Romans 4:4-14

⁴Whoever works gets paid—it's not considered as a gift, but because they've earned their wages.

⁵But God, who makes sinners right, considers them as right not because they've worked for it but because they trust in him. This is why

⁶David speaks of the happiness of those whom God considers as right, and not because they worked for it:

⁷“How happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

⁸How happy are those the Lord does not consider sinful.”

⁹Now is this blessing just for the Jews, or is it for others too? We've just stated that Abraham was accepted as good and right because he trusted God.

¹⁰But when did this happen? When Abraham was a Jew or before?

¹¹It was actually before he became a Jew by being circumcised, which was a confirmation of his trust in God to make him right. This happened before he was circumcised, so he is the father of everyone who trusts in God and are considered as right by God, even though they may not be circumcised Jews.

¹²He is also the father of circumcised Jews not merely because they're circumcised, but because they follow the example of the trust in God our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

¹³God's promise to Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him was not based on his keeping of the law, but because he was made right through his trust in God.

¹⁴For if the promised inheritance is based on keeping the law, then the issue of trusting God is not necessary, and the promise is pointless.