Grace or Debt. Romans 4:4-5 v.4. Contrary to what most people would like to believe, the more a person labors to make themselves righteous before God, the greater the debt they owe. Their works are not done according to the grace of God but according to the debt they owe. How many works does it take to pay off the debt of sins that deserve death? There are no laborious efforts that all men put together could do that would cancel that debt because all have sinned and all are sinners by nature. No one ever got righteousness because of their worth or their works. One must stop trying to be righteous before God by what he does. Doing righteous acts is not wrong, but if those would mean salvation, they would be simply wages, and the wages of sin is death. The idea that our good deeds are weighed against our bad deeds would leave us permanently in debt. God’s salvation is a gift that is freely offered to everyone.
The person who tries to pray themselves into favor with God must not trust in prayers to make him or her acceptable to God. God wants to hear from the contrite sinner: "God be merciful to me, the sinner." God will justify the ungodly when they truly mean this. Another may set about to do great acts of penance to make themselves righteous, but salvation is by grace alone, "Not of works lest any man should boast." One may count on church membership as a work that would earn the favor of God, but it is the ungodly whom God justifies.
People make distinctions between sinners. Some will say, "I know I am a sinner, but basically, I am a good person." Others compare themselves to others and say, "I know I am not perfect, but I am better than them." It is essential that everyone, no matter who they are or what they have done, good or bad, acknowledge the truth that they are ungodly. Everyone who is convinced of the fact they are a sinner before God, are lost by nature and practice and are helpless to do anything to change that terrible state will find no problem understanding and admitting that they are ungodly. When we grasp that fact, we are in a place where God can justify us.
V.5. Faith in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way sins are forgiven. God accepts a sinner based on the righteousness of Christ, who was the sacrificial substitute for those who have sinned against God. No person can make God a debtor to him or her. That is what a “works salvation” would mean. A person would make God obligated to them for what they have done. When people know they are without merit and worth and their works cannot save them, they cast themselves on the free grace of God by placing their faith in Christ, and that person is accepted as righteous.
When such an admission of being ungodly comes from within the heart and soul of the repentant sinner, one's faith is willingly and heartily placed in the Person of Christ and the blood that He shed for ungodly sinners. The precious blood of Christ puts away sin, and it is on that foundation that God can declare righteous, the one who believes in Jesus. He can justify the ungodly, not the "godly." We are all ungodly, whether we like to admit it or not. It is not the born-again person God justifies; it is the ungodly. It is not the praying person God declares righteous but the ungodly. It is not the faithful church attendee God declares righteous; it is the ungodly.
If a person has not come as an ungodly one to trust Christ alone for salvation, that person is not justified and has not been declared righteous. God only declares righteous the ungodly who believe in Him. So, the "working" way in verse four contrasts with the "believing" method in verse five. There is no room for boasting when it comes to salvation. Works and grace do not mix. When a person stops working for divine favor and hears the message of the Gospel that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again, and finished the work of redemption by paying the ransom price for sin with His own blood on the cross, he or she can rest there. He knows he is a sinner and is ungodly. He comes to Christ just as he is. He is received through Christ, and God justifies him as he is. God's Word assures him or her that they are welcomed into His family. There is no boasting, only thankfulness from a grateful heart.