Parallel Bible results for "romans 4"

Romans 4

New Century Version NCV

1 So what can we say that Abraham, the father of our people, learned about faith?

2 If Abraham was made right by the things he did, he had a reason to brag. But this is not God's view,

3 because the Scripture says, "Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham's faith, and that faith made him right with God."

4 When people work, their pay is not given as a gift, but as something earned.

5 But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in him, who makes even evil people right in his sight. Then God accepts their faith, and that makes them right with him.

6 David said the same thing. He said that people are truly blessed when God, without paying attention to good deeds, makes people right with himself.

7 "Happy are they whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.

8 Happy is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty."

9 Is this blessing only for those who are circumcised or also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that God accepted Abraham's faith and that faith made him right with God.

10 So how did this happen? Did God accept Abraham before or after he was circumcised? It was before his circumcision.

11 Abraham was circumcised to show that he was right with God through faith before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all those who believe but are not circumcised; he is the father of all believers who are accepted as being right with God.

12 And Abraham is also the father of those who have been circumcised and who live following the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 Abrahamn and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. He did not receive that promise through the law, but through being right with God by his faith.

14 If people could receive what God promised by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God's promise to Abraham is worthless,

15 because the law can only bring God's anger. But if there is no law, there is nothing to disobey.

16 So people receive God's promise by having faith. This happens so the promise can be a free gift. Then all of Abraham's children can have that promise. It is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

17 As it is written in the Scriptures: "I am making you a father of many nations." This is true before God, the God Abraham believed, the God who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing.

18 There was no hope that Abraham would have children. But Abraham believed God and continued hoping, and so he became the father of many nations. As God told him, "Your descendants also will be too many to count."

19 Abraham was almost a hundred years old, much past the age for having children, and Sarah could not have children. Abraham thought about all this, but his faith in God did not become weak.

20 He never doubted that God would keep his promise, and he never stopped believing. He grew stronger in his faith and gave praise to God.

21 Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he had promised.

22 So, "God accepted Abraham's faith, and that faith made him right with God."

23 Those words ("God accepted Abraham's faith") were written not only for Abraham

24 but also for us. God will accept us also because we believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25 Jesus was given to die for our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.

New Living Translation NLT

1 Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God?

2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way.

3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned.

5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.

6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:

7 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.

8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.”

9 Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith.

10 But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!

11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.

12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.

14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.

15 For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

18 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”

19 And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.

22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.

23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded

24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.