罗马书 4
Chinese Standard Bible (Simplified)
亚伯拉罕因信称义
4 那么，我们说我们肉体上的先祖亚伯拉罕得到了什么呢？ 2 事实上，如果亚伯拉罕本于行为被称为义，他就有可夸耀的；然而在神面前他并没有可夸耀的。 3 经上到底是怎么说的呢？
“亚伯拉罕信神，
这就被算为他的义。”[a]
4 做工的人得工钱，不算是恩典，而是应得的； 5 但是，一个人虽没有做工，却信靠那称不敬虔之人为义的神，这人的信就被算为义。
大卫的话
6 正如大卫也论到神所算为义之人的福份，这义与行为无关；他说：
亚伯拉罕在受割礼前被称为义
9 既然如此，这福份到底是只赐给那些受割礼的人，还是也赐给那些没有受割礼的人呢？我们说：“亚伯拉罕因着信，就被算为义了。”[d] 10 那么，是怎么被算为义的呢？到底是在他受割礼之后，还是在他没有受割礼的时候呢？不是在受割礼之后，而是在没有受割礼的时候。 11 并且他领受了割礼的标记，做为他没有受割礼时因信称义的印证，使他成为所有不凭着割礼而信之人的父，也使他们被算为义； 12 而且他也成为受割礼之人的父，不仅为那些受了割礼的人，还为那些顺着我们的先祖亚伯拉罕信心之脚踪行走的人；亚伯拉罕的信心在他没有受割礼的时候就已经有了。
因信承受应许
13 原来，赐给亚伯拉罕和他后裔继承世界的应许，不是藉着律法，而是藉着因信而得的义。 14 这是因为，如果本于律法的才是继承人，信就落了空，应许也就无效了。 15 事实上，律法带来了震怒，所以哪里没有律法，哪里也就没有过犯。
16 为此，这应许是本于信，好使这应许照着恩典，能确保给所有的后裔——不仅是给属律法的，也是给属亚伯拉罕信心的。亚伯拉罕在神面前是我们每个人的父， 17 正如经上所记：“我已经指派你为众多民族的父。”[e]亚伯拉罕所信的那一位，就是叫死人得生命、使无变为有的神。 18 亚伯拉罕在没有盼望的时候，仍然怀着盼望去相信，因而成为众多民族的父，[f]正如先前所说：“你的后裔将要如此众多[g]。”[h] 19 他快到一百岁的时候，想到自己的身体如同[i]已经死了，又想到撒拉也已经不能生育，但是他的信仰却没有软弱。 20 他也没有因着不信去怀疑神的应许，反而因着信得以刚强，把荣耀归给神， 21 并且确信不疑：神所应许的，神也能成就。 22 因此，这就被算为他的义了。[j] 23 不但如此，“被算为他的义”这句话不仅是为亚伯拉罕写的， 24 也是为我们写的；我们信靠使我们的主耶稣从死人中复活的那一位，就将被算为义。 25 主耶稣被交出去，是为了我们的过犯；复活，是为了我们称义。
Romans 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4[a]
Abraham Justified by Faith. 1 What then can we say that Abraham found, our ancestor according to the flesh?(A) 2 [b]Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, he has reason to boast; but this was not so in the sight of God. 3 (B)For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[c] 4 A worker’s wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due.(C) 5 But when one does not work, yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 So also David declares the blessedness of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven(D)
and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record.”
9 Does this blessedness[d] apply only to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised as well? Now we assert that “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”(E) 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or not? He was not circumcised, but uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal on the righteousness received through faith while he was uncircumcised. Thus he was to be the father of all the uncircumcised who believe, so that to them [also] righteousness might be credited,(F) 12 as well as the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but also follow the path of faith that our father Abraham walked while still uncircumcised.
Inheritance Through Faith. 13 It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith.(G) 14 For if those who adhere to the law are the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.(H) 15 For the law produces wrath;(I) but where there is no law, neither is there violation.[e] 16 For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us,(J) 17 as it is written, “I have made you father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist.(K) 18 He believed, hoping against hope,(L) that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “Thus shall your descendants be.” 19 (M)He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body as [already] dead (for he was almost a hundred years old) and the dead womb of Sarah. 20 He did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief;[f] rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God 21 and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do.(N) 22 That is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”(O) 23 But it was not for him alone that it was written that “it was credited to him”; 24 it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,(P) 25 who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification.(Q)
Footnotes
- 4:1–25 This is an expanded treatment of the significance of Abraham’s faith, which Paul discusses in Gal 3:6–18; see notes there.
- 4:2–5 Rom 4:2 corresponds to Rom 4:4, and Rom 4:3–5. The Greek term here rendered credited means “made an entry.” The context determines whether it is credit or debit. Rom 4:8 speaks of “recording sin” as a debit. Paul’s repeated use of accountants’ terminology in this and other passages can be traced both to the Old Testament texts he quotes and to his business activity as a tentmaker. The commercial term in Gn 15:6, “credited it to him,” reminds Paul in Rom 4:7–8 of Ps 32:2, in which the same term is used and applied to forgiveness of sins. Thus Paul is able to argue that Abraham’s faith involved receipt of forgiveness of sins and that all believers benefit as he did through faith.
- 4:3 Jas 2:24 appears to conflict with Paul’s statement. However, James combats the error of extremists who used the doctrine of justification through faith as a screen for moral self-determination. Paul discusses the subject of holiness in greater detail than does James and beginning with Rom 6 shows how justification through faith introduces one to the gift of a new life in Christ through the power of the holy Spirit.
- 4:9 Blessedness: evidence of divine favor.
- 4:15 Law has the negative function of bringing the deep-seated rebellion against God to the surface in specific sins; see note on Rom 1:18–32.
- 4:20 He did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief: any doubts Abraham might have had were resolved in commitment to God’s promise. Hb 11:8–12 emphasizes the faith of Abraham and Sarah.
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