Romans 4:5

Verse 5. But to him that worketh not] Which was the case with Abraham, for he was called when he was ungodly, i.e. an idolater; and, on his believing, was freely justified: and, as all men have sinned, none can be justified by works; and, therefore, justification, if it take place at all, must take place in behalf of the ungodly, forasmuch as all mankind are such. Now, as Abraham's state and mode in which he was justified, are the plan and rule according to which God purposes to save men; and as his state was ungodly, and the mode of his justification was by faith in the goodness and mercy of God; and this is precisely the state of Jews and Gentiles at present; there can be no other mode of justification than by faith in that Christ who is Abraham's seed, and in whom, according to the promise, all the nations of the earth are to be blessed.

It is necessary to observe here, in order to prevent confusion and misapprehension, that although the verb δικαιοω has a variety of senses in the New Testament, yet here it is to be taken as implying the pardon of sin; receiving a person into the favour of God. See these different acceptations cited in Clarke's note on "Ro 1:17", and particularly under No. 7. It is also necessary to observe, that our translators render the verb λογιζομαι differently in different parts of this chapter. It is rendered counted, Ro 4:3; Ro 4:5; reckoned, Ro 4:4; Ro 4:9-10; imputed, Ro 4:6; Ro 4:8; Ro 4:11; Ro 4:22-24. Reckoned is probably the best sense in all these places.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Rom_4:5

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

Justification of the ungodly

The first sound of these words is startling. What! is it, then, the idle or the vicious person, he that does nothing or nothing that is good, and merely has faith or belief, who is to be treated as righteous? And is God the justifier, not of the godly, but of the ungodly? A moments examination of the words will show that the apostle never entertained the sentiments which at first sight they appear to exhibit.

1. The very expression, His faith is counted for righteousness, intimates that righteousness is essentially worthy and acceptable. If faith is received in the stead of righteousness, then surely righteousness is of as much value, at least, as that which is accepted in its place. If righteousness be the debt which man owes to God, and it pleases God, in consideration of mans failure, to take his faith as an equivalent, it is clear that righteousness, the debt, is even of more value than faith, which is taken, in kindness and pity, as an equivalent. And a clue is here put into our hands by following which, with the context to aid us, we shall no doubt be guided to a satisfactory interpretation, and a clear result.

2. His faith is counted for righteousness. But what righteousness? The righteousness which ought to have been; which is due; which is not paid. He who worketh not owes long arrears of righteousness; he has been a sinful man; he is a debtor to a large amount. But when he turns away from sin, and believes heartily and truly on God, then his faith, which is a pledge of future righteousness, is graciously credited to him for those long arrears, and the debt remains no more against him. By grace are we saved through faith. The single consideration, then, that it is past righteousness which is intended in the text, lights it up at once with a holy, and cheering, and satisfying light.

3. And that this consideration is introduced, not only allowably but necessarily, appears from the context (Rom_4:6-8). To impute righteousness without works is evidently synonymous with forgiveness of sin; it is to treat one who has not worked as if he had worked. But then there is a condition--faith, which, working by love, produces henceforth the fruits of righteousness. So the imputation of righteousness without works, or the non-imputation of sin, is by no means a dispensation from future righteousness, but exactly the contrary. This is the doctrine of St. James, as well as of St. Paul; the doctrine of our Saviour and of His most touching parable of the prodigal son; and is the doctrine not only of the New Testament, but of the Old. Abraham, before he knew and believed in God, was not the righteous man that he was after he believed in Him; and his faith was counted to him for righteousness; his past sins were forgiven. Since Jesus came and died, there is a louder call to repentance and a stronger array of motives, and a more general justification. A sincere and earnest faith in Him will move, if anything can move, the heart to love and gratitude, and the life to duty. And the heart being thus moved to love and gratitude, and the life to duty, past sin is forgiven, the ungodly is justified, and faith is counted for righteousness; not, surely, because this powerfully moving faith dispenses with righteousness, or is above righteousness, but because it moves to it and secures it. (F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)

Justification by faith

I. The general ground of the doctrine.

1. Man was made in the image of God, holy as He is holy, and perfect as He is perfect. To man, thus upright, God gave a perfect law, to which He required a perfect obedience, which man was capable of rendering. To this was superadded the commandment not to eat of the fruit of the tree, with death as the penalty annexed.

