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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Romans 4 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/romans/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcc/romans/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NRSVCE</a> > Romans 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../romans/3.htm" title="Romans 3">◄</a> Romans 4 <a href="../romans/5.htm" title="Romans 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><div class="text-html"> <h3><span id="en" class="text">The Example of Abraham</span></h3><p class="chapter-1"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">1</span>What then are we to say was gained by<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-32281a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote a">a</a>]</span> Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">2</span>For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">3</span>For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">4</span>Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">5</span>But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">6</span>So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:</span></p> <div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">7</span>“Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks">    </span><span class="text">and whose sins are covered;</span></span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">8</span>blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.”</span></p></div> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">9</span>Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">10</span>How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">11</span>He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">12</span>and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.</span></p> <h3><span id="en" class="text">God’s Promise Realized through Faith</span></h3><p><span class="text"><span class="versenum">13</span>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 of faith. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">14</span>If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">15</span>For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">16</span>For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">17</span>as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">18</span>Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">19</span>He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-32299b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote b">b</a>]</span> as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">20</span>No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">21</span>being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">22</span>Therefore his faith<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-32302c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote c">c</a>]</span> “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">23</span>Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">24</span>but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">25</span>who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.</span></p> <A name="fen"></a><div class="footnotes"><h4>Footnotes</h4><ol><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Romans 4:1">Romans 4:1</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Other ancient authorities read <i>say about</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Romans 4:19">Romans 4:19</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Other ancient authorities lack <i>already</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Romans 4:22">Romans 4:22</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk <i>Therefore it</i></span></li></ol></div> </div></div></div></div></div> </div> </div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 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