Romans 4:1-8: in context

Paul turns to Abraham to show how a person is made right with God. Was Abraham justified by his works? No, Paul says; for Scripture declares, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. To the one who works, wages are owed as a debt; but to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. And Paul cites David's blessing on the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: blessed are those whose sins are forgiven, whom the Lord will not charge with sin.

Paul's argument sets two ways of being made right with God against each other. One is by works: earning righteousness, doing enough good to deserve God's acceptance, being paid the wages of our own righteousness. The other is by faith: believing God, trusting the one who justifies the ungodly, and having righteousness credited to us as a gift, not earned but reckoned by faith. And Paul, from Abraham and David, shows that it is the second, not the first, by which we are made right with God. Righteousness is credited by faith, not earned by works; God justifies the ungodly who simply believe him. This is the heart of the gospel, and it is astonishing. God justifies the ungodly, not the deserving; he credits righteousness to those who do not work but believe. This overturns the natural assumption that we must earn God's acceptance by our goodness, that righteousness is a wage to be earned. Paul says the opposite: to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, faith is credited as righteousness. We are made right with God not by our own works, which could never earn it, but by faith, trusting the God who justifies the ungodly as a gift of grace. By grace you have been saved, Paul says elsewhere, through faith, and not of works, that no one may boast. This is a comfort beyond measure for those who know they cannot earn God's acceptance. If righteousness had to be earned by works, we would be lost, for our works could never be enough. But God credits righteousness by faith, justifying the ungodly who believe; and so the door is open to us, not on the ground of our deserving, which we lack, but on the ground of faith, trusting the God who justifies freely. Blessed, David says, are those whose sins are forgiven, whom the Lord will not charge with sin. The blessedness is being counted righteous not by works but by grace, through faith. This calls us to receive righteousness by faith rather than trying to earn it by works. Paul shows that Abraham and David were counted righteous not by works but by faith, and that God justifies the ungodly who believe. And we too are made right with God not by earning it through our works, which could never suffice, but by faith, trusting the God who justifies the ungodly freely. Let us not try to earn what cannot be earned, but receive righteousness as the gift it is, by faith in the God who credits righteousness to those who believe, and rejoice in the blessedness of sins forgiven and righteousness credited, not by works, but by grace through faith.

Do I try to earn God's acceptance by my works, assuming righteousness is a wage to be earned by being good enough, or can Paul's teaching that Abraham and David were counted righteous by faith and not works, and that God justifies the ungodly who simply believe him, move me to receive righteousness as the gift it is, by faith rather than by earning, trusting the God who credits righteousness to those who believe and rejoicing in the blessedness of sins forgiven and righteousness credited by grace, not by works?