Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt” (Rom. 4:1–4). In other words, before the Cross people were saved by faith apart from works. What was true of one man—Abraham—was true of a whole nation. When the Israelites “saw the great work