³ because as the Scriptures say, “Abraham believed God and trusted in His promises, so God counted it to his favor as righteousness.”^{[a] 4} Now, when you work a job, do your wages come as a gift or as compensation for your work? It is most certainly not a gift—you are only paid what you have earned. ⁵ So for the person who does not work, but instead trusts in the One who makes the ungodly right, his faith is counted for him as righteousness.