Daily Bible Reading April 27th, 2020 Romans 4:1-25 (GNT)
God’s Life-Giving Word of Hope
Introduction
Romans 4:1-25: Using the example of Abraham, Paul describes how we are accepted as righteous by God. According to Paul, God’s promises are for all who have faith and God’s promise to Abraham was independent of the Law.Today's Scripture: Romans 4:5
Those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself.Today's Reading
The Example of Abraham
1What shall we say, then, of Abraham, the father of our race? What was his experience? 2If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about—but not in God's sight. 3 The scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” 4A person who works is paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned. 5But
those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who
declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes
into account in order to put them right with himself. 6This
is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the person whom
God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does:
7 “Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven,
whose sins are pardoned!
8Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!”
9Does
this happiness that David spoke of belong only to those who are
circumcised? No indeed! It belongs also to those who are not
circumcised. For we have quoted the scripture, “Abraham believed God,
and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” 10When did this take place? Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised? It was before, not after. 11
He was circumcised later, and his circumcision was a sign to show that
because of his faith God had accepted him as righteous before he had
been circumcised. And so Abraham is the spiritual father of all who
believe in God and are accepted as righteous by him, even though they
are not circumcised. 12He is
also the father of those who are circumcised, that is, of those who, in
addition to being circumcised, also live the same life of faith that our
father Abraham lived before he was circumcised.
God's Promise Is Received through Faith
13
When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would
belong to him, he did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but
because he believed and was accepted as righteous by God. 14 For if what God promises is to be given to those who obey the Law, then faith means nothing and God's promise is worthless. 15The Law brings down God's anger; but where there is no law, there is no disobeying of the law.
16
And so the promise was based on faith, in order that the promise should
be guaranteed as God's free gift to all of Abraham's descendants—not
just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham
did. For Abraham is the spiritual father of us all; 17
as the scripture says, “I have made you father of many nations.” So the
promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed—the God
who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did
not exist. 18 Abraham believed
and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became “the
father of many nations.” Just as the scripture says, “Your descendants
will be as many as the stars.” 19
He was then almost one hundred years old; but his faith did not weaken
when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of
the fact that Sarah could not have children. 20His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God's promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God. 21He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised. 22That is why Abraham, through faith, “was accepted as righteous by God.” 23The words “he was accepted as righteous” were not written for him alone. 24They were written also for us who are to be accepted as righteous, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from death. 25 Because of our sins he was given over to die, and he was raised to life in order to put us right with God.
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