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Romans 4:1-25 - Abraham, Promise, and Trusting Faith

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Romans 3 has already stopped every mouth. Boasting is excluded. Jews and Gentiles stand under one mercy. Then Paul names the father who could most easily become a religious badge. “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?” The question is not whether Abraham obeyed. Genesis is full of his going, his altar, his circumcision, his offering. The question is whether any of that made God his debtor.

If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. Scripture answers from Genesis 15:6: Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Romans 4 then spends twenty-five verses showing what that accounting is. It is not a wage God owes. It is not a cold fiction laid over an unchanged life. It is living trust in the God who forgives the ungodly, keeps His promise by grace, gives life to the dead, and raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Abraham, David, and Blessedness Apart from Boasting (Romans 4:1-8)

1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Paul begins with Abraham because Abraham is the father of the promise. If anyone could be used as a religious credential, it would be him. Paul asks what Abraham found “according to the flesh,” and immediately closes the door to boasting before God. The answer is not Abraham’s résumé. “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

This does not empty Abraham’s life of obedience. It means his standing before God was not a wage owed to religious achievement. Paul contrasts wages and grace. A worker can speak of debt; the believer receives mercy. God justifies the ungodly, not by pretending sin is harmless, but by forgiving, covering, and creating a people who live by gift. Paul’s contrast of wage and debt refuses the boast that would make God a debtor; the faith of this chapter is strengthened while giving glory to God, not a permission slip for moral indifference.

David’s psalm deepens the same grace. Blessedness is more than a cleared record. Lawless deeds are forgiven, sins are covered, and the Lord does not impute sin. Paul joins Abraham’s faith to David’s forgiven blessedness so that righteousness cannot shrink into an argument about status. Grace removes shame and restores communion. David’s blessing belongs with Psalm 32:1-2 (LXX Psalm 31:1-2), where forgiven blessedness is joined to confession rather than concealment, and the chapter itself closes with Christ delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification.

The person who treats “does not work but believes” as a license to hide sin has not yet heard David. The psalm Paul quotes is the song of a man who stopped covering his iniquity and found covering from God. Confession is not a wage paid to earn mercy. It is the honest opening of the heart to the God who already justifies the ungodly.

Language insight

Romans 4 repeats accounting language: “accounted,” “counted,” “imputes.” The Greek verb behind Romans 4:3 is λογίζομαι, here in the form ἐλογίσθη: to reckon, count, or account something. The passive wording keeps God as giver and judge. Righteousness is received from His gracious verdict, not seized as a wage. That accounting is not a cold fiction. The same chapter moves toward forgiveness, promise, life from the dead, and Christ’s Resurrection.1

Gems from the Fathers 💎: Faith that glorifies the Giver

St John Chrysostom reads Abraham as a man rich in deeds, yet still shown righteous by faith, so that faith’s power, not human boasting, is displayed. On David he hears more than legal relief. Forgiveness restores the ashamed. “For where blessedness is, there all shame is removed, and there is much glory…”2 The Church does not teach a thin acquittal. She teaches the blessedness of a sinner whose shame has been taken away by grace.

Sign and Seal After Faith (Romans 4:9-12)

9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

Paul next asks when Abraham was counted righteous. The timing is the argument. Genesis 15’s faith precedes Genesis 17’s circumcision. Righteousness was accounted “not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.” This is not contempt for circumcision. Paul calls it a sign and a seal. He is placing it in its true order. The sign served the promise God had already given and confirmed the righteousness of faith Abraham already had.

Circumcision is honored here as a positive covenant sign and seal, not a possession by which anyone places God in his debt, and it is not transferred wholesale to the Church’s mysteries. The Church’s Baptism, Chrismation, and Eucharist are Christ’s own gifts. They must not be treated as empty decorations, and they must not be treated as claims that put God under obligation. Faith, repentance, and life in Christ belong with the gifts He gives.

This order opens Abraham’s fatherhood to the nations without creating a new boastful party. Abraham is father of uncircumcised believers because righteousness was accounted to him before circumcision. He is also father of circumcision to those who do not merely possess the mark, but walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith. Paul includes faithful circumcised persons in Abraham’s fatherhood and confronts boasting on every side, so the chronology must never become contempt for Jews. No one owns Abraham apart from the faith that trusts God.

Language insight

In Romans 4:11, Paul calls circumcision a “sign” and a “seal.” The Greek words are σημεῖον for sign and σφραγίς for seal. A sign points to a reality; a seal confirms and marks what is given. Covenant signs are not empty, and they are not magic apart from faith. Paul gives circumcision a positive role, and he refuses to let the sign replace the God who gives righteousness by grace.3

Gems from the Fathers 💎: Sign, Seal, and the Reality of Faith

Chrysostom will not let anyone boast in the mark while emptying it of faith, and he will not let anyone despise the mark God gave. “For this is then a sign, when the reality of which it is the sign is found with thee, that is, faith…”4 The sign is true when the reality is present. That is why the Church honors holy signs and still asks whether the heart is walking in Abraham’s steps.

Promise, Grace, and the Father of Many Nations (Romans 4:13-17)

13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations” ) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

The promise to Abraham is larger than a boundary marker. Paul says Abraham would be heir of the world, not through the Law as a possession that could make God a debtor, but through the righteousness of faith. If inheritance rests on Law in that way, faith is made void and the promise is made powerless. The Law brings wrath because it names transgression. Grace does not make sin vague; it makes the promise sure.

