Romans 4: 1-8

"(1) What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? (2) If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God. (3) What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righeousness." (4) Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligaiton. (5) However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righeousness. (6) David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "(7) Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whos sins are covered. (8) Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." "

Sorry for being a slacker lately. It's easy to get caught up in laziness when I don't really have anything to do because it's constantly snowing. Back to Romans! Okay, so I was really confused by this passage. I didn't really understand the wording and even the footnotes in my Bible didn't help much. Thankfully there are other translations and these translations can be found online. What follows is New International Readers Version for this section. It makes SOOO much more sense!

"1 What should we say about those things? What did our father Abraham discover about being right with God? 2 Did he become right with God because of something he did? If so, he could brag about it. But he couldn't brag to God. 3 What do we find in Scripture? It says, "Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham's faith, and so his faith made him right with God."—(Genesis 15:6)
4 When a man works, his pay is not considered a gift. It is owed to him. 5 But things are different with God. He makes evil people right with himself. If people trust in him, their faith is accepted even though they do not work. Their faith makes them right with God.

6 King David says the same thing. He tells us how blessed some people are. God makes those people right with himself. But they don't have to do anything in return. David says,

7 "Blessed are those
whose lawless acts are forgiven.
Blessed are those
whose sins are taken away.
8 Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord never counts against him." —(Psalm 32:1,2)"

Here's the bottom line: You cannot be right with God through the things you do, you can only be right with God through your faith. Even Abraham, who was the ultimate hero for the Jewish faith, couldn't get to heaven through his awesome works, it had to be by faith! Faith makes you right with God!