The Berean Table

Field	Detail
Pericope	Romans 4:1–25
Theme	Abraham, the father of all who believe, was justified not by works but by faith, his faith being counted to him as righteousness apart from circumcision and apart from the law; so that the righteousness of God comes as a free gift to all who believe—Jew and Gentile alike—who trust in the God who justifies the ungodly, who gives life to the dead, and who raised Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification

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Opening Prayer

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Closing Prayer

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Timeline Context

Placement within the letter. Romans 4 stands as the great Old Testament confirmation of the doctrine Paul has just expounded in Romans 3:21–31. There Paul declared that “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (3:21), received “through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (3:22), so that a person “is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (3:28). Anticipating the Jewish objection that such a gospel overthrows the heritage of Israel, Paul turns to the supreme test case: Abraham, the father of the nation and the friend of God. If even Abraham was justified by faith and not by works, then justification by faith is no novelty but the very foundation of God’s dealings with His people. Chapter 4 thus functions as the scriptural proof of the thesis of chapter 3, and it prepares for the triumphant assurance of chapter 5 (“since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God,” 5:1).

Historical and political setting. Paul wrote Romans most probably from Corinth around AD 56–57, during his third missionary journey, before traveling to Jerusalem with the collection for the saints (Romans 15:25–26). The emperor was Nero, in the relatively benign early years of his reign. The church in Rome, which Paul had not yet visited (1:10–13), was a mixed congregation of Jewish and Gentile believers. The earlier expulsion of Jews from Rome under Claudius (Acts 18:2, around AD 49) and their subsequent return had created tensions between Jewish and Gentile Christians over the place of the law, circumcision, and Israel’s privileges. Romans 4, by showing Abraham as the father of believing Jew and Gentile alike, speaks directly into this setting.

Surrounding events and theological significance. Paul reaches back nearly two thousand years to the patriarch Abraham (Genesis 12–25), citing the pivotal text of Genesis 15:6 (“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”) and reinforcing it with David’s testimony from Psalm 32. The chronological argument is decisive: Abraham was justified (Genesis 15) before he was circumcised (Genesis 17) and centuries before the law was given at Sinai (Exodus 19–20). Therefore his justification rested on faith alone, apart from circumcision and apart from the law.

Redemptive-historical placement. Romans 4 locates the believer within the unbroken stream of the covenant of grace. The same way of salvation by faith that justified Abraham justifies us; the promise made to Abraham reaches its fulfillment in Christ and overflows to all nations. Paul writes in the era between the resurrection (the ground of justification, v. 25) and the consummation (when Abraham’s offspring will inherit the world, v. 13). The chapter stands as a bridge across the ages: the faith of the patriarch and the faith of the church are one faith, in one God, who raises the dead.

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Historical-Grammatical Study

Genre. Romans is a doctrinal epistle, the most systematic of Paul’s letters, and chapter 4 is sustained theological argument conducted in the manner of Jewish scriptural exposition (a kind of midrash on Genesis 15:6). Paul reasons by rhetorical question, citation of Scripture, and tight logical inference, frequently employing the diatribe style of posing and answering objections.

Key Greek terms and syntax.

• “Justified” (edikaiōthē, v. 2; cf. dikaioō throughout)—a forensic, courtroom term meaning to declare righteous, to acquit, not to make morally good. The verb is declarative, not transformative.
• “Counted / reckoned” (logizomai, vv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24)—an accounting and crediting term, the great keyword of the chapter, appearing eleven times. It means to put to one’s account, to credit, to impute. God credits righteousness to the believer’s account.
• “Righteousness” (dikaiosynē, vv. 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 22)—the righteous standing that God reckons to faith; in this chapter, a righteousness received, not achieved.
• “Wages… due” (opheilēma, v. 4)—a debt owed; the worker earns pay as an obligation, contrasted with the freely given “gift” (charis, “grace/favor”).
• “Ungodly” (asebē, v. 5)—the astonishing object of justification: God “justifies the ungodly,” a phrase that would scandalize, for the law forbade justifying the wicked (Exodus 23:7).
• “Blessing” (makarismos, vv. 6, 9)—the pronouncement of blessedness; Paul draws David’s beatitude (Psalm 32:1–2) into evidence.
• “Seal” (sphragis, v. 11)—circumcision is called a sphragis, an authenticating mark confirming a reality already possessed; faith-righteousness came first, the sign sealed it.
• “Promise” (epangelia, vv. 13, 14, 16, 20)—God’s gracious pledge, set in deliberate contrast to “law” (nomos) and tied to “grace” (charis, v. 16).
• “Fully convinced” (plērophorētheis, v. 21)—a strong term for full assurance and settled conviction; Abraham’s faith was a confident certainty that God would perform His word.
• “Delivered up… raised” (paredothē… ēgerthē, v. 25)—two divine passives stating the objective ground of justification: Christ handed over for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

First-century Jewish background. Abraham held the highest honor in Jewish thought, and a strong tradition (reflected in works like 1 Maccabees 2:52 and later rabbinic writings) held that Abraham was justified by his faithful obedience, especially the binding of Isaac, and that his merit benefited his descendants. Paul confronts this directly: Abraham had nothing to boast about before God (v. 2). Circumcision (Genesis 17) was the defining boundary marker of Jewish identity; Paul’s chronological point—that Abraham was justified while still uncircumcised—dismantles any claim that circumcision is the ground of acceptance with God.

Covenantal themes. The chapter is woven from the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12; 15; 17; 22). The promise that Abraham would be “heir of the world” (v. 13) gathers up the land promise, the seed promise, and the blessing-to-the-nations promise into one cosmic inheritance fulfilled in Christ. The contrast of promise and law (vv. 13–16) sets the covenant of grace against any covenant of works as the basis of inheritance. The God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (v. 17) is the covenant LORD, the Creator who is also the Redeemer, whose power guarantees the promise.

