4:3
“For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’”. Now the language used here about “counted” is accounting language, i.e. Abraham’s faith has been credited to him as righteousness on the “moral balance sheet”. Paul here is quoting from Gen 15:6. So God reckoned Abraham as righteous because of his faith, not because of his works.
4:4
Paul then emphasises the difference between a gift and a wage. We need to appreciate that the Jews would say that they were relying on the grace of God. If asked “ do you believe in the grace of God”, a Jew would have said yes. But their attitude towards works of the law, and circumcision in particular, were not consistent with such a statement. For the one who works earns his wages. If his master did not pay the wages then the master would be in the wrong. It was not that the Jews did not understand this, but they did not realise how it applied to salvation. Human nature is very subtle and will do anything it can to claim credit for us, saying we deserve to be saved.
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