2. Man disobeyed, and the sentence began to take effect. His soul died, being separated from God, his body became mortal, and he hastened on to death everlasting. Thus, by one man sin entered into the world, and we have inherited the sin and penalty of our representative,

3. In this state we were when God gave His Son to be a second general Parent and Representative, and as such He bore our sins, and by that one oblation of Himself He has redeemed all mankind. In consideration of Christs death God has reconciled the world unto Himself, not imputing their former trespasses.

II. Its nature.

1. Not the being made righteous; that is sanctification, which follows justification, but is a distinct and inward gift.

2. Nor the clearing us from the accusation--

(1) Of Satan.

(2) Of the law--theories found nowhere in the Bible.

3. Nor that which implies that God is deceived in those He justifies, viz., accounting them to be otherwise than what they are.

4. But that act of God the Father, whereby, for the sake of Christs propitiation, He forgives sin (verses 6, 7).

III. Its subjects.

1. The ungodly and only such. As the righteous need no repentance, so they need no forgiveness; which contradicts the absurd supposition that holiness is necessary to justification. Only sinners can be forgiven.

2. Him that worketh not. But do not men feed the hungry, etc., before justification? Yes, and these may in a sense be called good works--good and profitable to men--but no work is good which is not done as God wills and commands, and God hath willed that all our works should be done in charity, i.e., that love to Him from which love to man proceeds. But none of our works can be done in this love while the love of the Father is not in us.

IV. Its condition. Faith, i.e., a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins, and loved me, and gave Himself for me. This is the only but the necessary condition, for he that believeth not is condemned already. (J. Wesley, M. A.)

Justification the gift of grace received by faith

1. The man who has obtained justification may be looked upon as in possession of a title deed, which secures to him a right to Gods favour. The question is, How comes he into possession of this title deed? Did he work for it, and thus receive it as a return for his works? No; he did not work for it; and thus it is that justification is to him who worketh not--that is, he did nothing antecedent to his justification to bring this privilege down upon him; nor subsequently, for it is a contradiction to allow that he has to work to obtain what he already has; nor at the time, for he came to it by believing. But then, as in the case of a man coming into an estate, no sooner does he lay hold of the deed than he begins, and that most strenuously, to qualify himself for the possession: and, with a foot which touches lightly that earth from which he is to ascend so soon into the fields of eternal glory that are above him, to aspire after the virtues which are current there; and, by an active cultivation of his heart, labour to prepare himself for a station of happiness and honour.

2. But beware of having any such view of faith as will lead you to annex to it the kind of merit which is annexed to works under the law. It is God who justifies. He drew up the title deed, and He bestowed it. It is ours simply by laying hold of it. Ye are saved by grace through faith. By which is a house enlightened by the sun, or by an open window? The answer may justly enough be that it is by the window--and yet the window does not enlighten the house--it is a mere opening for the transmission of the light of the sun. Christ hath wrought out a righteousness for us that is freely offered to us of God. By faith we discern the reality of this offer: and all that it does is to strike out, as it were, an avenue of conveyance, by which the righteousness of another passes to us; and through faith are we saved by this righteousness. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)

The fitness of faith in order to justification

1. It is obviously the only way in which a testimony can be received; and God has been pleased to appoint that such only as receive His testimony shall reap the benefit of what it reveals.

2. It is a medium of justification by which the whole glory is secured, as it ought to be, to the God of all grace; agreeably to the nature and design of the whole scheme of redemption, by which the loftiness of man is bowed down, and the haughtiness of man is laid low; and Jehovah alone is exalted.

3. It is a method of justification which unites it inseparably with sanctification. The truth must be received by faith into the mind in order to its operating with its holy influence on the affections and desires of the heart. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)

Salvation not by works

Observe what happens when the cry rises at sea, A man overboard! With others on deck, you rush to the side; and, leaning over the bulwarks, with beating heart you watch the place where the rising air bells and boiling deep tell that he has gone down. After some moments of breathless anxiety, you see his head emerge from the wave. Now, that man, I shall suppose, is no swimmer; he has never learned to breast the billows; yet, with the first breath he draws, he begins to beat the water. With violent efforts he attempts to shake off the grasp of death, and by the play of limbs and arms to keep his head from sinking. It may be that these struggles but exhaust his strength, and sink him all the sooner. Nevertheless, that drowning one makes instinctive and convulsive efforts to save himself. So, when first brought to feel and cry, I perish! when the horrible conviction rushes into the soul that we are lost. When we feel ourselves going down beneath a load of guilt into the depth of the wrath of God, our first effort is to save ourselves. Like a drowning man, who will clutch at straws and twigs, we seize on anything, however worthless, that promises salvation. Thus, alas! many poor souls toil, and spend weary, unprofitable years, in the attempt to establish a righteousness of their own, and find in the deeds of the law protection from its curse. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Faith a universal possibility

