Romans 4:1-12
What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to
the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to
boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say?
"Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Now
to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.
But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such
faith is reckoned as righteousness. So also David speaks of the
blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:
"Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin."
Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on
the uncircumcised? We say, "Faith was reckoned to Abraham as
righteousness." How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after
he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.
He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that
he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make
him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus
have righteousness reckoned to them, and likewise the ancestor of the
circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example
of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.
