For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
If Abraham had been justified by his own works, he would have had something to boast about before people, but he would have had nothing to boast about before God. The contrast is between justification by works and justification resting on faith in God, which the next verse defines as Abraham believing God so that his faith was counted as righteousness. Justification, acceptance with God, and its reward are not earned by works but are given by grace through faith.
The faith that justifies receives the divine nature through Christ, whose humanity laid hold upon divinity, and through that connection overcoming becomes possible. Saving faith is to be shown by works, yet those works give no one grounds to boast before God, to claim a reward as a right, or to boast over others.
If Abraham had been justified by his own works, he would have had something to boast about before people, but he would have had nothing to boast about before God. The contrast is between justification by works and justification resting on faith in God, which the next verse defines as Abraham believing God so that his faith was counted as righteousness. Justification, acceptance with God, and its reward are not earned by works but are given by grace through faith.
The faith that justifies receives the divine nature through Christ, whose humanity laid hold upon divinity, and through that connection overcoming becomes possible. Saving faith is to be shown by works, yet those works give no one grounds to boast before God, to claim a reward as a right, or to boast over others.