Faith is natural to man; the mightiest principle in the soul. It is the foundation of trade; the wheel of commerce; the bond of social life; the abiding root of the family tree. And such is the faith that reposes on the Son of God. Faith is not the creation of theology or Christianity. It is older than either. It is not something supernaturally implanted in a man when he becomes a Christian. It is no new faculty bestowed. That principle which trusts a parents love, and produces obedience to a parents will, is the same principle exercised in another region which makes us one with God. Thus, the salvation which God has provided for all becomes a salvation not only worthy the acceptance of all, but possible to be accepted by all. Salvation becomes a universal possibility, because it is offered to a capacity which all men possess and exercise. (R. Henry.)

The way of salvation

I. The way of the natural man. Worketh. He wishes it to be of desert.

II. The better way--by faith. This is--

1. The old way.

(1) Abrahams.

(2) Davids.

2. The blessed way. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 4:5. Τον ἀσεβῆ, the ungodly) This points out the excellence of faith, which hath established it so as that the ungodly are justified, ch. Rom 5:6. Compare and consider the end of Rom 4:17 of this chapter. Translate τὸν ἀσεβῆ, him who is ungodly. Justification belongs to individuals. This word is a most conclusive proof that Paul is speaking, even most especially, of the moral law, by the works of which no one can be justified.—κατὰ τὴν πρόθεσιν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεο͂υ, according to the purpose of the grace of God) A very ancient translator[44] of the Scriptures into Latin has this clause; following him, Hilariu[45], the deacon; then the scholiast on Jerome, etc. Beza acknowledges that it is exceedingly suitable; for there is a manifest antithesis between, not according to grace, but according to debt [Rom 4:4] etc., according to the purpose of the grace of God. The Greek transcribers might easily jump from κατὰ to ΚΑΘΆΠΕΡ [omitting ΚΑΤᾺ Τ. ΠΡΌΘΕΣΙΝ, etc.] During the time that intervened between the publication of the Apparatus and the Gnomon, I have advanced on without inconsistency to the embracing of this clause, to which Beza is not opposed. Baumgarten has put in his negative. I have stated my reasons; he has given his; let those judge who are able. Paul sets in opposition to each other, works and πρόθεσιν, the purpose; and at the very time too, when he is speaking definitely of certain believers, the subjects of that purpose, as in this passage, of Abraham.

[44] Some old copies of the Vulg. have the words. But the Cod. Amiatinus, the oldest MS. of the Vulg., omit them.—ED.

[45] ilarius (a Latin father: died 368 A.D.) Ed. Maurinorum, Paris. 1693.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Believeth on Him [πιστευοντι επι τον] . The verb pisteuw to believe is used in the New Testament as follows :

1. Transitively, with the accusative and dative : to entrust something to one, Luk 16:11; Joh 2:24. In the passive, to be entrusted with something, Rom 3:2; 1Co 9:17; Gal 2:7. With the simple accusative, to believe a thing, Joh 11:26; 1Jo 4:16.

2. With the infinitive, Act 14:11.

3. With oti that, Mt 9:28; Mr 11:24; Jas 2:19. Especially frequent in John : Joh 4:21; Joh 11:27, 42; Joh 13:19; Joh 14:10, 11; Joh 16:27, 30, etc.

4. With the simple dative, meaning to believe a person or thing, that they are true or speak the truth, Joh 2:22; Joh 4:21; Joh 5:46. See on Joh 1:12; Joh 2:22, 23; Joh 8:31; Joh 10:37.

5. With the preposition ejn in. Not frequent, and questioned in some of the passages cited for illustration. In Joh 3:15, ejn aujtw in Him, is probably to be construed with have eternal life. The formula occurs nowhere else in John. In Mr 1:15 we find pisteuete ejn tw eujaggeliw believe in the gospel. The kindred noun pistiv faith, occurs in this combination. Thus Gal 3:26, though some join in Christ Jesus with sons. See also Eph 1:15; Col 1:4; 1Ti 3:13; 2Ti 3:15; Rom 3:25. This preposition indicates the sphere in which faith moves, rather than the object to which it is directed, though instances occur in the Septuagint where it plainly indicates the direction of faith, Psa 77:22; Jer 12:6.

