Read & explore together
Abraham Receives the Promise
This passage explains that God’s promise to Abraham comes through faith rather than through law. Abraham is presented as an example of trusting God’s promise, and the passage connects that pattern of faith with those who believe in God through Jesus.
Understanding the passage
The setting of these words
Romans 4:13-25 moves step by step through the promise to Abraham, the limits of law, and the place of grace and faith. It then describes Abraham’s trust in God’s promise and finishes by applying credited righteousness to those who believe in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Romans 4:13–25Main takeaway
This passage teaches that God’s promise is tied to faith, and Abraham’s credited righteousness points forward to those who believe in the God who raised Jesus.
Follow the letter’s teaching
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01The promise comes through faithThe passage says the promise to Abraham and his offspring was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Explanation
The passage says the promise to Abraham and his offspring was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If inheritance came from the law, faith would be emptied and the promise would lose its effect. The law is also said to produce wrath, showing why the promise rests on a different basis.
02Faith and grace make the promise sureThe promise is said to be of faith so that it may be according to grace. In this way it is sure to all the offspring, not only to those of the law but also to those who share Abraham’s faith.
Explanation
The promise is said to be of faith so that it may be according to grace. In this way it is sure to all the offspring, not only to those of the law but also to those who share Abraham’s faith. Abraham is called the father of us all, and God is described as giving life to the dead.
03Abraham trusted what God had spokenAbraham believed in hope toward what had been spoken about his offspring. The passage mentions his body being worn out and Sarah’s womb, yet says he did not waver through unbelief.
Explanation
Abraham believed in hope toward what had been spoken about his offspring. The passage mentions his body being worn out and Sarah’s womb, yet says he did not waver through unbelief. Instead, he grew strong through faith, gave glory to God, and was fully assured that God was able to do what he had promised.
04Credited righteousness reaches beyond AbrahamBecause Abraham believed, righteousness was credited to him. The passage then says these words were not written for his sake alone but for ours also.
Explanation
Because Abraham believed, righteousness was credited to him. The passage then says these words were not written for his sake alone but for ours also. It applies this to those who believe in God, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, and says Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01Why does the passage say the promise was not through the law?
Look at the contrast between law and faith, and notice what the passage says would happen to faith and the promise if inheritance came by law.
02What details show Abraham’s faith in God’s promise?
Notice the references to Abraham’s age, Sarah’s womb, and the way Abraham responded to God’s promise without wavering.
03How does the passage connect Abraham’s credited righteousness with believers in Jesus?
Read the verses that say these words were written for our sake also, and identify what believers are said to trust about God and Jesus.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Romans 4:13–25
13For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he would be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.
15For the law produces wrath; for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.
16For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
17As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
18Against hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.”
19Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God,
21and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
22Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.”
23Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone,
24but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.