans 4 gives several major doctrines that every Christian needs to understand.

First, justification is by faith alone. We are declared righteous before God through faith, not by works.

Second, righteousness is credited, not earned. God counts righteousness to the believer because of Christ.

Third, faith is greater than rituals and Law as the basis of salvation. Rituals may be signs, but they are not the source.

Fourth, salvation is for Jew and Gentile. Abraham is father of all who believe.

Fifth, the resurrection proves justification. Jesus was raised, and our right standing with God rests on His finished work.

These doctrines are not dry theology. They are oxygen for the Christian life.

If you do not understand justification, you will either live in pride or fear. Pride if you think you earned it. Fear if you think you might lose your standing every time you fail.

Romans 4 gives us a better way.

Faith rests in God’s promise fulfilled in Christ.