Romans 4:6 teaches that God declares a person righteous as a gift, not as a reward for good behavior. Paul uses King David’s words to show that the blessing belongs to the one who receives forgiveness and is credited with a standing before God that they did not earn. The apostle Paul wrote this, in his letter to the Christians in Rome, and he was arguing that the same principle has always applied to everyone, both Jew and Gentile.
Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works…
Romans 4:6 (WEB)
What Romans 4:6 Means
The phrase “God counts righteousness” uses a word picture from accounting. Righteousness is credited to a person’s account, the way a bank credits money that was not previously there. Paul is describing a decision God makes, not a moral achievement the person has accomplished. The word “apart from works” is the heart of the verse. Works are the things a person does to earn approval, and Paul says righteousness comes to people who are not depending on those works to make themselves acceptable.
Paul then points to David, who “pronounces blessing” on this kind of person. Blessing here is a statement of joy and happiness about someone who is in the right relationship with God. The verse does not say that good works are unimportant to the Christian life. Paul elsewhere expects believers to live in a way that reflects their new standing. What the verse promises is that acceptance with God is received through trust, not earned through performance.
The Context of Romans 4:6
Romans was written by Paul to a mixed congregation in Rome, made up of Jewish and Gentile believers. Some Jewish believers may have thought that faithfulness to the law, including circumcision, was necessary to belong to God’s people. Paul answers this by turning to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, and showing that Abraham was counted righteous because he believed God, long before he was circumcised.
Just before verse 6, Paul quotes Genesis to show that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Verse 6 then brings in David, whose words in Psalm 32 describe forgiveness, so the argument moves from Abraham to a second witness from Israel’s Scriptures. Because the surrounding verses are about faith being credited and sins being forgiven, the verse reads as a clear statement that God’s acceptance rests on grace received by faith, for both Jew and Gentile.
Key Phrases in Romans 4:6
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 is a gift received through faith and not a result of human effort. It expands the same truth Paul develops in Romans 4, that God’s grace rather than works is the source of new life with him.
Psalm 32:1-2
1 Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.
(WEB)
These are the very words of David that Paul quotes in Romans 4. Reading the psalm in full shows the joy of a person whose sin has been forgiven and who no longer hides before God.
A Short Prayer From Romans 4:6
Lord, thank you that you credit righteousness to those who trust you, not to those who have earned it. I confess that I often try to measure my worth by what I accomplish and how well I perform. Help me rest in the gift you have given, and let that rest free me from fear and striving. Shape my life so that my actions flow from gratitude rather than the need to prove myself. Let me find my blessing in your forgiveness and live as someone who belongs to you. Amen.
