Faith Accounted for Righteousness – Romans 4:1-8
Bethel Baptist Church – David Rising
Romans 4:1-8; July 26, 2026 Sunday AM
Faith Accounted for Righteousness
Paul was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and he had a mission to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. This was a message centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
This message about Jesus was also a message with faith as the critical response.
As the book of Romans begins, Paul states that through Jesus he received grace and the role of apostle for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name (5).
Paul knew that some would respond positively to the gospel message, and response is characterized as obedience to the faith.
In Romans 1:8 Paul thanks God because the faith of these Romans was spoken about throughout the whole world.
In Romans 1:11-12 he speaks about longing to see them so that he and they might be encouraged by each other’s faith. In the key verses of the book, Romans 1:16-17, Paul speaks about God’s righteousness being revealed from faith to faith, and he makes the key point: the just shall live by faith.
Faith is an important subject that Paul discusses in this book, and it is an important concept for our Christian life.
Those who reject Jesus and His sacrifice don’t believe. They don’t have faith.
In the verses we have recently been examining in Romans 3 we have seen that all human beings are sinners. As a result, we stand guilty before God, and no amount of good works we can do will make this right.
Our relationship with God is not rectified by something we might do. What we need is God’s perfect righteousness, and Paul says that the only way we can obtain this is through faith.
Romans 3:22 (NKJV) 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference
Our relationship with God is made right through justification – i.e., God declaring the sinner righteous on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Why can He do this?
Because the death of Jesus paid the price and because of His redemption God justifies the sinner. Because God justifies the sinner on the basis of the work of Christ, there is no room for boasting. We did nothing. We are justified, as 3:28 says, by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Paul has made it clear that faith is the key.
And so having said all these things, now Paul brings up a giant in his discussion: Abraham.
What about him? Was this true for him? We shall probe this in our study this morning. Pray.
1. Abraham was justified by faith alone (4:1-3)
4:1 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.
Paul anticipates a question about faith and then brings up Abraham.
What about Abraham? Were things different for him, or is he an example of what Paul is talking about?
The context of Romans 4 is justification by faith, and Paul is here showing us justification by faith is not a new concept.
Paul the Jew refers to Abraham as ‘our father.’ This reminds us that so many of Paul’s readers were Jewish.
Paul says in verse 2 that if Abraham was able to be justified before God by his works, then he surely would have something to boast about. Paul could have said that about anyone, but Abraham was unique in the history of the Jews. He was the main man before Moses came along.
Paul reasons in verse 2 that even if Abraham could have been justified by works and then have a story to boast about, still that boast would have no audience before God.
In other words, Paul is saying again that justification by works is not possible.
It reminds me a little of the funny story of the pastor who called the chairman of the deacons on Sunday morning, claiming he was sick and needed coverage. He was not sick, however, and instead of preaching he went golfing. And while he was golfing, on one of his holes he shot a hole in one. That surely would be something to boast about … but not before the deacons or his church.
That’s an imperfect illustration, but Paul’s point is clear: Abraham could not be justified before God by works.
And neither can we.
Now, if you are a well-rounded student of the bible, you are thinking – but what about James 2:21 –
‘was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?’
On first read, James seems to contradict what Paul says here.
Indeed, some theologians over the years look at this and say that we can’t take both these things to be true. Someone has to be wrong, or something has to be redefined.
We’ve actually already discussed this in our study of Romans 2, but we’ll say more about it as we move along. There are two legitimate meanings for ‘justification’ and that is how I resolve the apparent conflict.
Notice now in verse 3 Paul will explain how verse 2 is true:
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Paul’s opening comment here is a good reminder of how we should make our points: what does the Scripture say!
Every time I teach or preach, it is my goal to open the Word and understand what it means because I believe it is God’s Word and it is true.
Here in verse 3 Paul answers his question from verse 1. He does so by citing an important verse in Genesis 15.
Turn with me to Genesis 12 and let’s briefly set the stage so we can understand why Paul is referring way back to the first book of the bible.
In Genesis 12 God made an important promise to Abraham.
Genesis 12:1–3 (NKJV) 12 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Within that promise is the implicit reality that he would have to have a child to carry forth God’s promise.
Abram does obey and he leaves his home, travels north through Haran, and eventually comes down into Canaan – to Shechem in particular. God appears to him again (15:7) and says to his descendants He would give this land.
Abram and Sarai move to Bethel but the famine forced them to go to Egypt for help. They eventually return to the same place and after rescuing Lot from his troubles, God affirms again to Abraham His promise.
Notice now Genesis 15:
Genesis 15:1-5 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
The LORD said that from Abram’s own body would come descendants that would fulfill His promise. He would have a child, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc, and God would multiply and him into a great nation.
Notice how in verse 6 Abraham responded to the word of the LORD:
Genesis 15:6: And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Abraham believed. He had faith in what the LORD said.
Things get a little confusing in the next chapter as they seek to fulfill this promise through Hagar, but that does not take away from the faith Abraham is described to have in verse 6.
I don’t think Abraham and Sarah doubted that God would give them a son. I think their wobbling came as they considered how God would accomplish that promise.
And so from verse 6 we see that Abraham believed the LORD, and what did God do? Genesis says, NKJV, the LORD ‘accounted it to him for righteousness.’
Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 as he makes his point in Romans 4.
You can turn back to Romans 4:3.
What does it mean for God to ‘account’ something?
That word reminds us of the bank and the accounts we might have there which may or may not have anything inside.
The OT term (וַיַּחְשְׁבֶ֥הָ from חָשַׁב) means to credit, reckon, impute something.
