<p>4:4&nbsp;<i>Now to him that works</i>- the same word for &ldquo;works&rdquo; is used in Mt. 25:16, where we are to trade or &lsquo;work&rsquo; with our talents and will be judged for the quality of that working. The point surely is that we will be saved by grace, not works; and yet our works in response to that grace will be judged, and will determine the nature of the eternity, the salvation, which we enjoy- reigning over 10 or five or two cities etc. By a sublime paradox, the &ldquo;work&rdquo; we are to do is to believe in Jesus (Jn. 6:28-30). So here in Rom. 4:4 we have to again read in an ellipsis: &ldquo;He that trusts in works for his justification&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p><p><i>The reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt</i>- The only other time the word occurs in the New Testament is in the request for our debts i.e. sins to be forgiven (Mt. 6:12). We are in debt to God, to suggest He is in debt to us is bizarre- as bizarre as thinking that we can be justified by our works rather than His grace.</p>