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And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

4:3 what saith the scripture. The Scripture cited is Genesis 15:6. As Paul notes later (Romans 4:9-15), Abraham was justified by faith before he was given the sign of circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14) and before the law was given, so justification by faith is God’s original and basic standard (that is, of course, a genuine faith in God and His Word, a faith which then causes one to obey God’s Word).


4:7 Saying. This quote is from Psalm 32:1-2. This was David’s psalm of thanksgiving after his repentance over his notorious sin of adultery and homicide. Paul thus notes that justification by faith was true both before and after Moses—before, in Abraham, Israel’s great patriarch, and after, in David, Israel’s greatest king.


4:8 not impute sin. By the marvelous provision of imputation, our sins were debited to the account of Jesus, the Son of man, whereas His perfect righteousness was credited to our account. “For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21). See also James 2:23; Philemon 17-18.


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