Romans 4

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¹What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh? ✦ ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God. ✦ ³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ✦ ⁴Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. ✦ ⁵But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. ✦ ⁶Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works, ✦ ⁷“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. ✦ ⁸Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.” ✦ ⁹Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. ✦ ¹⁰How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. ✦ ¹¹He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. ✦ ¹²He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision. ✦ ¹³For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ✦ ¹⁴For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect. ✦ ¹⁵For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience. ✦ ¹⁶For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. ✦ ¹⁷As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. ✦ ¹⁸Besides hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.” ✦ ¹⁹Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ✦ ²⁰Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, ✦ ²¹and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. ✦ ²²Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.” ✦ ²³Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, ✦ ²⁴but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, ✦ ²⁵who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Person / place Abraham

Where this chapter connects

Rom 4 ·21 Gal 3 ·18 Rom 3 ·13 Rom 9 ·10 Gen 17 ·10 Rom 5 ·8 Rom 10 ·8 Rom 8 ·8

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoMike Winger — BibleThinkerMike Winger · Free · reformed
Free verse-by-verse studies through whole books plus careful apologetics — "learn to think biblically about everything." (Reformed-leaning, non-denominational.)

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Romans 4YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Romans 4David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Romans 4Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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