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Romans 4 · a question people ask

"for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience" (4:15). Does that mean no one did wrong before the law?

In the text

The verse doesn't say that. Its words are "For the law produces wrath; for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience." (4:15) (tap disobedience). Its word is disobedience, and it doesn't say here whether anyone did wrong before the law was given. The letter comes to the time before the law in the next chapter (5:13-14), and Favor's Romans 5 takes those verses up there. These notes say no more than 4:15 does.

The verses

“For the law produces wrath; for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.”
Romans 4:15 · World English Bible
“For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.”
Romans 5:13-14 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Romans 4

Romans 4: Abraham believed God

Behind accounted, counted, counts, credited and charge in Romans 4 is one Greek verb, eleven times in one chapter. Abraham believed "God, who gives life to the dead" (4:17), and the chapter ends with those "who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (4:24).

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions