Romans 4:1–12 — When Was Abraham Counted Righteous?
Paul has just asked an important question:
“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?”
— Romans 3:29
His answer is clear:
“Yes, of Gentiles also.”
Then Paul turns immediately to Abraham.
That is no accident.
If Paul wants to show that Jews and Gentiles are made right with the same God on the same basis, Abraham is a remarkable place to begin.
Because when God counted Abraham righteous, Abraham had not yet been circumcised.
In fact, Israel did not yet exist as a nation. The Law of Moses had not been given. The later distinction between Jew and Gentile had not yet developed.
So let's follow Paul's argument carefully.
What Does Scripture Say?
Paul begins:
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?”
— Romans 4:1
Suppose Abraham had been justified by his works.
Then Abraham would have something to boast about.
But Paul immediately rules that out:
“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”
— Romans 4:2
Then Paul asks the question that should guide every Bible student:
“For what does the Scripture say?”
— Romans 4:3
That is exactly the question we should ask.
Not, “What does my church teach?”
Not, “What have I always believed?”
Not even, “What did a respected teacher tell me?”
What does the Scripture say?
Paul quotes Genesis 15:6:
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Abraham believed God.
And God counted his faith as righteousness.
A Gift Is Not a Paycheck
Paul uses a very simple illustration:
“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”
— Romans 4:4
If you work for someone and receive your paycheck, your employer has not given you a gift.
You earned it.
He owes it to you.
But that is not how justification works.
“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
— Romans 4:5
We can never accumulate enough good deeds to put God in our debt.
Righteousness is something God gives.
And notice whom Paul says God justifies:
“the ungodly.”
God is not waiting for ungodly people to make themselves good enough to deserve salvation.
He is saving people who need saving.
David Says the Same Thing
Paul next brings in David.
He quotes Psalm 32:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
— Romans 4:7–8
David describes the blessed person as someone whose sins have been forgiven.
Paul describes that same blessing as righteousness being counted apart from works.
The sinner does not present God with a record of perfect obedience.
God forgives.
God does not count the believer's sin against him.
God counts righteousness to the person who trusts Him.
When Was Abraham Counted Righteous?
Now Paul asks the question that unlocks his argument:
“We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised?”
— Romans 4:9–10
Paul's answer could hardly be clearer:
“It was not after, but before he was circumcised.”
This is important.
Genesis 15:6 says Abraham believed God and was counted righteous.
Abraham was not circumcised until Genesis 17.
So when God counted Abraham righteous, Abraham was an uncircumcised man.
Israel did not yet exist as a nation.
There was no Law of Moses.
There was no Sinai covenant.
And the later covenant distinction between circumcised Jew and uncircumcised Gentile had not yet been established.
Paul has taken his readers back behind all of those distinctions.
Before circumcision, there was faith.
And Abraham was counted righteous.
Then Why Was Abraham Circumcised?
If Abraham had already been counted righteous, was circumcision meaningless?
No.
Paul explains:
“He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.”
— Romans 4:11
Circumcision was a sign and a seal.
It did not create Abraham's righteousness.
It came afterward.
And Paul tells us why this matters.
Abraham Can Be the Father of Both
Paul says Abraham was counted righteous while uncircumcised:
“The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well.”
— Romans 4:11
There are the Gentiles.
But Paul does not leave out the Jews.
Abraham is also:
“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.”
— Romans 4:12
Notice what Paul has done.
The uncircumcised can call Abraham their father through faith.
The circumcised can call Abraham their father when they walk in Abraham's faith.
Both meet at the same place: the faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.
That takes us directly back to Paul's question at the end of Romans 3:
“Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?”
Yes.
There is one God.
And neither Jew nor Gentile can boast before Him.
Paul Goes Behind the Jew-Gentile Distinction
This may be one of the most important things to notice in the passage.
Paul could have begun Israel's story with Moses.
He didn't.
He went back to Abraham.
And then he went back to a particular moment in Abraham's life — before circumcision.
Why?
Because Abraham's righteousness could not have depended upon being circumcised. He had already been counted righteous.
Nor could it have depended upon keeping the Law of Moses. Moses would not be born for centuries.
Paul has taken us back to a man simply trusting what God had promised.
Later there would be Israel.
Later there would be circumcision as the covenant sign.
Later there would be Sinai and the Law.
But Genesis 15:6 comes first:
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Notice How Paul Studies Scripture
There is also a Bible-study lesson here.
Paul does not merely quote Genesis 15:6.
He asks when it happened.
Genesis 15 — Abraham is counted righteous.
Genesis 17 — Abraham is circumcised.
Paul's interpretation depends upon reading those passages in their historical order.
That is careful Bible study.
Sometimes understanding Scripture requires more than noticing what a verse says.
We also need to ask:
When did this happen?
What happened before it?
What happened afterward?
Where does it fit in the biblical story?
Context includes chronology.
One Important Caution
We should not turn Paul's argument into another slogan:
“Faith versus obedience.”
Paul has not said that genuine faith refuses to obey God.
Abraham certainly obeyed God.
Paul's point is that Abraham's obedience never placed God in Abraham's debt.
Abraham did not earn righteousness.
He trusted God.
And Paul describes the circumcised who truly follow Abraham as those who “walk in the footsteps” of Abraham's faith.
So we should allow Paul to develop his meaning of faith as Romans continues rather than importing our own definition into the passage.
Read Paul Before Reading a System Into Paul
Romans 4:1–12 gives us a remarkably simple picture.
Abraham believed God.
God counted him righteous.
And God did it before Abraham was circumcised.
That matters because Paul has just told us that God is not the God of Jews only, but of Gentiles also.
Abraham stands before the later division between circumcised Jew and uncircumcised Gentile.
Then circumcision comes afterward.
So Abraham can become the father of believing Gentiles and believing Jews.
Neither group has grounds for boasting.
Neither group earns righteousness.
Both come to the one God through faith.
And Paul is not finished with Abraham.
In Romans 4:13–25, he will take us further into God's promise to Abraham and show why that promise could never depend upon the Law.
Before You Leave
Read Romans 4:1–12 for yourself.
Then ask:
Why does Paul deliberately emphasize that Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised?
And then connect that question with the one Paul asked just a few verses earlier:
“Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?”
Perhaps Paul's choice of Abraham is already giving us the answer.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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