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Expanded Outline

Section 1 — Abraham Justified by Faith, Not by Works (vv. 1–5)

Key Insight

Paul opens with a rhetorical question that puts Abraham himself on the witness stand: “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?” (v. 1). Having argued that justification is by faith apart from works (3:28), Paul anticipates the objection that Israel’s great patriarch surely earned his standing. He answers with a hypothetical concession that he immediately dismantles: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (v. 2). Even granting, for argument’s sake, that works could justify, the boasting they would produce is excluded “before God,” for no boasting is admissible in His presence (cf. 3:27; Ephesians 2:9). The verb “justified” (edikaiōthē) is forensic—to be declared righteous in the divine court—not to be made inwardly good.

Paul’s decisive move is to appeal to Scripture: “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’” (v. 3, citing Genesis 15:6). This single text is the foundation of the whole chapter. Note the structure: Abraham “believed God”—he took God at His word concerning the promised seed—and this faith “was counted to him as righteousness.” The verb “counted” (logizomai) is the great keyword of Romans 4, an accounting term meaning to credit to one’s account. Calvin observes that Abraham “was justified by believing, because, when he received the grace offered to him by the Lord, he embraced it by faith.” Righteousness was not produced by Abraham but reckoned to him.

Paul then unfolds the logic of reckoning with a contrast drawn from the world of labor and debt: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due” (v. 4). The worker earns; his pay is a debt (opheilēma) owed, not a gift of grace. “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (v. 5). Here is the heart of the gospel in a sentence. Justification is for “the one who does not work but believes”—not the one who earns, but the one who trusts. And the object of saving faith is staggering: “him who justifies the ungodly” (ton asebē). The God who “will not acquit the wicked” in the sense of condoning sin (Exodus 23:7) nevertheless justifies the ungodly through the satisfaction made in Christ. Murray notes that “the ungodly” is “the only kind of person God justifies”—for all are ungodly until justified. Christologically, this anticipates v. 25: God can justify the ungodly justly because Christ was delivered up for their trespasses. The righteousness reckoned is His, received by faith alone.

Application

This passage strikes at the deepest idol of the human heart: the desire to earn our standing with God. Paul forecloses every avenue of self-justification, even for the greatest of the patriarchs. If Abraham could not boast before God, neither can we. The settled bent of the natural heart is to work for acceptance; the gospel calls us instead to believe in the God who justifies the ungodly.

Practically, this means we must abandon all confidence in our own performance—our religious activity, our moral achievements, our church attendance, our good intentions—as the ground of acceptance with God. These are the “wages” we imagine we are owed. But salvation comes “not as a gift” to the worker but only as a gift to the one who stops working and trusts. To rest in Christ alone is to receive righteousness as the free gift it is.

This also dignifies the place of faith. Faith is not a meritorious work that earns reward; it is the empty hand that receives. Faith justifies not because of any virtue in believing but because of the object it lays hold of—the God who justifies the ungodly through Christ. We are saved by faith, but never on account of faith as though it were our contribution.

A warning against misapplication: we must not turn “the one who does not work” into a license for lazy or fruitless faith. Paul does not despise good works in their proper place (Ephesians 2:10); he denies them as the ground of justification. Nor should “justifies the ungodly” become an excuse to remain comfortable in ungodliness; the same grace that justifies the ungodly also transforms them (Romans 6). The point is the ground of our acceptance, not a permission for sin.

Section 2 — David’s Testimony: Blessedness Apart from Works (vv. 6–8)

Key Insight

Having established his case from Abraham, Paul summons a second and weighty witness: King David. “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works” (v. 6). Paul follows the rabbinic principle of establishing a truth from “the Law and the Prophets/Writings”—Abraham from the Torah (Genesis), David from the Psalms. The phrase “counts righteousness apart from works” (logizetai dikaiosynēn chōris ergōn) is Paul’s own summary of the doctrine, and the keyword “counts” (logizomai) again carries the freight. David pronounces a “blessing” (makarismos)—a declaration of how blessed, how happy, is the person who receives this gift.

Paul then 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” (vv. 7–8). David, the man “after God’s own heart” who nonetheless committed adultery and murder, knew firsthand the misery of unconfessed sin (Psalm 32:3–4) and the blessedness of forgiveness. Three expressions describe the one reality: “lawless deeds… forgiven” (sent away, removed), “sins… covered” (hidden from God’s sight), and sin not “counted” against him.

The genius of Paul’s argument lies in the linking word logizomai. In Genesis 15:6 God counts righteousness to Abraham; in Psalm 32:2 God refuses to count sin against David. Paul draws these two texts together to show that justification has two sides: the non-imputation of sin (David) and the imputation of righteousness (Abraham). Sproul notes that justification involves both “the remission of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ”—the negative removal of guilt and the positive crediting of righteousness. The blessed man is not merely one whose sins are forgiven but one to whom righteousness is reckoned. Matthew Henry comments that “the great privilege of the saints… is the forgiveness of sin; for thereby their iniquities are blotted out and their state is changed.”

Crucially, David receives this blessing “apart from works” (v. 6). David had no works to plead; he came as a guilty sinner and found God not counting his sin. Christologically, this forgiveness rests on the One whose blood would cover sin once for all (Hebrews 9:26); redemptive-historically, David’s experience of pardon under the old covenant anticipated and rested upon the atonement yet to come.

Application

This passage assures us that the blessedness of the gospel embraces both the removal of our guilt and the gift of righteousness. We are not left merely with sins forgiven and an empty account; God counts righteousness to us. The believer is doubly blessed: sin not counted against, righteousness counted to.

Practically, David’s testimony invites every guilty sinner to find the same blessedness. David was no innocent; he was an adulterer and murderer who knew the crushing weight of guilt. Yet he discovered the joy of the man whose transgression is forgiven. No sin is too great, no guilt too heavy, for the God who does not count sin against those who trust Him. This is the gospel for the worst of sinners.

This passage also teaches us the language of confession and forgiveness. The blessedness comes not by denying or excusing sin but by bringing it to God, who forgives, covers, and does not count it. Like David in Psalm 32, we are to acknowledge our sin and find that the Lord puts it away.

Furthermore, the truth that righteousness is counted “apart from works” should produce profound rest. Our blessedness does not fluctuate with our performance, for it rests not on our works but on God’s reckoning. This is the foundation of Christian assurance and joy.

