Romans: Father Abraham...

The Faith of Abraham
The opening chapters of Romans confront us with the truth: that no matter our background—Jew or Gentile, religious or not—we all fall short of God's perfect standard. The law shows us our sin, but it cannot make us righteous. Religious heritage and external signs like circumcision, keeping the commandments, and good works cannot make us right with God. These chapters strip away all the illusions of self-righteousness, leaving only one way forward: faith. But what does faith look like? And what does it mean to be “counted” righteous in God’s eyes?

Romans 4 answers these questions by turning to the life of Abraham. Paul doesn’t offer a theory or abstract concept. He points to a person with real struggles, who walked by faith and was accepted by God not because of his works or religious status, but because he trusted in God’s promise. Abraham becomes the living, breathing example of the kind of faith that saves.

Romans 4:1–5

Abraham Believed God
When Paul brings Abraham into the conversation, it’s intentional. Abraham is the patriarch of Israel; he is the starting point of God's covenant people. Many Jewish believers in Paul’s day would have assumed God accepted Abraham because of his obedience, especially his willingness to undergo circumcision and follow God's commands. But Paul challenges that assumption. He asks what Abraham discovered about being made right with God. If Abraham had earned God's approval through his good deeds, he would have had something to boast about. But that's not what happened.

Abraham's standing before God came before any of his covenant obedience. It wasn’t about what Abraham did, but whom he trusted. Paul uses a financial metaphor here: Abraham’s faith was “credited” to him as righteousness. Think of it like this—Abraham had no righteousness of his own to offer, but God deposited righteousness into his account because of his faith. God treated Abraham as if he were righteous, not because he had earned it, but because he trusted the One who justifies the ungodly.

That same pattern applies to us. Like Abraham, we don’t bring merit to God; we bring belief. The gospel does not call us to perform but to believe in the God who calls sinners to repent and then declares these sinners righteous by grace.

Romans 4:6–12

Before Circumcision, Before the Law
Paul then turns to another important figure in Israel’s history: King David. David, though deeply flawed, found joy not in his righteousness but in the mercy and forgiveness of God. He understood what it meant to have his sins covered and his guilt wiped clean. His experience further proves Paul’s point—righteousness is not earned but credited by God’s grace to those who trust Him.

This section also settles a crucial theological question: when exactly was Abraham declared righteous? Paul points out that his declaration of righteousness happened before Abraham was circumcised. This matters deeply because circumcision was the defining mark of Jewish identity. It was the sign of the covenant between God and His people. But Abraham was already declared righteous before he was circumcised.

That means his righteousness was not dependent on any ritual or outward sign. Circumcision became a seal—a visible symbol—of the faith he already had. In that sense, Abraham becomes the father not just of the circumcised, but of all who walk in his footsteps of faith. Whether one has the external signs or not, what matters is the inward faith in God. This demolishes any idea that religious symbols or traditions can substitute for genuine faith.

Romans 4:13-17

The Promise Depends on Faith
Here, Paul shifts the focus from Abraham’s righteousness to the promise God gave to him in Genesis 12:1-3. God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that his descendants would inherit the world. But that promise wasn’t tied to law-keeping. The law wouldn’t come for centuries after Abraham’s time. So, the inheritance of God’s promise could not have depended on something that didn’t even exist yet.

Paul argues that if the promise had been based on obeying the law, then the promise would be meaningless, because none of us can perfectly keep the law. There are just over 600 laws written in the Torah (Old Testament), and keeping all those laws is impossible. So, the law doesn’t generate righteousness; it exposes our failure and brings judgment (Romans 3:20). But the promise of God doesn’t rest on performance—it rests on grace. And because it’s rooted in grace, it’s secure. It doesn’t shift with our ability to keep rules, because that would be impossible. It stands firm because it comes from God alone.

This is how Abraham became the spiritual father of all who believe, regardless of their ethnicity or background. God made a promise, and Abraham believed it. He placed his trust in the God who brings the dead to life and creates something out of nothing. That is the kind of faith that pleases God.

Romans 4:18-22

Faith in the Face of the Impossible
Now, Paul shows us what Abraham’s faith looked like on the ground, in the messiness and impossibility of real life. Abraham wasn’t a blind optimist. He faced reality squarely. He was an old man, and his wife Sarah had been barren her entire life. The odds were not just slim, they were non-existent. And yet, God had promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations.

Against all hope, Abraham kept hoping. He refused to let his circumstances define his faith. He didn’t pretend the situation wasn’t difficult. He understood the limitations of his body and Sarah’s. But he looked beyond those limitations to the One who had spoken the promise.
Abraham didn’t waver in unbelief. Instead, he had faith that God would deliver. And in choosing to trust God’s word over his reality, he brought glory to God. His faith was rooted in a deep conviction: God can do whatever He promises. That kind of faith—faith that believes in the impossible because it rests in the faithfulness of God—was what made Abraham righteous in God's sight.

Romans 4:23-25

The Faith That Saves
This final section makes it clear: Abraham’s story isn’t just ancient history—it’s a template for how we are made right with God today. The same principle that applied to Abraham applies to us. God will count us as righteous, not because of what we’ve done, but because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

The object of our faith is crucial. It’s not faith in faith. It’s not positive thinking or religious effort. It’s a belief in the God who raised Jesus from the dead. It’s trust that Jesus died to take away our sins and rose again to make us right with God. That is the content of saving faith.
This is the gospel. Righteousness is not something we achieve; it’s something we receive. The death and resurrection of Jesus are not just events to admire—they are how God justifies sinners.

Application

1. Saving Faith Is Trust in God's Power, Not Ours.
   Abraham didn’t have the strength to fulfill God’s promise, but he trusted in the God who did. Likewise, we are called to believe in the God who brings life out of death and hope out of hopelessness. Faith begins when our strength ends. God doesn’t expect us to save ourselves; we can’t! Instead, He invites us to trust Him to do what we cannot.
2. God’s Righteousness Is Credited, Not Earned.
   This truth reshapes how we live. We don’t need to strive to earn God’s approval through performance, ritual, repetition, or reputation. Like Abraham, we receive right standing with God by faith. That means we can stop trying to work our way into God’s favor and rest in the finished work of Christ. This is grace—undeserved, unearned, and completely sufficient.
3. The Gospel Is for All Who Believe.
   Abraham's righteousness came before circumcision, before the law, and before he became the father of a nation. That means no one is excluded from God's promise. The gospel is not reserved for the religious elite or those with a perfect past. It’s for all who believe—whether you’ve grown up in church or come to faith later in life. What matters is trust in the God who justifies the ungodly.

Conclusion
When God made His covenant with Abraham, He passed through the pieces of the sacrifice alone. In doing so, He declared that the promise rested solely on His faithfulness, not Abraham’s performance. And generations later, God fulfilled that promise at the cross, where Jesus gave His life to secure our righteousness once and for all.
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God kept His word then—and He will keep it still.
 

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