Romans 4:20

Romans 4:20, in plain English

But he didn't waver—he didn't start doubting God's promise. Instead, his faith actually grew stronger, and he gave glory to God by trusting Him completely.

Why it's here

This is the climax of Abraham's story as Paul tells it. Despite everything—his age, Sarah's condition, years of waiting—Abraham's faith didn't shrink; it grew. And that growth itself was an act of worship, of honoring God by believing He could do what He promised.

Who's speaking

Paul

Where it sits in the story

Abraham becomes the model for every believer: someone who faced impossible circumstances and responded not with doubt but with faith that deepened and matured. His faith was his worship; his trust was his praise.

The scholarly reading

Abraham did not waver through disbelief in God's promise; instead, he grew stronger in faith and gave glory to God—his trust intensified rather than crumbled in the face of impossibility.

Language and setting

The negation 'he did not waver through disbelief' (ou diekrithē tē apistia) uses diakrino (to waver/doubt) in its most emphatic form. Instead, Abraham was 'strengthened in faith' (enedunamōthē tē pistei) and gave 'glory to God' (edōken doxan tō theō). The verb enedunamōthē (was empowered/strengthened) suggests that faith is not a static possession but a dynamic, growing orientation. Giving glory to God represents the proper human response when confronted with God's impossible promise—not to assert one's own understanding but to credit the divine power. This verse begins to transition toward the theological payoff of the argument.

Voice

Paul

Significance

Abraham's response to impossibility becomes the paradigm for all believers: faith strengthens precisely where doubt would be humanly rational, and this faith gives proper honor to God's power and reliability.

18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

19Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.

20Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

22This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Read all of Romans 4 — Long before the law existed, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Grace was the plan from the very beginning.