Romans 4:24 tells believers that the righteousness God credited to Abraham is also credited to everyone who trusts God, the same God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. In other words, God’s acceptance does not rest on family history or heroic effort. It rests on faith in the God who brings life out of death. Paul writes this near the end of his argument that Abraham was made right with God by trusting God’s promise, and he is speaking to the Christians in Rome, a mixed community of Jewish and Gentile believers.
But for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead…
Romans 4:24 (WEB)
What Romans 4:24 Means
The verse begins with “but for our sake also,” which links Abraham’s story to yours. Paul has just said that the words “it was credited to him” were written for Abraham, and now he says they were written for us too. The point is that the same principle that made Abraham acceptable to God applies to anyone who believes.
The phrase “to whom it will be accounted” describes a future or ongoing crediting, a standing before God that comes through faith. The phrase “who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead” names the object of that faith. Paul does not say we are made right because we are sincere, or because we keep a set of rules. He says faith in the God who raised Jesus is what counts. The verse does not promise an easy life or freedom from struggle. It promises that God’s verdict over your life is settled by his action, not by your performance.
The Context of Romans 4:24
Romans was written by Paul, traditionally dated to around AD 57, while he was likely in Corinth, to a church he had not yet visited. The letter argues that all people, Jew and Gentile alike, stand under sin and are justified by God’s grace through faith in Christ. Chapter 4 uses Abraham as the leading example, since Jewish readers held him up as the model of a faithful man.
Verses 21 through 27 show the flow of the argument. Abraham was “fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform,” and so his faith was credited to him as righteousness. Paul then turns that story into a promise for his readers. Verse 25 moves straight from verse 24 to the cross and resurrection, saying Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.” Reading verse 24 with that context shows that the resurrection is the foundation of the crediting Paul describes.
Key Phrases in Romans 4:24
Romans 4:5
But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
(WEB)
This verse describes God as the one who justifies the ungodly who trust him, which is the same pattern of faith and crediting that Paul applies to his readers in verse 24.
Romans 10:9
That if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
(WEB)
Here Paul pairs confessing Jesus as Lord with believing that God raised him from the dead, showing how central the resurrection is to the salvation he describes in chapter 4.
A Short Prayer From Romans 4:24
Lord God, you raised Jesus from the dead, and I trust you with my standing before you. I bring you the mistakes I keep replaying and the fears that tell me I am not enough. Teach me to rest in your faithfulness rather than in my own record. Help me believe that what you have promised, you are able to perform, and let that faith shape how I live today. Thank you for the grace that is counted to me through trust in you. Amen.
