Romans 4:5 teaches that a person is made right with God not by earning it through work, but by trusting God, who declares sinners righteous. Paul says that faith itself is “accounted for righteousness,” meaning God treats a believing person as righteous on the basis of that trust rather than on the basis of their record. The apostle Paul wrote this in his letter to the church in Rome, a mixed community of Jewish and Gentile believers who needed to understand how God’s grace relates to the law.
But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
Romans 4:5 (WEB)
What Romans 4:5 Means
The verse begins by contrasting two ways of approaching God. The first is through work, where a person does something and expects to be paid for it. Paul sets that aside and speaks of someone who “doesn’t work” in this sense, not because good deeds are unimportant, but because right standing is not being earned as a wage. Instead, the person simply believes in God.
The phrase “believes in him who justifies the ungodly” is the center of the verse. God is described as the one who makes people right, and the people in view are described as ungodly, meaning those who have no claim to be accepted on their own merits. The verse does not say God overlooks wrongdoing or pretends it does not matter. It says God declares righteous those who trust him, which is a gift rather than a reward.
What the verse does not promise is that believers will never struggle with sin or that faith automatically produces a perfect life. It speaks of how a person stands before God at the level of their relationship with him, not of a guarantee about every outcome in daily life.
The Context of Romans 4:5
Romans was written by Paul, traditionally regarded as its author, to a church he had not yet visited. In this chapter he turns to Abraham, the great ancestor both Jewish and Christian readers honored, to show that righteousness was credited to him by faith long before the law of Moses existed. Paul’s point is that if even Abraham was accepted through trust, then no one has grounds to boast about their own performance before God.
Just before the verse, Paul quotes Genesis, where Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Just after, he cites David’s psalm about blessing for those whose sins are forgiven and covered. Read in this setting, Romans 4:5 is not a stand-alone statement about salvation in the abstract. It is part of a sustained argument that faith, not works, has always been the way God makes people right, and that David and Abraham both show this pattern.
Key Phrases in Romans 4:5
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast.
(WEB)
This passage states plainly that salvation comes by grace through faith and not from works, which echoes the contrast Paul draws in Romans 4:5. It helps readers see that the gift of acceptance is the foundation from which good works are later understood.
Genesis 15:6
He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.
(WEB)
This is the Old Testament text Paul cites in Romans 4:3 and builds upon. Reading it alongside Romans 4:5 shows that Abraham’s trust was credited as righteousness long before the law was given, which is central to Paul’s argument.
A Short Prayer From Romans 4:5
Father, thank you that my standing before you does not depend on how well I have performed today. I come to you knowing I have fallen short in ways I cannot undo by myself. Help me to trust you, the one who makes the ungodly right, and to rest in that gift instead of striving to earn it. Let my faith be real and steady, and let gratitude shape how I live each day. Amen.
