Passage Research
Romans 4 — Sermon Preparation
Paul uses Abraham's justification by faith—before circumcision—as scriptural proof that righteousness comes through faith, not law-keeping. Below is a research summary for Romans 4, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 25
- verses
- 399 / 124
- Greek words / lemmas
- 27
- classic sermon excerpts
- 6
- preachers & commentators
Romans 4 in the Greek
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Greek | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | KJV renderings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| λογίζομαι | logízomai | G3049 | 11 | conclude, count, despise, esteem |
| πίστις | pístis | G4102 | 10 | assurance, belief, believe, faith |
| δικαιοσύνη | dikaiosýnē | G1343 | 8 | righteousness |
| ἀκροβυστία | akrobystía | G203 | 6 | not circumcised, uncircumcised, uncircumcision |
| Ἀβραάμ | Abraám | G11 | 7 | Abraham |
| περιτομή | peritomḗ | G4061 | 6 | circumcised, circumcision |
| πιστεύω | pisteúō | G4100 | 6 | believe, commit, put in trust with |
How preachers through history handled this text
27 public-domain excerpts on Romans 4, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“To meet the views of the Jews, the apostle first refers to the example of Abraham, in whom the Jews gloried as their most renowned forefather. However exalted in various respects, he had nothing to boast in the presence of God, being saved by grace, through faith, even as others. Without noticing the years which passed before his call, and the failures at times in his obedience, and even in his faith, it was expressly stated in Scripture that "he believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness," Ge 15:6. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Romans 4:1–12 (Public Domain)
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