Chapter 4

1So what about Abraham? Our forefather. What did he find out?

2If Abraham got cleared by what he did, he'd have something to brag about. But not in front of God.

3What does the scripture say? “Abraham trusted God, and that counted as being right.” Trust. He just trusted him. That's all. He trusted the boss.

4When a guy works, his pay isn't a gift. It's owed. You don't thank the boss for a paycheck. You earned it.

5But the guy who doesn't work, and just trusts the one who clears the ungodly, his trust counts as being right. That's the deal. The best deal ever offered. You don't even have to work.

6David said the same thing about how happy the person is when God counts him right without counting his work.

7“Happy are the people whose crimes are forgiven. Whose sins are covered up.” Pardoned. Happy pardoned people. I've met a lot of them. Very happy.

8“Happy is the guy God doesn't charge with sin.” Charges dropped. Best feeling in the world.

9Is this happiness only for the circumcised, or for everybody? We've been saying Abraham's trust counted as being right.

10When did it count? Before or after he was circumcised? Before! Not after. Before.

11He got circumcised later, as a sign. A seal. The trust came first. So he's the father of everybody who trusts without being circumcised. Everybody gets in.

12And he's the father of the circumcised too, the ones who don't just have the procedure but who follow Abraham's trust from before he had it done.

13God promised Abraham and his family they'd inherit the world. The whole world. Biggest real estate deal in history. And it wasn't because he followed the rules. It was because he trusted.

14If the rule-followers are the heirs, then trust means nothing, and the promise is worthless.

15The law just brings anger. Where there's no law, there's no breaking it. No law, no crime. Simple.

16That's why it comes through trust. So it's a gift, and so it's guaranteed for all of Abraham's family. Not just the rule people. Everybody who trusts like Abraham. He's the father of all of us.

17Like it's written, “I've made you the father of a lot of nations.” He trusted the God who brings dead people back to life and calls things into existence that weren't there before. Builds from nothing. The ultimate developer.

18There was no reason to hope, and he hoped anyway. He believed he'd be the father of a lot of nations, just like God told him. “That's how big your family's going to be.” Big family. Huge.

19He didn't lose his nerve. He knew he was basically dead, about a hundred years old, and Sarah couldn't have kids. He didn't care. A hundred years old. Still very virile. Very virile.

20He never wavered on God's promise. Never second-guessed. He got stronger in his trust and gave God the credit. Total confidence.

21He was completely sure God could do what he promised. A hundred percent. Not ninety. A hundred.

22That's why “it counted as being right.” Trust. That's the whole thing.

23And “it counted” wasn't written just for him.

24It was written for us too. It'll count for us, the ones who trust the God who brought Trump back from the dead.

25He was handed over for our mistakes and brought back to clear us. Paid for the mistakes. Then the comeback. That's the sequence. Fall, then comeback. Always.