A warning against misapplication: the non-imputation of sin is never a license to sin freely. David’s psalm flows from genuine repentance, not from carelessness. Nor should “apart from works” lead us to despise the obedience that flows from gratitude. The blessing is free, but it transforms; those whom God does not charge with sin He also renews to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

Section 3 — Justified Before Circumcision: Father of All Who Believe (vv. 9–12)

Key Insight

Paul now presses a chronological argument that demolishes any claim that circumcision is the ground of justification. He asks: “Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?” (v. 9). Is the blessedness David describes reserved for Jews, or open to Gentiles too? Paul answers by returning to the timing of Abraham’s justification: “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” (vv. 9–10).

The argument is unanswerable. Genesis 15:6 records Abraham’s justification; Genesis 17 records his circumcision—an event that, by the chronology of Genesis, occurred at least fourteen years later (when Abraham was ninety-nine, Genesis 17:24, having been justified before the birth of Ishmael, Genesis 16). Therefore Abraham was reckoned righteous while still uncircumcised. His justification cannot have depended on circumcision, for he did not yet possess it. Calvin observes that “Abraham was justified by faith long before his circumcision,” so that circumcision could not be the cause of his righteousness.

What then was circumcision? Paul explains: “He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” (v. 11). Circumcision was a “sign” (sēmeion) and a “seal” (sphragis)—not the cause but the confirmation of a righteousness already possessed by faith. A seal authenticates and certifies what already exists; it adds nothing to the document but confirms its validity. So circumcision sealed and confirmed the faith-righteousness Abraham already had. This is foundational for the Reformed understanding of the sacraments as signs and seals of grace already given (cf. Westminster Confession 27.1).

The purpose of this divine ordering, Paul says, was nothing less than the inclusion of the nations: “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” (vv. 11–12). Abraham is the father of two groups who are really one: believing Gentiles (justified by faith without circumcision, as Abraham was) and believing Jews (those who not merely bear the mark but share the faith). The true children of Abraham are defined not by blood or ritual but by faith. Christologically, this prepares for the gospel’s reach to all nations (Galatians 3:7–9, 14); redemptive-historically, it shows the Abrahamic covenant always aimed at a worldwide family of faith.

Application

This passage liberates the gospel from every ethnic and ritual boundary. Acceptance with God has never depended on outward marks—neither circumcision then nor any external rite, heritage, or religious credential now. What matters is the faith that Abraham had. This is profoundly humbling to the religious insider and gloriously welcoming to the outsider.

Practically, this warns us against trusting in outward religious identity. We may be tempted to rest in our baptism, church membership, Christian upbringing, or denominational pedigree as though these secured our standing. But Paul insists that the sign without the faith is empty; circumcision profited Abraham nothing as a ground of righteousness. We must ask whether we merely bear the marks of religion or share the faith they signify.

This passage also rightly orders the sacraments. Circumcision was a seal of a righteousness already possessed by faith—not a magical cause of salvation. So baptism and the Lord’s Supper are signs and seals of God’s grace, to be received by faith, never substitutes for faith. They confirm the gospel; they do not replace it.

Furthermore, this truth unites the people of God across every barrier. Believing Jew and believing Gentile share one father, one faith, one righteousness. There is no second-class citizen in the family of Abraham. This should shape how we view fellow believers of every background, ethnicity, and history.

A warning against misapplication: the priority of faith over the sign must not lead us to despise the signs God has appointed. Abraham did receive circumcision in obedience; believers are commanded to be baptized and to keep the Supper. Faith and the God-given signs belong together, in their proper order. Nor should “father of all who believe” be twisted to suggest that mere sincerity in any religion suffices; the faith in view is faith in the God who justifies the ungodly through Christ.

Section 4 — The Promise Through Faith, Not Law (vv. 13–17)

Key Insight

Paul now broadens the argument from circumcision to the law itself, and from righteousness to inheritance. “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” (v. 13). The “promise” (epangelia) is the great keyword of this section. Strikingly, Paul summarizes the multiple Abrahamic promises—land, seed, blessing to the nations (Genesis 12:2–3; 13:15; 15:5; 17:8; 22:17–18)—as the promise that Abraham would be “heir of the world.” The land of Canaan was a down payment on a cosmic inheritance; the seed would become innumerable nations; the blessing would reach all the earth. This worldwide inheritance came “not through the law but through the righteousness of faith.”

Paul then shows why law and promise are mutually exclusive as the basis of inheritance: “For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void” (v. 14). If inheritance depended on law-keeping, then faith would be emptied of meaning and the promise drained of force—for the promise is by its nature a free gift, while law demands performance. He adds: “For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression” (v. 15). The law, far from securing the inheritance, can only produce “wrath” (orgē), because it exposes and condemns transgression (cf. 3:20; 7:7–11). The law was never given to justify but to reveal sin; it cannot be the ground of inheritance.

Therefore Paul draws his conclusion: “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring” (v. 16). The logic is beautiful: inheritance is “by faith” precisely “in order that” it might be “by grace” and so be “guaranteed” (bebaian, certain, secure). Murray notes that “grace and faith are correlative”—faith is the means precisely because grace is the principle. Only a promise resting on grace, received by faith, can be made sure; a promise hinging on our works would always be uncertain. And this guaranteed promise extends “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” (v. 16)—again uniting believing Jew and believing Gentile in one family.

Paul anchors this in Scripture: “as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’” (v. 17, citing Genesis 17:5). And he describes the God in whom Abraham believed: “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” This is the God of resurrection and creation—the One whose power makes the promise certain. Calvin marvels that Abraham’s faith rested on God’s power to “raise the dead” and “create out of nothing,” for only such a God could fulfill so vast a promise. Christologically, the “offspring” finds its focus in Christ (Galatians 3:16), and the worldwide inheritance is realized in Him; redemptive-historically, the God who calls into existence things that do not exist will bring the nations to life in the gospel.

Application

This passage assures us that our entire inheritance in Christ rests on grace, received by faith, and is therefore absolutely secure. If our standing depended on law-keeping, it would be perpetually uncertain, for we always fall short. But because it rests on grace and is received by faith, the promise is “guaranteed.” Here is the foundation of unshakable assurance.