6. With the preposition ejpi upon, on to, unto.

a. With the accusative, Rom 4:5; Act 9:42; Act 11:17; Act 16:31; Act 22:19. The preposition carries the idea of mental direction with a view to resting upon, which latter idea is conveyed by the same preposition.

b. With the dative, 1Ti 1:16; Luk 24:25; compare Rom 9:33; Rom 10:11; 1Pe 2:6. The dative expresses absolute superposition. Christ as the object of faith, is the basis on which faith rests.

7. With the preposition eijv into, Mt 18:6; Joh 2:11; Act 19:4; Rom 10:14; Gal 2:16; Phi 1:29, etc. The preposition conveys the idea of the absolute transference of trust from one's self to another. Literally the phrase means to believe into. See on Joh 1:12; Joh 2:23; Joh 9:35; Joh 12:44.

Is counted for righteousness [λογιζεται εις δικαιοσυνην] . Rev., is reckoned. See on ver. 3. The preposition eijv has the force of as, not the telic meaning with a view to, or in order that he may be (righteous); nor strictly, in the place of righteousness. Faith is not a substitute for righteousness, since righteousness is involved in faith. When a man is reckoned righteous through faith, it is not a legal fiction. He is not indeed a perfect man, but God does not reckon something which has no real existence. Faith is the germ of righteousness, of life in God. God recognizes no true life apart from holiness, and "he that believeth on the Son hath life." He is not merely regarded in the law 's eye as living. God accepts the germ, not in place of the fruit, but as containing the fruit. "Abraham believed God.... No soul comes into such a relation of trust without having God 's investment upon it; and whatever there may be in God 's righteousness - love, truth, sacrifice - will be rightfully imputed or counted to be in it, because, being united to Him, it will have them coming over derivatively from Him" (Bushnell). The idea of logical sequence is inherent in logizetai is reckoned - the sequence of character upon faith. Where there is faith there is, logically, righteousness, and the righteousness is from faith unto faith (ch. 1 17). Nevertheless, in the highest development of the righteousness of faith, it will remain true that the man is justified, not by the works of righteousness, which are the fruit of faith, but by the faith which, in making him a partaker of the life and righteousness of God, generates and inspires the works.

Observe that the believer 's own faith is reckoned as righteousness. "In no passage in Paul 's writings or in other parts of the New Testament, where the phrase to reckon for or the verb to reckon alone is used, is there a declaration that anything belonging to one person is imputed, accounted, or reckoned to another, or a formal statement that Christ 's righteousness is imputed to believers" (President Dwight, " Notes on Meyer ").

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Rom_4:4, Rom_4:5

Now to him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt; but to him that worketh not, etc. These verses are designed, in the first place, to vindicate the pertinency of the quotation from Scripture, made in Rom_4:3, by showing that the declaration faith was imputed for righteousness, is a denial that works were the ground of Abrahams acceptance; and, secondly, that to justify by faith, is to justify gratuitously, and therefore all passages which speak of gratuitous acceptance are in favor of the doctrine of justification by faith.

Now to him that worketh, that is, either emphatically to him who does all that is required of him; or to him who seeks to be accepted on account of his works. The former explanation is the better. The words then state a general proposition, To him that is obedient, or who performs a stipulated work, the recompense is not regarded as a gratuity, but as a debt. The reward, ὁ μισθός the appropriate and merited compensation. Is not imputed, κατὰ χάριν, ἀλλὰ ὁφείλημα, not grace, but debt, which implies that a claim founded in justice is the ground and measure of remuneration. Pauls argument is founded on the principle, which is so often denied, as by Olshausen, (p. 172,) that man may have merit before God; or that God may stand in the relation of debtor to man. The apostle says expressly, that τῷ ἐργαζομένῳ, to him that works, the reward is a matter of debt. If Adam had remained faithful and rendered perfect obedience, the promised reward would have been due to him as a matter of justice; the withholding it would have been an act of injustice. When, therefore, the apostle speaks of Abraham as having a ground of boasting, if his works made him righteous, it is not to be understood simply of boasting before men. He would have had a ground of boasting in that case before God. The reward would have been to him a matter of debt.

