What does Romans 4:25 mean?

Paul has described the amazing faith of Abraham, who believed God would keep His promises as the years made it seem more and more unlikely in human terms. Abraham always remained fully convinced God was able to keep His promise.

The same can happen for us, Paul has written. Our faith in God can be credited to us as righteousness. God will justify us and welcome us into His family for believing Him, as well. What, though, does God ask us to believe?

In the previous verse, Paul showed that God welcomes those who believe in Him as the one who raised Jesus from the dead. Now Paul continues that Jesus was "delivered up" or handed over by God as the sacrifice to pay for our trespasses or sins. In other words, Jesus' suffered and died on the cross in our place, to receive the penalty of God's wrathful judgment on our sin.

After that, God raised Jesus from the dead for our justification. The fact that Jesus was raised after He died showed that God's justice had been satisfied. Jesus had paid the full price for our sin and had been released from death. His resurrection also makes it possible for Christ's righteousness to be credited to our account, as well. It is only through Christ that we can be justified, made right with God.

It is our faith in the God who provided for our forgiveness and justification through Christ that allows us to be "counted as righteous" before God, just as the faith of Abraham was the path through which God called Him righteous, as well.