ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Romans 4.5

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

3. For what saith the scripture? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. 4. Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt.

5. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.

  1. Even as David also pronounceth blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works, 7. saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. (Romans 4:3-7, ASV)
WEB

3. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4. Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed.

5. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

  1. Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works, 7. “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. (Romans 4:3-7, WEB)
KJV

3. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

5. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

  1. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7. Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. (Romans 4:3-7, KJV)
YLT

3. for what doth the writing say? 'And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him, to righteousness;' 4. and to him who is working, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt;

5. and to him who is not working, and is believing upon Him who is declaring righteous the impious, his faith is reckoned, to righteousness:

  1. even as David also doth speak of the happiness of the man to whom God doth reckon righteousness apart from works: 7. 'Happy they whose lawless acts were forgiven, and whose sins were covered; (Romans 4:3-7, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle
  • Audience: the mixed Jewish and Gentile house churches at Rome, a congregation Paul had neither founded nor yet visited
  • Location: composed at Corinth, addressed to Rome
  • Time period: c. AD 57

Theological reading

To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness. It is the sharpest sentence Paul ever wrote on justification, and its scandal is deliberate.

Under the law, justifying the wicked is precisely what a judge must not do. Proverbs 17:15 calls it an abomination, and Exodus 23:7 has God saying he will not justify the wicked. Paul takes the forbidden formula and applies it to God's own action, which is intelligible only because chapter 3 has just explained how the verdict can be handed down without collapsing justice, through the hilasterion set forth in Christ.

Reckoned (logizomai) is the chapter's governing word, used eleven times, and it is an accounting term for entering something in a ledger. Paul's case rests on Genesis 15:6, where Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, and his argument from the timing is decisive for his purpose: the reckoning happened before circumcision (4:10) and centuries before Sinai, so it cannot have been a reward for either.

Verse 5 also fixes the meaning of faith for the whole letter. Faith here is defined by contrast with working, and its object is not a proposition about God's existence but him that justifieth the ungodly, so it is trust in a person acting rather than assent to a claim. That distinction is load-bearing for the codex's treatment of pistis against the charge that faith means belief without evidence. See Justification by Faith and Faith is Belief Without Evidence Objection Defeater.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.