But to him that worketh not, τῷ δὲ μὴ ἐργαζομένῳ. That is, to him who has no works to plead as the ground of reward; πιστεύοντι δὲ ἐπὶ κ. τ. λ., but believeth upon, i.e. putting his trust upon. The faith which justifies is not mere assent, it is an act of trust. The believer confides upon God for justification. He believes that God will justify him, although ungodly; for the object of the faith or confidence here expressed is ὁ δικαιῶν τὸν ἀσεβῆ, he who justifies the ungodly. Faith therefore is appropriating; it is an act of confidence in reference to our own acceptance with God. To him who thus believes, faith is counted for righteousness, i.e. it is imputed in order to his becoming righteous. It lies in the nature of the faith of which Paul speaks, that he who exercises it should feel and acknowledge that he is ungodly, and consequently undeserving of the favor of God. He, of course, in relying on the mercy of God, must acknowledge that his acceptance is a matter of grace, and not of debt. The meaning of the apostle is plainly this: To him that worketh, the reward is a matter of debt, but to him who worketh not, but believeth simply, the reward is a matter of grace. Instead, however, of saying it is a matter of grace, he uses, as an equivalent expression, to him faith is counted for righteousness. That is, he is justified by faith. To be justified by faith, therefore, is to be justified gratuitously, and not by works. It is thus he proves that the passage cited in Rom_4:3, respecting Abraham, is pertinent to his purpose as an argument against justification by works. It at the same time shows that all passages which speak of gratuitous acceptance, may be cited in proof of his doctrine of justification by faith. The way is thus opened for his second argument, which is derived from the testimony of David.

It is to be remarked, that Paul speaks of God as justifying the ungodly. The word is in the singular, τὸν ἀσεβῆ, the ungodly man, not with any special reference to Abraham, as though he was the ungodly person whom God justified, but because the singular, ἐργαζομένῳ, (to him that worketh,) pisteu&onti, (to him that believeth,) is used in the context, and because every man must believe for himself. God does not justify communities. If every man and all men are ungodly, it follows that they are regarded and treated as righteous, not on the ground of their personal character; and it is further apparent that justification does not consist in making one inherently just or holy; for it is as ungodly that those who believe are freely justified for Christs sake. It never was, as shown above, the doctrine of the Reformation, or of the Lutheran and Reformed divines, that the imputation of righteousness affects the moral character of those concerned. It is true, whom God justifies he also sanctifies; but justification is not sanctification, and the imputation of righteousness is not the infusion of righteousness. These are the first principles of the doctrine of the Reformers. The fourth grand error of the Papists in the article of justification, says an old divine, is concerning that which we call the form thereof. For they, denying and deriding the imputation of Christs righteousness, (without which, notwithstanding, no man can be saved,) do hold that men are justified by infusion, and not by imputation of righteousness; we, on the contrary, do hold, according to the Scriptures, that we are justified before God, only by the imputation of Christs righteousness, and not by infusion. And our meaning, when we say that God imputeth Christs righteousness unto us, is nothing else but this: that he graciously accepteth for us, and in our behalf, the righteousness of Christ, that is, both as to his obedience, which, in the days of his flesh, he performed for us; and passive, that is, his sufferings, which he sustained for us, as if we had in our own persons both performed and suffered the same ourselves. Howbeit, we confess that the Lord doth infuse righteousness into the faithful; yet not as he justifieth, but as he sanctifieth them, etc. Bishop Downame on Justification, p. 261. Tuckney, one of the leading members of the Westminster Assembly, and principal author of the Shorter Catechism, in his Praelectiones, p. 213, says, Although God justifies the ungodly, Rom_4:5, i.e., him who was antecedently ungodly, and who in a measure remains, as to his inherent character, unjust after justification, yet it has its proper ground in the satisfaction of Christ, etc. On page 220, he says, The Papists understand by justification, the infusion of inherent righteousness, and thus confound justification with sanctification; which, if it was the true nature and definition of justification, they might well deny that the imputation of Christs righteousness is the cause or formal reason of this justification, i.e., of sanctification. For we are not so foolish or blasphemous as to say, or even think, that the righteousness of Christ imputed to us renders us formally or inherently righteous, so that we should be formally or inherently righteous with the righteousness of Christ. Since the righteousness of Christ is proper to himself, and is as inseparable from him, and as incommunicable to others, as any other attribute of a thing, or its essence itself.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That maketh him which is wicked in himself, just in Christ.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

But to him that worketh not--who, despairing of acceptance with God by "working" for it the work of obedience, does not attempt it.

but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly--casts himself upon the mercy of Him that justifieth those who deserve only condemnation.

his faith, &c.--(See on Rom 4:3).

