But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. The apostle in this verse expresses himself in language the most naked and emphatic, as if to preclude the possibility of either misapprehending or perverting his meaning. The faith, he says, which is counted for righteousness is the faith of "him who worketh not." But as if even this would not make it sufficiently evident that God, in justifying the believer, has no respect to any personal merit of his, He explains further what He means, by adding the words, "but believeth on Him who justifieth the ungodly;" those who have no personal merit on which the eye of God, if it required such, could fasten as a recommendation to His favour. This, says the apostle, is the faith which is counted for righteousness. So much for the case of Abraham.
Second: David sings of the same gratuitous justification (Romans 4:6-8)