Romans 4:10 asks a simple question about Abraham: when was he counted right with God, before or after he was circumcised? The answer Paul gives is that Abraham was counted righteous before he received circumcision, which means God’s acceptance came through faith, not through a religious ritual. Paul asks this question in his letter to the church in Rome, a mixed community of Jewish and Gentile believers, and he writes it to show both groups how Abraham stands in God’s family.
How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Romans 4:10 (WEB)
What Romans 4:10 Means
Paul begins with a question about timing: “How then was it counted?” The word “counted” is a bookkeeping word, the sort of language you would use for a ledger. Paul is asking when the entry was made in God’s books: before Abraham’s circumcision or after it. The verse then answers with a direct contrast, placing the moment of acceptance in Abraham’s uncircumcised state.
The verse does not say circumcision was wrong or unimportant. Paul’s point is that circumcision came later, as a sign of a standing God had already given. It does not promise that anyone who follows a religious practice is accepted, and it does not say that a ritual earns God’s favor. What it does say is that God’s verdict on Abraham rested on trust, and that trust came first.
The Context of Romans 4:10
Paul wrote Romans to a church that included believers from Jewish backgrounds, who took pride in circumcision as the mark of God’s covenant, and believers from Gentile backgrounds, who did not share that heritage. Right before verse 10, Paul quotes David’s words about sins being forgiven and covered, and he asks whether this blessing belongs only to the circumcised or to everyone. Verse 10 is the hinge of his answer.
Paul then goes on in verses 11 and 12 to say that circumcision was a seal of a righteousness Abraham already had, so that Abraham becomes the father of all who believe, whether circumcised or not. Read this way, Romans 4:10 is not an attack on Jewish identity. It is a way of showing that Abraham’s family is defined by faith, which gives both Jewish and Gentile believers a shared place in God’s promise.
Key Phrases in Romans 4:10
Genesis 15:6
He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.
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This is the verse Paul relies on throughout Romans 4. It records Abraham believing God and God counting that faith as righteousness, which is the same moment Paul points to in Romans 4:10. Reading the two together shows that the crediting happened in Genesis 15, long before the covenant sign of Genesis 17.
Galatians 3:6-7
6 Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” 7 Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.
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Paul makes a similar argument in Galatians, linking Abraham’s faith to the identity of his true children. Reading this passage alongside Romans 4:10 helps show how Paul consistently tied God’s family to faith rather than to lineage or outward marks.
A Short Prayer From Romans 4:10
Lord, thank you that you looked at Abraham’s trust and counted it as righteousness long before any sign was given to him. I bring you my own attempts to earn your approval, my lists of things I have done and things I have failed to do. Help me rest in the faith you have given me, and let my life grow out of that trust rather than out of fear. Make me a person who welcomes others into your family the same way you welcomed me, by faith alone. Amen.
