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

¹³ For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who were given the Law are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ for the Law produces wrath. Now where there is no Law, neither can there be any violation of it.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise is based on faith, so that it may be a matter of grace and may be guaranteed for all of Abraham's descendants not only for those who were given the Law, but also for those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations." Abraham acted in faith when he stood in the presence of God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don't yet exist. ¹⁸ Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," just as he had been told: "This is how many descendants you will have." ¹⁹ His faith did not weaken when he thought about his own body (which was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah's inability to have children, ²⁰ nor did he doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, his faith became stronger and he gave glory to God, ²¹ being absolutely convinced that God would do what he had promised. ²² This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." ²³ Now the words "it was credited to him" were written not only for him ²⁴ but also for us. Our faith will be regarded in the same way, if we believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was sentenced to death because of our sins and raised to life to justify us.