Parallel Bible results for "romans 4"

Romans 4

Good News Translation GNT

1 What shall we say, then, of Abraham, the father of our race? What was his experience?

2 If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about - but not in God's sight.

3 The scripture says, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous."

4 A person who works is paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned.

5 But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself.

6 This is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the person whom God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does:

7 "Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven, whose sins are pardoned!

8 Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!"

9 Does this happiness that David spoke of belong only to those who are circumcised? No indeed! It belongs also to those who are not circumcised. For we have quoted the scripture, "Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous."

10 When did this take place? Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised? It was before, not after.

11 He was circumcised later, and his circumcision was a sign to show that because of his faith God had accepted him as righteous before he had been circumcised. And so Abraham is the spiritual father of all who believe in God and are accepted as righteous by him, even though they are not circumcised.

12 He is also the father of those who are circumcised, that is, of those who, in addition to being circumcised, also live the same life of faith that our father Abraham lived before he was circumcised.

13 When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him, he did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because he believed and was accepted as righteous by God.

14 For if what God promises is to be given to those who obey the Law, then faith means nothing and God's promise is worthless.

15 The Law brings down God's anger; but where there is no law, there is no disobeying of the law.

16 And so the promise was based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God's free gift to all of Abraham's descendants - not just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham did. For Abraham is the spiritual father of us all;

17 as the scripture says, "I have made you father of many nations." So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed - the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist.

18 Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became "the father of many nations." Just as the scripture says, "Your descendants will be as many as the stars."

19 He was then almost one hundred years old; but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children.

20 His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God's promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God.

21 He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised.

22 That is why Abraham, through faith, "was accepted as righteous by God."

23 The words "he was accepted as righteous" were not written for him alone.

24 They were written also for us who are to be accepted as righteous, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from death.

25 Because of our sins he was given over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God.

Revised Standard Version RSV

1 What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?

2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

3 For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."

4 Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due.

5 And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.

6 So also David pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:

7 "Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin."

9 Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.

10 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.

11 He received circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them,

12 and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants--not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all,

17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" --in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."

19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.

20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,

21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

22 That is why his faith was "reckoned to him as righteousness."

23 But the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone,

24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

25 who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.