Second: David sings of the same justification.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5. But believes on him, etc. This is a very important sentence, in which he expresses the substance and nature both of faith and of righteousness. He indeed clearly shews that faith brings us righteousness, not because it is a meritorious act, but because it obtains for us the favor of God. Nor does he declare only that God is the giver of righteousness, but he also arraigns us of unrighteousness, in order that the bounty of God may come to aid our necessity: in short, no one will seek the righteousness of faith except he who feels that he is ungodly; for this sentence is to be applied to what is said in this passage, — that faith adorns us with the righteousness of another, which it seeks as a gift from God. And here again, God is said to justify us when he freely forgives sinners, and favors those, with whom he might justly be angry, with his love, that is, when his mercy obliterates our unrighteousness.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(5) But to him who puts forward no works, but has faith in God, who justifies men, not for their righteousness, but in spite of their sins, &c.

The ungodly.—A stronger word is here used than simply “the unrighteous,” “the impious,” or “ungodly.” Their impiety is condoned to them in virtue of their single exercise of faith. It is characteristic of the Apostle not to flinch from the boldest expression, though, as a matter of fact, the two things, faith and positive impiety, would hardly be found together. “The ungodly” clearly belongs to the general form of the proposition, and is not intended to apply to Abraham.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. to him that worketh not] The Gr. implies a general statement; Abraham’s case in universal application.—“Worketh not:”—i.e., of course, in respect of justification. It is another form of the truth expressed Rom_3:28 and Rom_4:6 by “without works;” and the phrases singly and together go as far as language can in defining faith to be the sole condition of Justification.

on him that justifieth the ungodly] These words, with numberless others, remind us that justifying faith is not trust in “anything,” but trust in God and His Word. See below on Rom_4:20-22.—“The ungodly:”—a very strong word—the impious man. Same word as ch. Rom_5:6; 2Pe_2:5; Judges 4, &c. Here St Paul leaves the special features of Abraham’s case, to enforce the principle of Justification by an extreme case. He contemplates a man so emphatically “without works” as to be an open sinner: now, this man is justified, is declared to be accepted as righteous, on the sole condition of faith in the Justifier. And God is, as it were, characterized here as He who (habitually) so acts; doubtless to encourage the most unreserved trust. The word “ungodly” is not descriptive of every man: “all have sinned” fatally (Rom_3:19; Rom_3:23); but not all are openly impious. And as men look on these latter as extreme cases, just these are selected for special mention as proper objects of Justification.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But to him that worketh not,.... Not that the believer does not work at all, but not from such principles, and with such views as the other; he does not work in order to obtain life and salvation; he does not seek for justification by his doings:

but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly: or that ungodly one: particular reference is had to Abraham, who in his state of unregeneracy was an ungodly person; as all God's elect are in a state of nature, and are such when God justifies them, being without a righteousness of their own; wherefore he imputes the righteousness of another, even that of his own Son, unto them: and though he justifies the ungodly, he does not justify their ungodliness, but them from it; nor will he, nor does he leave them to live and die in it; now to him that worketh not, that is perfect righteousness; or has no opportunity of working at all; or what he does, he does not do, that he might be justified by it; but exercises faith on God as justifying persons, who, like himself, are sinners, ungodly and destitute of a righteousness:

his faith is counted for righteousness; not the act, but the object of it; which was Abraham's case, and therefore was not justified by works. The Vulgate Latin version here adds, "according to the purpose of the grace of God".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 5. His faith] Yet not as a work, not in a proper sense, as Arminius and Bertius held, but as an act of receiving Christ.

That justifieth the ungodly] i.e. Him that was ungodly; but being justified is made godly also; or the ungodly, that is, him that is not perfectly godly; for Abraham is here made the ungodly person.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But to him that worketh not - Who does not rely on his conformity to the Law for his justification; who does not depend on his works; who seeks to be justified in some other way. The reference here is to the Christian plan of justification.

But believeth - Note, Rom 3:26.

On him - On God. Thus, the connection requires; for the discussion has immediate reference to Abraham, whose faith was in the promise of God.

That justifieth the ungodly - This is a very important expression. It implies,

(1) That people are sinners, or are ungodly.

(2) That God regards them as such when they are justified. He does not justify them because he sees them to be, or regards them to be righteous; but knowing that they are in fact polluted. He does not first esteem them, contrary to fact, to be pure; but knowing that they are polluted, and that they deserve no favor, he resolves to forgive them, and to treat them as his friends.