The NT word is very similar (ἐλογίσθη < λογίζομαι to reckon, calculate, take into account (active), here passive: evaluate, estimate, look upon as, consider).
The word that probably makes the most sense to us is ‘credit.’ When we deposit money into our account, we see the balance go up. We make the deposit. We did it.
But what Paul describes here is what God did, not Abraham.
When you return those things to Home Depot that you didn’t need, they give back your money and they credit your card or give you a card with credit on it.
For Abraham it was not money, but righteousness. Remember from chapter 3, righteousness is what we all lacked. Our unrighteousness kept us separate from God.
The only way any of us can be right with God is for God to put His righteousness on our account.
What I am describing here is the doctrine of justification: to be declared righteous. We weren’t righteous, but are declared to be righteous through faith because of what Christ has done.
And so Paul’s point in Romans 4:1-3 is that Abraham was justified by faith, not by works.
It is interesting to see that the end of Genesis 15 also makes this point because it shows God alone confirming his covenant with Abram. The killing of the 3-year-old heifer with God passing through them was a dramatic illustration to Abraham that God would keep His promise. Abraham did nothing but observe what God said and did. In fact, he fell into a deep sleep.
Because of what God did, Abraham enjoyed a right standing before God.
Was Abraham perfect in his actions from that time forward? Of course not. Neither are we. But he acted in faith.
And so the first point: Abraham was justified by faith alone.
Notice the second point for today:
2. We are justified by faith alone (4:4-8)
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
Paul uses an illustration here to explain what he is talking about. His illustration is basic. If you work for something, your paycheck is not considered grace. Grace is something we receive for which we did not work. Grace is undeserved. Grace is unearned.
A paycheck is the reward for the work you did. Work brings expected wages.
Grace and faith work differently.
Now in verse 5 Paul shows a contrast:
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
Those who do not seek to be justified by works, but rather by faith, will be justified.
How does that happen? We simply believe the gospel message and God accounts faith for righteousness. God puts to our account His righteousness.
The gospel is this:
(1) we are born sinners and our sin separates us from God. This separation will ultimately bring about judgment which will result in an eternity lost forever in the lake of Fire, apart from God. This is the second death.
(2) There is no amount of work that we could ever do to be clean, accepted by God, and ready to enter into eternity with God forever in heaven. There is nothing we can do. There is no list of works we can do to get there.
(3) Christ paid for our sins upon the cross by His cruel death. His blood shed satisfied the righteous wrath of God against our sin, and
(4) by faith alone we are justified, just as Paul teaches us in verse 5.
The message of verse 5 is a great summary of what Paul has been saying to this point. In fact, it is a great verse to memorize as you think about the relationship between faith and works.
Justification by faith was true for Abraham, and it is also true for us.
No longer do we stand as an enemy of God awaiting His judgment. By simple faith in Christ, receiving what He has provided, we are cleansed and made whole..
Notice in verses 6-8 that Paul illustrates this same point:
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.”
In these verses Paul draws on another OT passage and explains his point.
David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was a sinful man. He was anything but the perfect example of righteousness as his life was filled with problems, especially following his adulterous rendezvous with Bathsheba and beyond. Because of his sin, David was confronted by the prophet Nathan. David recognized his sin we can see his confession in Psalm 51.
David knew He was in big trouble and that if God took his life, God would be justified in doing so.
Instead, God spared his life, but did face some ugly turmoil in his life because of that sin.
In Psalm 32, which we see quoted here, we learn that there is a great blessing when we know our sins are covered.
0Notice in verse 6 and 8 this term “impute.” What does it mean to impute?
This word is related to the word “accounted” that we saw in verse 3.
God credited to David His righteousness and spared his life. David did not work to pay off his debt to God. It would have been impossible. He threw himself at God’s mercy and God was gracious and forgave him.
David explains what this blessing means in verses 7-8: lawless deeds forgiven, sins covered. The blessing (8) is that God does not impute sin to his account. There is no lean put upon David’s account. Rather, God imputes His righteousness.
This is tremendous teaching and one that goes through the whole bible. Yes, things are different in the NT, but the point is the same: God forgives sinners.
In the OT, he looked past the sins of those who had committed them, being temporarily satisfied with animal sacrifices. This all anticipated the coming of the one perfect sacrifice, the sinless Lamb of God who came to take away sins.
This is very important teaching for us to understand. We could certainly probe this much more, but let us ponder these verses and rest in the Lord.
Application:
1. Remember that even with our best efforts we can never earn a righteous standing before God. I realize you keep hearing me say this point several different ways, but I think the text is calling for us to ponder this.
Some of our friends may be “religious” and are very active doing many good things – helping people in need, providing food for the hungry, visiting the homeless, serving in the church. We commend that kind of active service.
But Paul would remind us from the opening verses of our study today that if any of that work is being done with the hope of gaining God’s righteous approval, that work is misguided.
Instead, let us be vigilant to believe and to proclaim the true gospel message that …
2. Justification is by faith alone and not by works.
Romans 4:5 (NKJV) 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
Some who are highly driven and work very hard each day might be a little bit offended by verse 5 because it can seem like laziness.
But Paul is not promoting laziness. Rather, he is promoting faith in God as the only means by which we can be justified.
As the book progresses, Paul will promote works that we should do as a result of our new standing before God. Christianity rightly practiced is NOT lazy. We should be busy serving the Lord as He equips us, but that service rests in the finished work that Christ accomplished for us.
Paul raised Abraham as an example in this chapter, and next time we’ll see him speak more about this man of faith and how he is an example not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles.