Romans 4:13-25 - The Promise To Abraham Secured Through Faith

¹³ For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the Law who are to possess it, faith is nullified and the promise amounts to nothing! ¹⁵ For the Law only brings down God's wrath; where there is no law, there is no violation of it.

¹⁶ That is why it all turns upon faith; it is to make it a matter of God's favor, so that the promise may hold good for all Abraham's descendants, not only those who are adherents of the Law, but also those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us; ¹⁷ as the Scripture says, "I have made you the father of many nations." The promise is guaranteed in the very sight of God in whom he had faith, who can bring the dead to life and call into being what does not exist. ¹⁸ Abraham, hoping against hope, had faith, and so became the father of many nations, in fulfilment of the Scripture, "So countless shall your descendants be." ¹⁹ His faith did not weaken, although he realized that his own body was worn out, for he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah was past bearing children. ²⁰ He did not incredulously question God's promise, but his faith gave him power and he praised God ²¹ in the full assurance that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That was why it was credited to him as uprightness. ²³ It was not on his account alone that these words, "it was credited to him," were written, ²⁴ but also on ours, for it is to be credited also to us who have faith in him who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, ²⁵ who was given up to death to make up for our offenses, and raised to life to make us upright.