Practically, this frees us from the exhausting treadmill of law-righteousness. Many believers live as though their inheritance hinged on their performance, oscillating between pride and despair. Paul cuts the nerve of this anxiety: the promise depends on faith so that it may rest on grace and be guaranteed. Our security is as firm as God’s grace, not as fragile as our obedience.

This passage also magnifies the greatness of our inheritance. We are heirs of the world—co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), destined to inherit the new creation. The believer’s hope is not small; it embraces the cosmos renewed under Christ. This should lift our eyes from petty earthly ambitions to the vast inheritance promised in the gospel.

Furthermore, the description of God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” grounds our faith in His omnipotence. The God of the promise is the God of resurrection and creation. No promise He makes can fail, for His power is equal to His word.

A warning against misapplication: the contrast of promise and law must not be turned into contempt for God’s commandments. Paul is speaking of the basis of inheritance, not denying the goodness of the law in its proper use (Romans 7:12). The law cannot justify, but it remains holy and good as a guide for the justified. Nor should “guaranteed to all his offspring” be read universalistically; it is guaranteed to all who share the faith of Abraham, not to all without faith.

Section 5 — The Faith of Abraham: Strong Against Hope (vv. 18–22)

Key Insight

Paul now portrays the character of Abraham’s faith as a model for all believers. “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’” (v. 18, citing Genesis 15:5). The paradox “in hope… against hope” captures the essence of faith: against all human reason for hope, Abraham hoped in God. Every natural ground for expectation was gone, yet on the ground of God’s bare promise he hoped. This faith took God at His word: “So shall your offspring be.”

Paul does not minimize the obstacles: “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” (v. 19). Abraham faced the facts honestly—his body “as good as dead” (nenekrōmenon) and Sarah’s womb barren. Faith is not the denial of reality but the conviction that God’s power transcends it. Murray notes that Abraham “contemplated” these impossibilities yet “did not waver.” Faith looks the impossible in the face and still trusts the God who raises the dead (v. 17).

The heart of the description follows: “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” (vv. 20–21). Several features stand out. First, faith here is the opposite of “unbelief” (apistia)—it is settled trust over against doubt. Second, Abraham “grew strong in his faith” (enedynamōthē tē pistei)—faith is dynamic, strengthening as it is exercised. Third, this faith expressed itself in worship: he “gave glory to God.” Faith glorifies God by trusting His word and power. Fourth, faith is “fully convinced” (plērophorētheis)—a full assurance and settled certainty “that God was able to do what he had promised.” The essence of faith is confidence in the ability and faithfulness of the promising God.

Then Paul returns to his governing text: “That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness’” (v. 22, again Genesis 15:6). The “that is why” does not mean Abraham’s faith earned righteousness as a meritorious work; rather, this kind of faith—self-emptying trust in the God who raises the dead—is the faith that receives the gift of righteousness. Calvin is careful here: “faith justifies, not because it is a worthy act, but because it receives the mercy offered.” Christologically, Abraham’s faith in the God who gives life to the dead is, in seed form, faith in the God who would raise Christ; redemptive-historically, the miraculous birth of Isaac from a “dead” womb foreshadows the resurrection that secures our justification (v. 25).

Application

Abraham’s faith is set before us as a pattern. True faith is not credulity or wishful thinking but settled trust in the God who keeps His promises despite every appearance to the contrary. We are called to “believe against hope”—to rest on God’s word even when circumstances scream that the promise cannot be fulfilled.

Practically, this teaches us how to face our own impossibilities. Like Abraham, we may “consider” the hard facts—a “dead” body, a barren situation, a hopeless circumstance—yet refuse to let unbelief make us waver. Faith does not pretend the obstacles away; it weighs them honestly and then weighs the greater power of God against them. The question is never whether our situation is possible, but whether God is able.

This passage also shows that faith grows strong through exercise and worship. Abraham “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” We strengthen faith not by gazing at our problems but by glorifying God—rehearsing His promises, His character, His past faithfulness, and His resurrection power. Worship and faith feed one another.

Furthermore, faith is “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Assurance rests not on the size of our faith but on the ability of our God. We are called to a settled confidence in God’s power and faithfulness, not a wavering, doubtful religion.

A warning against misapplication: “believing against hope” is not a license for presumption—claiming promises God has not made or demanding outcomes He has not pledged. Abraham believed a specific promise that God had spoken. Our faith must rest on God’s actual word, not on our own desires dressed up as faith. Nor does this passage teach that strong faith earns blessing as a reward; faith receives what grace gives.

Section 6 — Written for Us: Justified Through the Risen Christ (vv. 23–25)

Key Insight

Paul now draws the whole argument to its climactic, Christ-centered application. The story of Abraham was not mere ancient history: “But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also” (vv. 23–24). The Scripture concerning Abraham was recorded for the benefit of all who would come after, that they might learn the way of justification and embrace it. This reflects Paul’s conviction that “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4). The pattern of Abraham’s justification is the pattern of ours.

Paul makes the parallel explicit: “It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord” (v. 24). As Abraham believed in the God “who gives life to the dead” (v. 17), so we believe in the God who “raised from the dead Jesus our Lord.” The continuity is striking: the same God, the same kind of faith, the same reckoning of righteousness. But now the object of faith is named and focused: we believe in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. The resurrection is the decisive demonstration of God’s life-giving power, and faith in this God is the faith that is counted as righteousness.

The chapter ends with one of the most precious summaries of the gospel in all of Scripture: “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (v. 25). The two divine passives—“delivered up” (paredothē) and “raised” (ēgerthē)—present the two saving acts of God in Christ. Christ “was delivered up for our trespasses”: handed over to death as the sin-bearing substitute, fulfilling Isaiah 53:6 (“the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” and the LXX of 53:12, “he was delivered up”). The cross dealt with our trespasses, bearing their penalty. And Christ “was raised for our justification”: the resurrection is the Father’s public verdict that the price was fully paid and the sacrifice accepted. Murray explains that the resurrection “is the pivot on which the whole of redemption turns,” for in raising Christ the Father declared our justification secured. The two clauses are not to be sharply divided—the death and resurrection together accomplish our justification—but the resurrection vindicates and seals what the cross achieved. Sproul notes that “the resurrection is God’s ‘Amen’ to Christ’s ‘It is finished.’”