(3) In themselves they are equally undeserving, whether they are justified or not. Their souls have been defiled by sin; and that is known when they are pardoned. God judges things as they are; and sinners who are justified, he judges not as if they were pure, or as if they had a claim; but he regards them as united by faith to the Lord Jesus; and in this relation he judges that they should be treated as his friends, though they have been, are, and always will be, personally undeserving. It is not meant that the righteousness of Christ is transferred to them, so as to become personally theirs - for moral character cannot be transferred; nor that it is infused into them, making them personally meritorious - for then they could not be spoken of as ungodly; but that Christ died in their stead, to atone for their sins, and is regarded and esteemed by God to have died; and that the results or benefits of his death are so reckoned or imputed to believers as to make it proper for God to regard and treat them as if they had themselves obeyed the Law; that is, as righteous in his sight; see the note at Rom 4:3.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Abraham, before his vocation, was an idolater, according to Josephus; (Jewish Antiquities, lib. i. chap. viii.) according to some of the Rabbins, and as the Scripture itself seems to insinuate, Josue chap. xxiv; Isaias xliii; Wisdom x; Judith v. He did not then merit his vocation to the faith by his works. But when God had called him, and made him depart from his country, when he promised to him an innumerable posterity, Abraham believed in his promises, and it was reputed to him unto justice, that his faith and his justice were the pure gift of God. His faith was not a dead and speculative faith only, but an active faith, a faith animated by charity, as appears from the sequel of his life. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To him that worketh not; i.e. to him that worketh not to the end or intent before mentioned, or with respect to justification, but takes the other way to be justified and saved, and that is, the way of believing.

That justifieth the ungodly; that makes him, who is wicked in himself, just and righteous in Christ; or justifies him that was ungodly, but after justification is made godly. By ungodly, some would understand such as want that perfection of godliness, as they may build the hopes of justification upon; because the proposition is drawn from the instance of Abraham, a man not void of godliness.

His faith is counted for righteousness; not considered in itself as a work, but in relation to Christ, the object of it, and as an act of receiving and applying him; as eating nourisheth, though it be the meat that doth it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Worketh not—For the due wages.

The ungodly—The man is ungodly up to the time of his justification. He is not a sanctified or regenerate man. Regeneration does not precede justification, but follows it. The order is, first, faith under the convicting guidance of the Holy Spirit; second, justification, acquitting the man of guilt; third, the regenerating Spirit, making the heart right with God.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But to him that worketh not - It being impossible he should without faith. But believeth, his faith is imputed to him for righteousness - Therefore God's affirming of Abraham, that faith was imputed to him for righteousness, plainly shows that he worked not; or, in other words, that he was not justified by works, but by faith only. Hence we see plainly how groundless that opinion is, that holiness or sanctification is previous to our justification. For the sinner, being first convinced of his sin and danger by the Spirit of God, stands trembling before the awful tribunal of divine justice; and has nothing to plead, but his own guilt, and the merits of a Mediator. Christ here interposes; justice is satisfied; the sin is remitted, and pardon is applied to the soul, by a divine faith wrought by the Holy Ghost, who then begins the great work of inward sanctification. Thus God justifies the ungodly, and yet remains just, and true to all his attributes! But let none hence presume to "continue in sin;" for to the impenitent, God "is a consuming fire." On him that justifieth the ungodly - If a man could possibly be made holy before he was justified, it would entirely set his justification aside; seeing he could not, in the very nature of the thing, be justified if he were not, at that very time, ungodly.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

counted

Or, reckoned, or imputed, i.e. put to the account of.

See Phm 1:18, same word:

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” This argument is so plain, clear and explicit that he who runs may read and not be mistaken. Here Paul so utterly annihilates all the dogmas of justification by water baptism, sacraments, legal obedience, church rites, priestcraft, prelacy, popery or ecclesiastical loyalty as to put the gainsayer in the awful attitude of flatly contradicting God Almighty. How strange that people reading these plain and unequivocal statements of the Holy Ghost, by which they are to be judged in the great day, can still swallow down Satan’s lies, proclaimed from fallen pulpits, and go off after legalistic rites, vainly seeking justification where they will never find it. In order to set this matter clear and unequivocal, God actually justified Abraham twenty-four years before he became a member of the visible church, or received circumcision, lest somebody might be stupid enough to identify justification with legal obedience. Now, remember, if you are not identified with the Abrahamic covenant, you have no interest in Christ (Gal 3:29). If you are a bona fide member of that covenant you are justified by faith alone, without works, like Abraham, whom God converted through faith alone twenty- four years before he received a solitary church ordinance. If you do not belong to the faithful paternity of Abraham, you have no participation in the Fatherhood of God, but, on the contrary, you are a child of the devil (Joh 8:44), with all your boasted church membership and legal obedience.