“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed.” Sure, because it rests on God. The heirs are not only those who are of the Law, but also those who are of Abraham’s faith. Abraham is “the father of us all,” as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” The nations are not gathered by human superiority or a new spiritual arrogance. They are gathered by the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they did.

That last clause already looks toward Sarah’s womb and toward the Resurrection. The God Abraham believed is the God who creates what fallen humanity cannot produce. Promise is not a human forecast. It is the speech of the life-giving God.

Hope Against Hope and Resurrection Faith (Romans 4:18-25)

18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Abraham’s faith is not vague optimism. He believed “contrary to hope, in hope.” He did not ignore the deadness before him: his own aged body and Sarah’s womb. Faith does not deny the obstacle. It gives glory to God in front of the obstacle, because God’s promise is stronger than what the body and history can produce on their own.

Abrahamic faith names the real deadness of body and womb and entrusts it to God; it does not guarantee a desired temporal outcome in infertility, illness, grief, or aging. A couple waiting for a child, a parishioner facing a grave diagnosis, a family burying someone they love, an older believer watching strength recede: none of these is commanded to pretend the wound is already gone. Abraham “did not consider” his deadness as a verdict against God. He considered God able to perform what He had promised. The Church may pray with him, and she may also weep. The promised Seed has come in Christ; every lesser hope is held before that same God without being turned into a bargain.

“He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.” Faith here is not a thin opinion. It is trust that glorifies God and clings to His word. Therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness. Then Paul will not let the chapter remain an Abraham story. “It was not written for his sake alone… but also for us.” Abraham believed the God who gives life to the dead; Christians believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. The last verse gathers the whole chapter into Christ: He was delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification.

Language insight

Romans 4:20 says Abraham was strengthened in faith. The chapter’s last verbs then keep divine action first: God raised Jesus; Christ was delivered up and was raised. Faith is not a self-help resolve. It is trust in the God who acted in the death and Resurrection of Jesus our Lord.5

Gems from the Fathers 💎: Hope in the God Who Raises

Chrysostom will not let anyone hear “believes” as laziness. Hope against hope faces real obstacles, and believing requires strength. “For since this discourse was about them that work and them that believe, he shows that the believer works more than the other, and requires more power, and great strength…”6 Abraham’s faith is labor before God, not a substitute for it. That is why Paul can place us close to Abraham: we believe in the same God who raised Jesus from the dead.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

The Coptic lectionary repeatedly hears substantial portions of Romans 4 in Great Lent, Kiak/Christmas Fast, and smaller Holy Fifty readings, joining repentance, forgiven blessedness, promise by grace, and the coming and risen Christ. Abraham’s trust and David’s blessing are heard in the fast that prepares the heart, and promise by grace is heard in the fast that prepares the Church to receive the Nativity of Christ. The chapter’s close then belongs with Paschal faith: the God who gives life to the dead has raised Jesus our Lord.

No named saint, feast, or independent commemoration is evidenced here. A direct published-Coptic-lectionary bibliographic citation requires verification if needed for publication. Romans 4:1-25 is not one exact appointed Coptic reading. The large Kiak range is Romans 4:4-24; it does not include 4:1-3 or 4:25.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

Put down the wage-heart. If Abraham cannot boast before God, neither can fasting, service, ancestry, or correct opinions. The recognizable condition is the quiet ledger we keep: “God owes me because I have done…” Receive righteousness as grace. Keep working, but work as a child who has been given life, not as a laborer collecting a debt from God.

Seek the blessedness of the uncovered sinner. David’s words are for the person who has learned to conceal rather than confess. Do not treat forgiveness as paperwork or as permission to leave sin unnamed. Bring the lawless deed to confession. Ask the Lord to cover what you have been covering yourself. The fruit is a heart that can pray without posing.

Honor holy signs, and walk in the faith they seal. Baptism, the Cross marked on the body, the Chalice: these are not trophies. They call for the reality they signify. If the sign is present and the steps of Abraham’s faith are absent, the sign is being used as a boast. Return to repentance, prayer, and obedience without despising the gift.

Name deadness without despair, and without bargaining. Some hearts collapse before an impossible circumstance and stop praying. Others try to force a miracle by louder faith. Abraham stands between those two. Tell God the truth about the barren place. Give Him glory for being able to perform His promise. Leave the outcome in the hands of the God who raised Jesus.

Believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord. Do not end this chapter admiring Abraham. The words were written for us. The faith that is accounted for righteousness is trust in the Father who delivered up His Son because of our offenses and raised Him because of our justification. Let that be the prayer at the close of the study: “I believe in Him who raised Jesus. Account me righteous. Raise what is dead in me.”

Footnotes

  1. The accounting verb in Romans 4:3 is ἐλογίσθη from λογίζομαι; see λογίζομαι. ↩

  2. St John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, Homily VIII, on Romans 4:6-8, NPNF1 11, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf111.vii.x.html#vii.x-p26 ↩

  3. Romans 4:11 uses σημεῖον and σφραγίς; see σημεῖον and σφραγίς. ↩

  4. St John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, Homily VIII, on Romans 4:9-12, NPNF1 11, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf111.vii.x.html#vii.x-p29 ↩

  5. Romans 4:24-25 uses ἐγείραντα, παρεδόθη, and ἠγέρθη; see ἐγείρω and παραδίδωμι. ↩

  6. St John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, Homily VIII, on Romans 4:18-21, NPNF1 11, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf111.vii.x.html#vii.x-p50 ; see also Homily IX on Romans 4:23-25, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf111.vii.xi.html#vii.xi-p4 ↩

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