Christologically, the entire chapter has been moving toward this: the righteousness counted to faith is grounded in Christ crucified and risen. Redemptive-historically, the God who brought Isaac from a dead womb and would make Abraham father of many nations has now raised Jesus, the true Seed, securing the inheritance for all who believe. The faith of Abraham and the faith of the church meet in the God who raises the dead—supremely in the resurrection of Jesus our Lord.

Application

This passage assures us that the doctrine of justification by faith is not abstract theology but the very ground of our standing before God. The Scriptures recording Abraham’s justification were written “for us also.” We are invited to find ourselves in Abraham’s story—to believe as he believed and to receive the same reckoned righteousness.

Practically, this directs our faith to its proper object: the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Saving faith is not vague spirituality but trust in the specific God who delivered Christ up for our trespasses and raised Him for our justification. We must rest our whole hope on the crucified and risen Christ, in whom alone righteousness is found.

This passage also anchors our assurance in the resurrection. If Christ was “raised for our justification,” then His resurrection is the Father’s receipt marking our debt paid in full. When conscience accuses or doubts assail, we look to the empty tomb as God’s public declaration that the sacrifice was accepted and our justification secured. The risen Christ is the proof that we are justified.

Furthermore, the pairing of cross and resurrection should shape our gospel proclamation and our worship. We preach not a dead Savior but a living one, not merely a sacrifice offered but a sacrifice accepted. Our justification rests on both the death that bore our sin and the resurrection that vindicated the payment.

A warning against misapplication: we must not divorce the death and resurrection, as though the cross dealt only with sin and the resurrection only with justification; the two together accomplish our whole salvation. Nor should we treat justification as merely a past event; it is a present standing and a future verdict, all secured by the risen Christ. And we must never separate faith from its object: it is not the act of believing but the risen Lord believed upon who justifies.

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Cross References

Comparative Gospel Study

Not Applicable as Direct Comparison — Romans is a New Testament epistle (doctrinal letter), not Gospel narrative. There are no synoptic parallel accounts to harmonize. However, Romans 4 develops and grounds key Gospel themes that the evangelists proclaim in narrative form, and the chapter stands in the closest harmony with the teaching of Jesus and the witness of the Gospels:

First, the theme of justification by faith apart from works is dramatized in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9–14). The tax collector, who “would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” went home “justified” rather than the self-righteous Pharisee. This is Romans 4:5 in story form: God “justifies the ungodly” who do not work but believe, while the one who trusts his own works has nothing to boast before God.

Second, the theme of faith that takes God at His word pervades the Gospels. Jesus marveled at the centurion’s faith (Matthew 8:10) and repeatedly said, “Your faith has made you well” (Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50). This is the faith of Abraham, “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (v. 21)—trust in the power and word of God.

Third, the theme of Abraham’s true children defined by faith, not blood is taught by John the Baptist and Jesus alike. John warned, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for… God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). Jesus told the Jews, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did” (John 8:39). This anticipates Romans 4:11–12, 16: Abraham is father of all who share his faith.

Fourth, the theme of the resurrection as the ground of salvation (v. 25) is the climax of all four Gospels. The God “who gives life to the dead” (v. 17) raised Jesus our Lord (v. 24), the event the Gospels narrate as the vindication of the crucified Savior (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20). Romans 4:25 supplies the theological meaning of the empty tomb the Gospels record: Christ “was raised for our justification.”

Fifth, the theme of Abraham rejoicing to see Christ’s day is voiced by Jesus Himself: “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56), confirming that the patriarch’s faith was, in seed, faith in the coming Christ.

Old Testament Connections

Pentateuch. The chapter is essentially an exposition of Genesis. Genesis 15:6—”And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness”—is the foundational text, quoted in vv. 3, 9, 22, 23. The promise that Abraham would be “heir of the world” (v. 13) gathers up Genesis 12:2–3 (blessing to all families of the earth), 13:14–17 and 15:18 (the land), 15:5 (“So shall your offspring be,” quoted v. 18), 17:5 (“father of many nations,” quoted v. 17), and 22:17–18 (offspring as the stars, blessing to the nations). The chronology of justification (Genesis 15) preceding circumcision (Genesis 17) is the backbone of vv. 9–12. The command not to justify the wicked (Exodus 23:7) forms the background to the marvel that God “justifies the ungodly” (v. 5), resolved only at the cross.

Historical Books. The example of David (vv. 6–8) draws on the narrative of 2 Samuel 11–12, where David’s sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah, followed by Nathan’s rebuke and David’s confession, issued in the forgiveness celebrated in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. The historical books also record God’s faithfulness to the Abrahamic promise (e.g., the multiplication of Israel, Exodus 1:7; the gift of the land, Joshua 21:43–45).

Wisdom Literature. Psalm 32:1–2 is quoted directly in vv. 7–8, supplying the testimony of David to justification “apart from works.” Psalm 51, David’s prayer of repentance, stands behind this blessing. Proverbs 28:13 (“he who confesses and forsakes [his transgressions] will obtain mercy”) and Proverbs 17:15 (the LORD detests “him who justifies the wicked”) frame the moral wonder of God justifying the ungodly justly through Christ.

Major Prophets. Isaiah 53 undergirds v. 25: the Servant who was “delivered up” (Isaiah 53:12 LXX) and on whom “the LORD has laid… the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6) is the One “delivered up for our trespasses.” Isaiah’s vision of the nations streaming to God (Isaiah 49:6; 2:2–4) corresponds to Abraham as “father of many nations” (v. 17). Jeremiah’s new covenant promise of forgiveness (“I will remember their sin no more,” Jeremiah 31:34) is realized in the non-imputation of sin (v. 8).

Minor Prophets. Habakkuk 2:4—”the righteous shall live by his faith”—is the very text Paul announces as the theme of Romans (1:17) and which Romans 4 expounds through Abraham. Micah’s wonder at the pardoning God who “delight[s] in steadfast love” (Micah 7:18) echoes the blessedness of the man whose sin the Lord will not count (v. 8).

