Rom 4 | ESV | STEP | What then shall we say was gained by Abraham , our forefather according to the flesh ?

1 What then shall we say was gained by ^{▼▼Some manuscripts say about} Abraham, ^bour forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but ^cnot before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? ^d“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now ^eto the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but ^fbelieves in ^{▼▼Or but trusts; compare verse 24} him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 ^h“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not ⁱcount his sin.”
9 Is this blessing then only for ^jthe circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? ^kFor we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 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. 11 ^lHe received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was ^mto make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 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.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For ⁿthe promise to Abraham and his offspring ^othat he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 ^pFor if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For ^qthe law brings wrath, but ^rwhere there is no law ^sthere is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, ^tin order that the promise may rest on grace and ^ube guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^vwho is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, ^w“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^xwho gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^ythe things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^z“So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ^aaas good as dead ( ^absince he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered ^acthe barrenness ^{▼▼Greek deadness} of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that ^aeGod was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But ^afthe words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us ^agwho believe in ^ahhim who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 ^aiwho was delivered up for our trespasses and raised ^ajfor our justification.