1 i f so, what shall we say about Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking— find out?

What about Abraham, our early father? What did he learn?

2 F or if Abraham was justified ( established as just by acquittal from guilt) by good works he has grounds for boasting. But not before God!

If Abraham was made right with God by what he did, he would have had something to be proud of. But he could not be proud before God.

3 F or what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed in (trusted in) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living and right standing with God).

The Holy Writings say, “Abraham put his trust in God and that made him right with God.”

4 N ow to a laborer, his wages are not counted as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation (something owed to him).

If a man works, his pay is not a gift. It is something he has earned.

5 B ut to one who, not working, trusts (believes fully) in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (the standing acceptable to God).

If a man has not worked to be saved, but has put his trust in God Who saves men from the punishment of their sins, that man is made right with God because of his trust in God.

6 T hus David congratulates the man and pronounces a blessing on him to whom God credits righteousness apart from the works he does:

David tells of this. He spoke of how happy the man is who puts his trust in God without working to be saved from the punishment of sin.

7 B lessed and happy and to be envied are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered up and completely buried.

“Those people are happy whose sinful acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

8 B lessed and happy and to be envied is the person of whose sin the Lord will take no account nor reckon it against him.

Those people are happy whose sins the Lord will not remember.”

9 I s this blessing (happiness) then meant only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.

Is this happiness given to the Jews only? Or is it given also to the people who are not Jews? We say again, “Abraham put his trust in God and that made him right with God.”

10 H ow then was it credited ? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.

When did this happen? Was it before or after Abraham went through the religious act of becoming a Jew? It was before.

11 H e received the mark of circumcision as a token or an evidence seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised— so that he was to be made the father of all who believe, though without circumcision, and who thus have righteousness (right standing with God) imputed to them and credited to their account,

He went through the religious act after he had put his trust in God. That religious act proved that his trust in God made him right with God even before he went through the religious act of becoming a Jew. In that way, it made him the early father of all those who believe. It showed that those who did not go through the religious act of becoming a Jew could be right with God.

12 A s well as the father of those circumcised persons who are not merely circumcised, but also walk in the way of that faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

He is also the early father of all those who have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew. It is not because they went through the act. It is because they put their trust in God the same as Abraham did before he went through the religious act of becoming a Jew.

13 F or the promise to Abraham or his posterity, that he should inherit the world, did not come through the Law but through the righteousness of faith.

God promised to give the world to him and to all his family after him. He did not make this promise because Abraham obeyed the Law. He promised to give the world to Abraham because he put his trust in God. This made him right with God.

14 I f it is the adherents of the Law who are to be the heirs, then faith is made futile and empty of all meaning and the promise is made void (is annulled and has no power).

If those who obey the Law are to get the world, then a person putting his trust in God means nothing. God’s promise to Abraham would be worth nothing.

15 F or the Law results in wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

God’s anger comes on a man when he does not obey the Law. But if there were no Law, then no one could break it.

16 T herefore, the promise is the outcome of faith and depends on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

So God’s promise is given to us because we put our trust in Him. We can be sure of it. It is because of His loving-favor to us. It is for all the family of Abraham. It is for those who obey the Law. It is for those who put their trust in God as Abraham did. In this way, he is the father of all Christians.

17 A s it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that as if they existed.

The Holy Writings say, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This promise is good because of Who God is. He makes the dead live again. He speaks, and something is made out of nothing.

18 h ope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So shall your descendants be.

Abraham believed he would be the father of many nations. He had no reason to hope for this, but he had been told, “Your children will become many nations.”

19 H e did not weaken in faith when he considered the impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

Abraham was about one hundred years old. His body was about dead, but his faith in God was not weak when he thought of his body. His faith was not weak when he thought of his wife Sarah being past the age of having children.

20 N o unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God,

Abraham did not doubt God’s promise. His faith in God was strong, and he gave thanks to God.

21 F ully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised.

He was sure God was able to do what He had promised.

22 T hat is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).

Abraham put his trust in God and was made right with Him.

23 B ut, It was credited to him, were written not for his sake alone,

The words, “He was made right with God,” were not for Abraham only.

24 B ut for our sakes too. will be granted and credited to us also who believe in (trust in, adhere to, and rely on) God, Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

They were for us also. God will make us right with Himself the same way He did Abraham, if we put our trust in God Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25 W ho was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our acquittal),.

Jesus died for our sins. He was raised from the dead to make us right with God.