New Testament Fulfillment

Gospels and Acts. Jesus’ teaching on justification (Luke 18:9–14), Abraham’s true children (John 8:39, 56), and faith as trust in God’s word fulfills the pattern of Romans 4 (see Comparative Gospel Study). In Acts, the apostles preach forgiveness and justification through faith in the risen Christ: “through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed [justified] from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38–39). The inclusion of believing Gentiles without circumcision (Acts 15:1–11) enacts Romans 4:11–12.

Paul’s Epistles. Galatians 3 is the closest parallel, citing the same Genesis 15:6: “Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’… it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:6–7), and “in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles” (Galatians 3:14). Philippians 3:9 contrasts “a righteousness of my own that comes from the law” with “that which comes through faith in Christ.” Romans 5:1 draws the conclusion: “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 states the ground of imputation: “for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

General Epistles and Revelation. James 2:21–24 addresses the same texts—”was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac?”—and is sometimes thought to conflict with Paul. In fact the two are complementary: Paul speaks of justification before God by faith alone as the ground of acceptance (Genesis 15), while James speaks of justification demonstrated before men by the works that prove faith genuine (Genesis 22, decades later). Abraham’s offering of Isaac “completed” or vindicated the faith he had long possessed; James 2:23 even cites Genesis 15:6 as fulfilled in that act. Thus James insists that the faith which justifies is never alone but bears fruit—true to Paul’s own teaching (Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 2:8–10). Hebrews 11:8–19 celebrates Abraham’s faith, noting that he “considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19), echoing Romans 4:17–21. Revelation portrays the consummation of the inheritance Abraham was promised, the redeemed of “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9; 7:9).

Redemptive-Historical Context

Romans 4 stands at the heart of the unfolding drama of the covenant of grace, tracing the Creation–Fall–Redemption–Consummation arc through the lens of the Abrahamic covenant.

Creation. The God in whom Abraham believed is the One “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (v. 17)—the Creator who made all things from nothing (Genesis 1; Hebrews 11:3). The same creative power that spoke the world into being is the power that justifies sinners and raises the dead. Justification is, in a sense, a new creation: God speaks righteousness into the ungodly as He once spoke light into darkness (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Fall. The human condition that necessitates this gospel is the ungodliness of fallen humanity (v. 5). Since Adam, all are “under sin” (Romans 3:9), unable to justify themselves, deserving only the “wrath” the law brings (v. 15). Abraham himself came from idolatry (Joshua 24:2); he was among the ungodly whom God justified. The chapter assumes the universal guilt established in Romans 1–3 and offers the only remedy: righteousness counted by faith.

Redemption. The Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12; 15; 17) is the great forward movement of redemption after the fall. God’s promise to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed (Genesis 12:3) is the gospel “preached beforehand to Abraham” (Galatians 3:8). Romans 4 shows that this covenant was always a covenant of grace, received by faith, never a covenant of works. Its righteousness was counted, not earned; its inheritance promised, not merited. The covenant finds its fulfillment in Christ, the true Seed (Galatians 3:16), “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (v. 25). In Him the promise of worldwide blessing is realized, and the righteousness Abraham received by faith is secured for all who believe. This is the already of redemption: justification is accomplished, the risen Christ has been raised, and believing Jew and Gentile are united in one family of faith.

Consummation. Yet the inheritance awaits its fullness. Abraham was promised that he would be “heir of the world” (v. 13), and believers are “fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17), destined to inherit the renewed creation. The promise is “guaranteed to all his offspring” (v. 16), but its consummation is not yet: we are heirs now, awaiting the day when “the meek… shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5) and the redeemed from every nation possess the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1–7). The God who raised Jesus will also raise us (Romans 8:11), bringing the resurrection power that secured our justification to its final fruition in our glorification.

Thus Romans 4 holds the tension of the ages: the same God who created from nothing and justified Abraham has raised Christ and justifies us, guaranteeing an inheritance that embraces the renewed cosmos. The faith of the patriarch, the faith of the church, and the hope of glory are bound together in the one covenant of grace, fulfilled in the crucified and risen Lord.

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Systematic Theology Connection

Justification by Faith Alone (Sola Fide)

Romans 4 is the great biblical charter of justification by faith alone. Paul establishes that “to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (v. 5), and that this was true of Abraham (v. 3) and David (vv. 6–8) “apart from works.” The Westminster Confession (11.1–2) teaches that God justifies the elect “not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone,” and that “faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification.”

This passage excludes works absolutely as the ground of justification. The contrast between “wages… as his due” (v. 4) and the free gift received by faith (v. 5) shows that justification is by grace through faith, not by merit. Faith is the instrument that receives, never the ground that earns; the ground is Christ’s finished work (v. 25).

Practically, this doctrine is the foundation of Christian peace and assurance. Because our acceptance rests on Christ’s righteousness received by faith, not on our performance, we may have “peace with God” (Romans 5:1). It humbles all boasting and exalts grace. Scripture cross-references: Romans 3:21–28; Galatians 2:16; 3:6–11; Philippians 3:9; Titus 3:5–7. As the Reformers confessed, justification by faith alone is the article on which the church stands or falls.

Imputation: Righteousness Reckoned

The keyword logizomai (“counted, reckoned, imputed”), appearing eleven times, makes Romans 4 the locus classicus for the doctrine of imputation. Righteousness is “counted” to the believer (vv. 3, 5, 11, 22–24), and sin is “not counted” against him (v. 8). Imputation means crediting to one’s account something not inherently one’s own. The Westminster Larger Catechism (Q. 70–71) teaches that justification is an act of God’s free grace wherein He “imputeth the obedience and satisfaction of Christ” to believers, “received by faith alone.”

Reformed theology speaks of a double imputation: our sin imputed to Christ (“delivered up for our trespasses,” v. 25; “made him to be sin,” 2 Corinthians 5:21) and His righteousness imputed to us (“counted as righteousness,” v. 5; “that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” 2 Corinthians 5:21). The righteousness reckoned is not our own but Christ’s, an “alien righteousness” received by faith.

Practically, imputation grounds assurance in a perfect, completed righteousness outside ourselves. Our standing does not rise and fall with our spiritual performance, for it rests on Christ’s righteousness credited to us. Scripture cross-references: Romans 5:18–19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9; Jeremiah 23:6. The imputed righteousness of Christ is the believer’s only and sufficient title to heaven.

