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From: Romans 4:13, 16-18

The Example of Abraham

[13] The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the
world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

[16] That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace
and be guaranteed to all his descendant—not only to the adherents of the law but
also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, [17] it
is written, “I have made you the father of many nations—in the presence of the
God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the
things that do not exist. [18] In hope he believed against hope, that he should
become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So shall your descen-
dants be.”

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Commentary:

13-14. God made this promise to Abraham about his having countless descen-
dants (cf. Gen 15:5-6) centuries before the Mosaic Law was given to the people
of Israel through Moses. Therefore, the promise made to Abraham was not linked
to the Law but rather to the Patriarch’s faith. That is why the heirs of the promise
are those who follow the faith of Abraham.

15. The Old Law, giving man a more exact knowledge of the natural law without
giving him special help (grace) to keep the law, “brings [God’s] wrath”: sin is
committed when one simply breaks the natural law, but it takes on the character
of “transgression” because one is flying in the face of explicit law of God.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.