ISB ~ Romans 4 v3

Abraham believed God:A citation from Gen 15:6.

• Abraham takes God at his word when he embraces the promise of descendants, despite the obstacles of childlessness and old age (Gen 15:1-5). The Lord accepts his faith with an acknowledgment of his righteousness. Paul works forward from this passage to demonstrate in Rom 4:9-10 that the narrative sequence of the Abraham story in Genesis holds the key to a right understanding of justification: it shows us that Abraham was righteous by faith long before he was circumcised with the flint knife (Gen 17:24). Paul thus debunks a prevalent Jewish perception that circumcision, and the obligation to keep the Mosaic Law that follows from it, is indispensable for a covenant relationship with God (Acts 15:1-5) (CCC 144-46).