1А какво ще кажем за Авраам, нашия баща по плът, какво стана при него?2Ако Авраам беше оправдан с делата си, той щеше да има с какво да се похвали, но не и пред Бога.3А какво казва Писанието? „Авраам повярва на Бога и това му бе зачетено за оправдание.“ (Бит 15:6; Гал 3:6; Як 2:23)4Защото заплатата на онзи, който работи, се смята не за милост, а като нещо, което му се полага.5Ако обаче някой няма дела, но вярва в Този, Който оправдава дори нечестивия, на него вярата му се зачита за оправдаване.6Давид също нарича блажен онзи човек, на когото Бог зачита оправдаване без дела по закона:7„Блажени онези, чието беззаконие е простено и чийто грях е покрит! (Пс 32:1)8Блажен е онзи човек, на когото Господ няма да вмени грях.“9И тъй, това блаженство само за обрязани ли е, или и за необрязани? Понеже казваме, че вярата бе зачетена на Авраам за оправдаване. (Бит 15:6; Гал 3:6; Як 2:23)10Но кога бе зачетена: когато беше обрязан или преди обрязването? Не след обрязването, а преди обрязването.11И знака на обрязването той получи като печат на оправдаването чрез вярата, която имаше преди да се обреже, за да бъде баща на всички, които са повярвали, без да са обрязани, така че и на тях да се зачете оправдаването. (Бит 17:10; Рим 3:30)12Той е баща и на обрязаните, които не само са обрязани, но и вървят по стъпките на вярата, която нашият баща Авраам имаше още преди обрязването си.
Вярата в Божието обещание
13Защото обещанието към Авраам и към потомството му – да бъде наследник на света, се даде не чрез закона, а чрез оправдаване посредством вяра. (Бит 12:7; Бит 17:4; Гал 3:29; Сир 44:19)14Ако привържениците на закона са наследници, вярата губи смисъл и обещанието се обезсилва, (Гал 3:18)15тъй като законът поражда гняв, а където пък няма закон, няма и престъпление. (Рим 5:13; Рим 7:8)16Ето защо оправдаването е поради вяра, за да бъде по милост. Така и обещанието ще има сила за всички, които не само по Закон, но и по вяра са потомци на Авраам, който е баща на всички нас, (Гал 3:7)17както е писано: Направих те баща на много народи – пред Бога, в Когото той повярва, Който съживява мъртвите и зове към съществуване несъществуващото. (Бит 17:5; 2 Кор 1:9)18И когато нямаше никаква надежда, Авраам повярва с надежда, че ще стане баща на много народи, според казаното: „Толкова многобройно ще бъде потомството ти.“ (Бит 15:5)19И макар вече стогодишен, той не отслабна във вярата, когато се замисли за тялото си, от което животът почти си бе отишъл, и за мъртвата утроба на Сарра. (Бит 17:17)20Той не се усъмни поради неверие в Божието обещание, а остана твърд във вярата, като въздаде слава на Бога,21напълно уверен, че което Бог е обещал, Той има сила и да го изпълни.22Затова и вярата му се зачете за оправдаване. (Рим 4:3; Рим 4:9)23Но не само за него е писано, че му е зачетена,24но и за нас. Ще се зачете и на нас, вярващите в Онзи, Който възкреси от мъртвите Иисус Христос, нашия Господ – (1 Пет 1:21)25предаден за нашите грехове и възкръснал за наше оправдаване. (Ис 53:5; Ис 53:11)
1What should we say about these things? What did Abraham, the father of our people, discover about being right with God?2Did he become right with God because of something he did? If so, he could boast about it. But he couldn’t boast to God.3What do we find in Scripture? It says, ‘Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham’s faith, and so his faith made him right with God.’ (Бит 15:6)4When a person works, their pay is not considered a gift. It is owed to them.5But things are different with God. He makes ungodly 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.6King David says the same thing. He tells us how blessed people are when God makes them right with himself. They are blessed because 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.8Blessed is the person whose sin the Lord never counts against them.’ (Пс 32:1; Пс 32:2)9Is that blessing only for those who are circumcised? Or is it also for those who are not circumcised? We have been saying that God accepted Abraham’s faith. So his faith made him right with God.10When did it happen? Was it after Abraham was circumcised, or before? It was before he was circumcised, not after!11He was circumcised as a sign of the covenant God had made with him. It showed that his faith had made him right with God before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all believers who have not been circumcised. God accepts their faith. So their faith makes them right with him.12And Abraham is also the father of those who are circumcised and believe. So just being circumcised is not enough. Those who are circumcised must also follow the steps of our father Abraham. He had faith before he was circumcised.13Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God.14Do those who depend on the law receive the promise? If they do, faith would mean nothing. God’s promise would be worthless.15The law brings God’s anger. Where there is no law, the law can’t be broken.16The promise is based on God’s grace. The promise comes by faith. All of Abraham’s children will certainly receive the promise. And it is not only for those who are ruled by the law. Those who have the same faith that Abraham had are also included. He is the father of us all.17It is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ God considers Abraham to be our father. The God that Abraham believed in gives life to the dead. Abraham’s God also creates things that did not exist before. (Бит 17:5)18When there was no reason for hope, Abraham believed because he had hope. He became the father of many nations, exactly as God had promised. God said, ‘That is how many children you will have.’ (Бит 15:5)19Abraham did not become weak in his faith. He accepted the fact that he was past the time when he could have children. At that time Abraham was about 100 years old. He also realised that Sarah was too old to have children.20But Abraham kept believing in God’s promise. He became strong in his faith. He gave glory to God.21He was absolutely sure that God had the power to do what he had promised.22That’s why ‘God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.’ (Бит 15:6)23The words ‘God accepted Abraham’s faith’ were written not only for Abraham.24They were written also for us. We believe in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. So God will accept our faith and make us right with himself.25Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised to life in order to make us right with God.