6. “Therefore indeed David speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness without works [Psalms 31]:

7. “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered,

8. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord may not impute sin.

9. “Therefore cometh this blessedness on the circumcision, or indeed upon the uncircumcision? For we say, that faith was imputed unto Abraham for righteousness.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness . [Let us illustrate our point by the case of a workman. If the workman does all he agreed to do, then his reward or hire is due him, not as a matter of grace or favor, but as a just debt. But if, on the contrary, the workman does not fulfill his agreement at all, but merely believes the promise of his employer that he shall nevertheless be paid, then the hire is not hire at all; it is a mere gift of grace and favor, and not a debt. Now, this latter is the position occupied by Abraham, and by every one that believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, for their faith is reckoned unto them for the works of the law--those works of righteousness which they promised to do, but never performed. The sentence is very elliptical, the apostle mingling the illustration with its application, in the on-rushing of his thought.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. But to him that worketh not. Does not trust his works for acceptance with God. But believeth, etc. Trusts in the mercy of him who justifies sinners who come to him penitent and believing. His faith, etc. It is made the ground of his acceptance with God. By faith he clings to Christ, the Savior.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

5. ἐπὶ τὸν δικ. τὸν ἀσεβῆ. This goes beyond the strict relevance of the qu. in Rom 4:3 and prepares the way for the enlargement of the idea by the qu., Rom 4:7-8. πιστ. ἐπὶ brings into explicit statement the notion of trust, not expressed in Rom 4:3. Cf. Moulton, p. 68, who suggests that the substitution of εἰς or ἐπὶ w. acc. for the simple dative after π. is peculiarly Christian, and coincides with the deepening of the sense of π. from belief to trust or faith. The change here is very significant, going, as it does, with the advance from the idea of GOD as simply faithful to His word (Rom 4:3) to the idea of GOD as acting upon man.

τὸν δικαιοῦντα here, as above, = who declares righteous, not who makes righteous; Rom 3:24; Rom 3:26; Rom 3:30. See Introd. p. xxxvi.

τὸν ἀσεβῆ. Not of Abraham, but with the wider reference of the whole clause: of the sinner as ignoring or neglecting GOD; cf. Rom 1:21. It here expresses the thought of the man about himself in the very act of trusting.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5.] But to him who works not (for hire,—is not an ἐργάτης looking for his μισθός) but believes on (casts himself in simple trust and humility on) Him who justifies (accounts just, as in ver. 3) the ungodly (‘impious:’ stronger than ‘unrighteous:’—no allusion to Abraham’s having formerly been in idolatry,—for the sentence following on ver. 4, which is general and of universal application, must also be general,—including of course Abraham: ἀσέβεια is the state of all men by nature),—his faith is reckoned as righteousness. κατὰ χάριν is of course implied.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. ἐπὶ τὸν δικαιοῦντα: ‘on Him who pronounces righteous’ or ‘acquits,’ i.e. God. It is rather a departure from St. Paul’s more usual practice to make the object of faith God the Father rather than God the Son. But even here the Christian scheme is in view, and faith in God is faith in Him as the alternative Author of that scheme. See on 1:8, 17, above.

We must not be misled by the comment of Euthym.-Zig. τουτέστι πιστεύοντι ὅτι δύναται ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ βεβιωκύτα, τοῦτον ἐξαιφνης οὐ μόνον ἐλευθερῶσαι κολάσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ δίκαιον ποιῆσαι (comp. the same writer on ver. 25 ἵνα δικαίους ἡμᾶς ποιήσῃ). The evidence is too decisive (p. 30 f. sup.) that δικαιοῦν = not ‘to make righteous’ but ‘to declare righteous as a judge.’ It might however be inferred from ἐξαίφνης that δίκαιον ποιῆσαι was to be taken somewhat loosely in the sense of ‘treat as righteous.’ The Greek theologians had not a clear conception of the doctrine of Justification.

τὸν ἀσεβῆ: not meant as a description of Abraham, from whose case St. Paul is now generalizing and applying the conclusion to his own time. The strong word ἀσεβῆ is probably suggested by the quotation which is just coming from Psa 32:1.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.