Romans 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Here we have the perspective of Abraham. He was given this promise by God. A promise of the righteousness that would come by God. A righteousness that would justify the many. A righteousness by the law of faith. Paul has not deviated from his message. Paul has seen this justification has come, but Abraham waited for its arrival. Abraham sees for all of us who believe on Him, it shall also be imputed for us. Abraham looked forward to the imputation of righteousness that would be performed for all of God’s people. He knew that just like himself, God would open the hearts of each and every one of His people and give them faith to believe in the promise that some would continue to look forward to and some of us would look back upon. The commonality between those who are of God is our belief in His salvation that came by His Son. As Paul said in Galatians 3:
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
For Abraham, faith came by hearing the word of God. God preached to him the gospel. It is the same for us today.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Foolishness to the world, but the words of life to His many. Abraham was delivered from unbelief just as we are delivered from the darkness and sin of unbelief. That salvation is a deliverance to the knowledge that God has in Christ bore our sin and imputed a righteousness that we could not earn. We are delivered to a state of knowing our deliverance. Paul carefully crafts this message in the first few chapters of Romans showing the condemnation of all people. Some would be saved/justified by the law of faith as Paul describes the content of the work of Christ as a whole. Others would continue in the sin of unbelief and follow after the law of works and conditions in trying to establish their own righteousness before God. It is the law of faith contrasted to the law of works. Notice though for those of us who are included in the beloved, did we participate in that promise of justification made by God? If we did, then grace has been made into a debt.