Romans 4:13

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Gal 3:29 : 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.
  • Gen 17:4-6 : 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
  • Gen 17:16 : 16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!”
  • Gen 22:17-18 : 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies. 18 Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’”
  • Gen 28:14 : 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. And so all the families of the earth may receive blessings through you and through your descendants.
  • Ps 2:8 : 8 Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your personal property.
  • Ps 72:11 : 11 All kings will bow down to him; all nations will serve him.
  • Rom 9:8 : 8 This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.
  • Gal 3:16-18 : 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say,“and to the descendants,” referring to many, but“and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise.
  • Gen 12:3 : 3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing through you.”
  • Gen 49:10 : 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Rom 4:14-20
    7 verses
    83%

    14For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.

    15For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.

    16For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants– not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

    17(as it is written,“I have made you the father of many nations”). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed– the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.

    18Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement,“so will your descendants be.”

    19Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead(because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

    20He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.

  • Gal 3:14-18
    5 verses
    80%

    14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

    15Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.

    16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say,“and to the descendants,” referring to many, but“and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.

    17What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise.

    18For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise.

  • Rom 4:9-12
    4 verses
    78%

    9Is this blessedness then for the circumcision or also for the uncircumcision? For we say,“faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”

    10How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised!

    11And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, so that he would become the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

    12And he is also the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.

  • Rom 4:1-6
    6 verses
    77%

    1The Illustration of Justification What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter?

    2For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about– but not before God.

    3For what does the scripture say?“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

    4Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.

    5But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.

    6So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

  • Gal 3:6-9
    4 verses
    75%

    6Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,

    7so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.

    8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying,“All the nations will be blessed in you.”

    9So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer.

  • Gal 3:21
    75%

    21Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

  • Rom 9:7-8
    2 verses
    74%

    7nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather“through Isaac will your descendants be counted.”

    8This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

  • Gal 3:29
    74%

    29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.

  • Rom 9:30
    73%

    30Israel’s Rejection Culpable What shall we say then?– that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith,

  • Rom 4:22-23
    2 verses
    73%

    22So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.

    23But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake,

  • Rom 3:27-28
    2 verses
    73%

    27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith!

    28For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.

  • Gal 3:11-12
    2 verses
    73%

    11Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.

    12But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them.

  • Gal 2:16
    71%

    16yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

  • Heb 11:18
    71%

    18God had told him,“Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”

  • Heb 6:13
    70%

    13Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,

  • Gal 4:22-23
    2 verses
    70%

    22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

    23But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.

  • Phil 3:9
    70%

    9and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness– a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.

  • Rom 3:22
    70%

    22namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,

  • Heb 7:6
    70%

    6But Melchizedek who does not share their ancestry collected a tithe from Abraham and blessed the one who possessed the promise.

  • Gal 4:28
    70%

    28But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.

  • Rom 10:4
    70%

    4For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

  • Acts 7:5
    70%

    5He did not give any of it to him for an inheritance, not even a foot of ground, yet God promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him, even though Abraham as yet had no child.

  • Gal 5:5
    69%

    5For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness.

  • Gen 15:6
    69%

    6Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD credited it as righteousness to him.