1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham,tver. 16 our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, butu[1 Cor. 1:31] not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say?vver. 9, 22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23; Cited from Gen. 15:6 (Gk.); [Titus 3:8] “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. ” 4 Noww[ch. 11:6; Deut. 9:4, 5] to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work butxch. 3:22; See John 6:29 trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 yCited from Ps. 32:1, 2 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will notz2 Cor. 5:19 count his sin. ”
9 Is this blessing then only forach. 3:30 the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?bver. 3 We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 cGen. 17:10, 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose wasdver. 12, 16; [ch. 3:22]; See Luke 19:9 to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 ForeGal. 3:16; Heb. 6:15, 17; 7:6; 11:9, 17; [ch. 9:8]; See Acts 13:32 the promise to Abraham and his offspringfGen. 17:4-6 that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 gGal. 3:17, 18 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 Forhch. 7:7, 10-25; 2 Cor. 3:7, 9; Gal. 3:10 the law brings wrath, buti[ch. 3:20] where there is no lawjGal. 3:19 there is no transgression.
16 That is why it depends on faith,kSee ch. 3:24 in order that the promise may rest on grace andlGal. 3:22; [ch. 15:8] be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham,m[ch. 9:8] who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written,nCited from Gen. 17:5; [ver. 18] “I have made you the father of many nations ” —in the presence of the God in whom he believed,o[Heb. 11:19]; See John 5:21 who gives life to the dead and calls into existencep1 Cor. 1:28; [Heb. 11:3] 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,qCited from Gen. 15:5 “So shall your offspring be. ” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which wasrHeb. 11:12 as good as dead (sGen. 17:17 since he was about a hundred years old), or when he consideredtGen. 18:11 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 thatuGen. 18:14; [Heb. 11:19] God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness. ” 23 Butvch. 15:4; 1 Cor. 9:9, 10; 10:6, 11; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; [Ps. 102:18] the words “it was counted to him ” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to uswch. 10:9; 1 Pet. 1:21 who believe inxSee Acts 2:24 him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 ych. 5:6, 8; 8:32; Isa. 53:5, 6; Matt. 20:28; Gal. 1:4 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raisedzch. 5:18; [1 Cor. 15:17] for our justification.