Abraham Justified by Faith

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has discovered?

²If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.

³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.

⁵However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

⁶And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷“Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven,whose sins are covered.

⁸Blessed is the manwhose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

⁹Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

¹⁰In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.

¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

¹²And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Abraham Receives the Promise

¹³For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

¹⁴For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,

¹⁵because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.

¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

¹⁷As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.

¹⁸Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

¹⁹Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.

²⁰Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

²¹being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

²²This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

²³Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham,

²⁴but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

²⁵He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.

The Triumph of Faith

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we havepeace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoicein the hope of the glory of God.

³Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope.

⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

Christ’s Sacrifice for the Ungodly

⁶For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

⁸But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!

¹⁰For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

¹¹Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.

¹³For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.

¹⁵But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many!

¹⁶Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification.

¹⁷For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

¹⁸So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men.

¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

²⁰The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

²¹so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Supremacy of the Son

¹On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

²But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son,whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

⁴So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs.

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say:“You are My Son;today I have become Your Father”?Or again:“I will be His Father,and He will be My Son”?

⁶And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says:“Let all God’s angels worship Him.”

⁷Now about the angels He says:“He makes His angels winds,His servants flames of fire.”

⁸But about the Son He says:“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever,and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁹You have loved righteousnessand hated wickedness;therefore God, Your God, has anointed Youabove Your companions with the oil of joy.”

¹⁰And:“In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth,and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

¹¹They will perish, but You remain;they will all wear out like a garment.

¹²You will roll them up like a robe;like a garmentthey will be changed;but You remain the same,and Your years will never end.”

¹³Yet to which of the angels did God ever say:“Sit at My right handuntil I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?

¹⁴Are not the angelsministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

The Prayer of the Afflicted

¹Hear my prayer, O LORD;let my cry for help come before You.

²Do not hide Your face from mein my day of distress.Incline Your ear to me;answer me quickly when I call.

³For my days vanish like smoke,and my bones burn like glowing embers.

⁴My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass;I even forget to eat my bread.

⁵Through my loud groaningmy skin hangs on my bones.

⁶I am like a desert owl,like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake;I am like a lone bird on a housetop.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me;they ridicule me and curse me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like breadand mixed my drink with tears

¹⁰because of Your indignation and wrath,for You have picked me up and cast me aside.

¹¹My days are like lengthening shadows,and I wither away like grass.

¹²But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;Your renown endures to all generations.

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,for it is time to show her favor—the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For Your servants delight in her stonesand take pity on her dust.

¹⁵So the nations will fear the name of the LORD,and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

¹⁶For the LORD will rebuild Zion;He has appeared in His glory.

¹⁷He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute;He will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be written for the generation to come,so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.

¹⁹For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary;the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth

²⁰to hear a prisoner’s groaning,to release those condemned to death,

²¹that they may proclaim the name of the LORD in Zionand praise Him in Jerusalem,

²²when peoples and kingdoms assembleto serve the LORD.

²³He has broken my strength on the way;He has cut short my days.

²⁴I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days!Your years go on through all generations.

²⁵In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth,and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but You remain;they will all wear out like a garment.Like clothing You will change them,and they will be passed on.

²⁷But You remain the same,and Your years will never end.

²⁸The children of Your servants will dwell securely,and their descendants will be established before You.”