Dual Panel1NOW how does all this affect the position of our human ancestor Abraham?
2Well, if justification were by achievement he could quite fairly be proud of what he achievedbut not, I am sure, proud before God.
3For what does the scripture say about him? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness,
4Now if a man [works] his wages are not counted as a gift but as a fair reward.
5But if a man, irrespective of his work, has faith in him who justifies the sinful, then that man's [faith] is counted as righteousness.
6This is the happy state of the man whom God accounts righteous, apart from his achievements, as David expresses it:
7Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin.
9Now the question arises: is this happiness for the circumcised only, or for the uncircumcised as well? Note this carefully. We began by saying that Abraham's faith was counted unto him for righteousness.
10When this happened, was he a circumcised man? He was not; he was still uncircumcised.
11It was [afterwards] that the sign of circumcision was given to him, as a seal upon that righteousness which God was accounting to him [as yet an uncircumcised man!] God's purpose here was that Abraham might be the spiritual father of all who that time, despite their uncircumcision, show the faith that is counted as righteousness,
12and that he might be the circumcised father of all those who are not only circumcised, but are living by the same sort of faith which he himself had before he was circumcised.
13The ancient promise made to Abraham and his descendants, that they should eventually possess the world, was given not because of any achievements made through obedience to the Law, but because of the righteousness which had its root in faith.
14For if, after all, they who pin their faith to keeping the Law were to inherit God's world, it would make faith meaningless and destroy the whole point of the promise.
15For the Law can produce no promise, only the threat of wrath to come. And, indeed, if there were no Law the question of sin would not arise.
16The whole thing, then, is a matter of faith on man's part and generosity on God's. He gives the security of his own promise to all men who can be called "children of Abraham", i. e. both those who have lived in faith by the Law, and those who have exhibited a faith like that of Abraham. To whichever group we belong, Abraham is in a real sense our father,
17as the scripture says: A father of many nations have I made thee. This promise was valid because of his faith in God himself, who can make the dead live, and summon those who are in existence as though they were not yet born.
18Abraham, when hope was dead within him, went on hoping in faith, believing that he would become "the father of many nations". He relied on the word of God which definitely referred to "thy seed".
19With undaunted faith he looked at the factshis own impotence (he was practically a hundred years old at the time) and his wife Sarah's apparent barrenness.
20Yet he refused to allow any distrust of a definite pronouncement of God to make him waver. He drew strength from his faith, and, while giving the glory to God,
21remained absolutely convinced that God was able to implement his own promise.
22This was the "faith" which was counted unto him for righteousness.
23Now this counting of faith for righteousness was not recorded simply for Abraham's credit,
24but as a divine principle which should apply to us as well. Faith is to be reckoned as righteousness to us also, who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
25who was delivered to death for our sins and raised again to secure our justification.