Readers' Theatre: Romans 4: 1-17

Here’s a readers’ theatre setting of Romans 4: 1-17. It is set for two voices.

Readers’ Theatre: Romans 4: 1-17

One:    Abraham was, humanly speaking,
            the founder of our Jewish nation.
            What did he discover about being made right with God?

Two:    If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God,
            he would have had something to boast about.
            But that was not God’s way. 
            For the Scriptures tell us,

One:    Abraham believed God,
            and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Two:    When people work, their wages are not a gift,
            but something they have earned. 
            But people are counted as righteous,
            not because of their work,
            but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. 

One:    Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth
            to Abraham and his descendants
            was based not on his obedience to God’s law,
            but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. 
            If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law,
            then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 

Two:    For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it.

One:    The only way to avoid breaking the law
            is to have no law to break!

Two:    So the promise is received by faith.
            It is given as a free gift.

One:    And we are all certain to receive it,
            whether or not we live according to the law of Moses,
            if we have faith like Abraham’s.

Two:    For Abraham is the father of all who believe. 
            That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him,

One:    “I have made you the father of many nations.” 

Two:    This happened because Abraham believed in the God
            who brings the dead back to life
            and who creates new things out of nothing.