The Covenant of Grace and the Abrahamic Covenant

Romans 4 situates justification within the covenant of grace, supremely as administered to Abraham. The Westminster Confession (7.3) describes the covenant of grace wherein God “freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved.” The promise to Abraham (vv. 13, 16) is this covenant in its Old Testament administration, “guaranteed to all his offspring” who share his faith.

The Abrahamic covenant was, from the beginning, a gracious covenant received by faith, not a covenant of works. Its righteousness was counted (v. 3); its inheritance was promised (v. 13); its blessing reached the nations (v. 17). Paul shows that the covenant always aimed at a worldwide family of faith, uniting believing Jew and Gentile (vv. 11–12, 16). The Confession (7.5–6) teaches that the covenant of grace was administered differently under the law and the gospel, “yet, for all that, it is not… two covenants of grace, but one and the same, under various dispensations.”

Practically, this assures believers that they stand in an ancient and unbreakable covenant, sealed by God Himself and fulfilled in Christ. Scripture cross-references: Genesis 17:7; Galatians 3:15–18, 29; Luke 1:54–55, 72–73; Hebrews 6:13–18. The covenant of grace, promised to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ, is the unifying thread of all redemptive history.

Faith Versus Works in Justification

Romans 4 draws the sharpest possible line between faith and works as the basis of justification. “To the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due” (v. 4), whereas the believer’s “faith is counted as righteousness” (v. 5). Inheritance “depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace” (v. 16), for law and grace are mutually exclusive principles (“if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works,” Romans 11:6). The Westminster Confession (16.5) teaches that believers “cannot, by their best works, merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God,” for they fall short and are unprofitable.

This does not despise good works in their proper place. The same faith that justifies inevitably produces works (James 2:18–24; Ephesians 2:10), and the law remains good as a rule of life. But works have no place as the ground or instrument of justification; faith alone receives the gift. Paul’s “the law brings wrath” (v. 15) shows that law-keeping cannot justify but only condemns the sinner.

Practically, this frees the conscience from the impossible burden of earning salvation and directs all confidence to Christ. It guards against both legalism (trusting works) and antinomianism (despising works). Scripture cross-references: Romans 3:20, 28; 9:30–32; Galatians 2:16; 3:10–12; Ephesians 2:8–10. Justification is by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone.

Saving Faith and Its Nature

Romans 4 provides one of Scripture’s fullest portraits of saving faith. Abraham “believed God” (v. 3), “believed against hope” (v. 18), “did not weaken in faith” (v. 19), “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God” (v. 20), and was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (v. 21). The Westminster Confession (14.2) describes saving faith as believing “to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word” and “the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification.”

Saving faith here has clear marks: it takes God at His word (v. 3); it trusts God’s power against all natural impossibility (vv. 18–19); it is settled assurance, not wavering doubt (vv. 20–21); it glorifies God (v. 20); and it rests on the God who raises the dead, supremely in raising Christ (vv. 17, 24). Faith is not a meritorious work but the receiving instrument that lays hold of God’s promise and Christ’s righteousness.

Practically, this teaches us both what to believe and how to believe—trusting God’s word, His power, and His Son with settled confidence. Scripture cross-references: Hebrews 11:1, 8–19; John 6:28–29; Romans 10:9–17; Ephesians 1:19–20. True faith honors God by counting Him able and faithful to keep His word.

Promise, Election, and the Security of Grace

Romans 4:16 teaches that the promise rests “on grace” so as to “be guaranteed to all his offspring,” grounding the security of grace in God’s free promise rather than human works. This connects to the doctrines of election and perseverance: because salvation rests on grace received by faith, not on works, the promise cannot fail. The Westminster Confession (3.5–6) teaches that the elect are “redeemed by Christ… and kept by his power, through faith, unto salvation,” and (17.2) that perseverance “depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election.”

The logic of v. 16 is that only a grace-based promise can be guaranteed; a works-based inheritance would always be uncertain. Thus the certainty of the believer’s salvation flows from its resting wholly on God’s grace. The God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (v. 17) is sovereign over the fulfillment of His promise, and His power secures the inheritance.

Practically, this assures the believer that the salvation begun by grace will be completed by grace. Scripture cross-references: Romans 8:30; 11:5–6; Philippians 1:6; John 10:28–29; 2 Timothy 1:9. The promise guaranteed by grace cannot fail, for it rests on the immutable God who keeps covenant.

The Atonement: Substitution and Resurrection

Romans 4:25—”delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”—anchors the chapter in the doctrine of the atonement. Christ’s death is penal substitution: He “was delivered up for our trespasses,” bearing the penalty of sin in the place of sinners (cf. Isaiah 53:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21). His resurrection is the Father’s vindication, securing and declaring our justification. The Westminster Confession (8.5) teaches that Christ “by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself… fully satisfied the justice of his Father; and purchased… reconciliation, and an everlasting inheritance.”

The pairing of death and resurrection shows that justification rests on the whole work of Christ. The cross paid the debt; the resurrection proves the payment accepted. Without the resurrection, “you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17); with it, our justification is sealed and certain.

Practically, this grounds assurance in objective historical events—the cross and the empty tomb—rather than in subjective feelings. Scripture cross-references: Isaiah 53:4–12; Romans 3:24–26; 5:8–10; 8:32–34; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, 17, 20. The substitutionary death and vindicating resurrection of Christ are the unshakable ground of the sinner’s justification.

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Reformed Theology

Romans 4 stands at the very heart of Reformed soteriology, for it is the New Testament’s most sustained exposition of justification by faith alone through the imputed righteousness of Christ—the doctrine the Reformers called the article on which the church stands or falls. Reformed theology reads the chapter as the unfolding of the covenant of grace, in which God freely justifies the ungodly through faith in Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham. The fellowship of justified sinners with God rests not on their works but on grace, “guaranteed to all his offspring” (v. 16) who share the faith of Abraham.

