Romans:4

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* WHAT then shall we say that Abraham , our forefather according to the flesh , experienced ? * For if Abraham was pronounced righteous because of works , he had something to boast of . But he had nothing before God ; * for what says the Scripture ? "Abraham believed God , and it was credited to him for righteousness ." * To him who works , wages are credited not as by grace , but as due ; * but to him who does not work , but believes in him who calls the unrighteous man righteous , his faith is credited for righteousness . * Just so David speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works , * "Blessed are they whose lawless acts have been forgiven , and whose sins have been covered over . * Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not charge up to him ." * Does this blessedness come to the circumcision , or also to the uncircumcision ? For we say , "Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness ." * How was it credited , when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision ? Not in circumcision , but in uncircumcision . * And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of faith that he had in uncircumcision , so that he should be the father of all who believe while uncircumcised , and righteousness should be credited to them ; * and the father of the circumcised , that is , of those who are not only circumcised , but who walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while uncircumcised . * It was not through the Law that the promise came to Abraham or to his descendants that he should be the heir of the world , but through the righteousness of faith . * For if those who are of the Law are heirs , faith is emptied of value and the promise is nullified . * For the Law works wrath . But where there is no law , neither is there lawbreaking . * Therefore all depends on faith , that it may be of grace , and thus the promise be sure for all his descendants , not only those who are of the Law , but also those who are of the faith of Abraham , who is the father of all of us * * Abraham , when hope was past , believed in hope so that he became the father of many nations , according to what was said to him , "So shall your descendants be "; * and without being weakened in faith he recognized his own body as dead , when he was about a hundred years old , and the deadness of Sarah 's womb . * Still he did not hesitate through want of faith in the promise of God , but was strong in faith , thus giving glory to God , * and was fully confident that what God had promised he was able to perform . * Therefore it was credited to him for righteousness . * It was not written for his sake only , that it was credited to him , * but also for our sake , to whom it will be credited if we believe in him who raised up from the dead Jesus our Lord , * who was delivered up on account of our sins and was raised again that we might be accounted righteous .

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