The chapter resounds with the Westminster Standards. Its teaching that God justifies “not by infusing righteousness… but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous… for Christ’s sake alone” (Confession 11.1) is precisely Paul’s doctrine of righteousness “counted” apart from works (vv. 5–6). Its presentation of faith as “the alone instrument of justification” (Confession 11.2) matches Paul’s insistence that faith, not works, receives the gift. The double imputation—sin to Christ, righteousness to the believer—undergirds v. 25 and v. 5. The non-imputation of sin (v. 8) and imputation of righteousness (v. 6) together form the Catechism’s definition of justification as “pardoning all their sins, and accepting and accounting their persons righteous in his sight” (Larger Catechism Q. 70).

A central Reformed conviction shines in this chapter: the continuity of the covenant of grace across the Testaments and the unity of the people of God. Abraham is “the father of all who believe”—both believing Gentiles “without being circumcised” and believing Jews who “walk in the footsteps of the faith” (vv. 11–12). Reformed theology, against any sharp Israel/Church dichotomy, sees here one covenant family, one faith, one righteousness, embracing believing Jew and Gentile. The Gentiles are not a separate parenthesis but are grafted into the one olive tree (Romans 11:17), made fellow heirs of the promise (Ephesians 3:6). Abraham is “the father of us all” (v. 16). This unity of the covenant people, and the administration of one covenant of grace under varied dispensations (Confession 7.5–6), is foundational to Reformed and Presbyterian theology, and it grounds the practice of covenant infant baptism as the New Covenant sign corresponding to circumcision (v. 11; Colossians 2:11–12).

Reformed scholars illumine the chapter. Calvin insists that Abraham was justified by faith because faith “embraces the mercy offered,” not because believing is a meritorious work; he stresses that circumcision was a seal, not a cause, of righteousness. John Murray, in his magisterial commentary, expounds the forensic, imputational character of justification and shows that “grace and faith are correlative,” so that the promise rests on grace in order to be sure. Geerhardus Vos would set the Abrahamic promise within the organic unfolding of redemptive history, the promise of the Seed advancing toward Christ. Herman Bavinck would expound imputation as the heart of the unio and the alien righteousness of Christ received by faith. B. B. Warfield would defend the forensic nature of logizomai against all attempts to make justification a making-righteous. G. K. Beale and Thomas Schreiner trace the Abrahamic promise of worldwide inheritance (“heir of the world,” v. 13) to its consummation in the new creation. R. C. Sproul memorably summarizes that “the resurrection is God’s ‘Amen’ to Christ’s ‘It is finished’” (v. 25), grounding assurance in the risen Christ. Sinclair Ferguson would underscore that the faith which justifies is faith in the God who raises the dead, the same faith from Abraham to the present.

Typologically, the birth of Isaac from Abraham’s “dead” body and Sarah’s barren womb (v. 19) prefigures the resurrection; the God who gives life to the dead (v. 17) is the God who raised Jesus (v. 24). The whole chapter exalts the sovereign initiative of God—who justifies the ungodly, who guarantees the promise by grace, who calls into existence the things that do not exist—and thus magnifies grace from first to last, in keeping with the Reformed confession that salvation is of the Lord.

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Dispensational Theology

A Dispensational reading of Romans 4 approaches the text with a consistently literal-grammatical-historical hermeneutic, taking Paul’s words at their plain sense and affirming wholeheartedly the doctrine of justification by faith. Dispensationalists fully embrace that Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (v. 3), that God “justifies the ungodly” (v. 5), and that righteousness is reckoned apart from works through faith alone. On the doctrine of justification itself, Dispensational and Reformed theology stand in substantial agreement: salvation in this age is by grace through faith on the basis of Christ’s finished work, “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (v. 25).

Where Dispensationalism characteristically differs is in its insistence on a clear and abiding distinction between Israel and the Church as two distinct peoples within God’s program. C. I. Scofield, in his Reference Bible, and Lewis Sperry Chafer maintained that the Abrahamic covenant contains both unconditional national promises to Israel (the land, an earthly kingdom, ethnic posterity) and spiritual blessings shared by all who believe. On this reading, Romans 4 highlights the spiritual aspect—Abraham as the father of all who believe by faith (vv. 11–12, 16)—without thereby cancelling the literal, national, territorial promises made to ethnic Israel, which Dispensationalists hold await future, literal fulfillment in the millennial kingdom.

Charles Ryrie would affirm that justification by faith is the way of salvation in every age, yet stress that the inclusion of believing Gentiles as fellow children of Abraham (vv. 11–12) does not erase the distinct future of national Israel. For the Dispensationalist, the Church—the body of Christ formed at Pentecost—is a distinct entity, and the spiritual sonship of Abraham described in Romans 4 does not absorb Israel’s national promises into the Church or transfer them spiritually. The promise that Abraham would be “heir of the world” (v. 13) is read as including a literal, earthly, territorial inheritance that will be realized in the messianic kingdom, when Christ reigns from Jerusalem and Israel possesses the land in fullness.

John Walvoord would emphasize that the present Church Age is a time in which Jew and Gentile believers share equally in justification by faith, while the distinctive national program for Israel is, as it were, held in abeyance until “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25), after which “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26)—a text Dispensationalists read as the future national restoration of ethnic Israel. J. Dwight Pentecost, in his work on biblical eschatology, would relate the unfulfilled territorial dimension of the Abrahamic promise to the future millennial reign, when the literal land promises are consummated. Thus the “heir of the world” inheritance (v. 13) is understood to embrace the literal new earth and the messianic kingdom.

On the resurrection ground of justification (v. 25), Dispensationalists affirm without reservation the literal, bodily resurrection of Christ as the historical event that secures the believer’s justification, and the literal substitutionary atonement by which Christ bore our trespasses. They read the future inheritance of believers in terms of their literal eschatology—the rapture of the Church, the tribulation, the literal thousand-year reign of Christ (Revelation 20), and the eternal state in a literal new heavens and new earth.

Thus, while Dispensational theology differs from Reformed theology on the Israel/Church relationship, the structure of the dispensations, and the future of national Israel, the two traditions share the central convictions that Romans 4 proclaims: that Abraham was justified by faith apart from works, that God justifies the ungodly, that righteousness is imputed through faith alone, and that the crucified and risen Christ is the all-sufficient ground of the believer’s justification.

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