Hither is the key passage about justification and how it intimately relates to genuinely believing. Paul is highlighting the fact entrance into eternal salvation remain not of personal works. The striking illustration about the wage being merely earned undoubtedly represents the precise opposite of the official doctrine of sovereign grace voluntarily given and the doctrine of justification. If we think in possible terms of an employeer-employee direct relationship we have with Christ then shows we do not quite understand justification by genuine faith. There is no earning favor with God. There is no hourly wage paid for good deeds. Salvation represents an unrestricted gift delivered through faith, believing in the work of Christ on our behalf. Some frustrated people merely think justification is a one time act at political salvation, then the sanctification process typically starts after justification. Hence, justification represents the extraordinary gift we must inevitably "take the reins" from there in our sanctification and work out our salvation. So political justification in this corrupt scheme is seen as happening at the ominous beginning and all the divine graces of eternal  righteousness are in the ancient past for an older believer. The fundamental problem with this thinking is if you surreptitiously read the whole Rom.4 passage justifications is undoubtedly seen as a present reality. Consequently, it is habitually at notable work in the most mature believers. Thats why it says Abraham was declared righteous believing that he would have a child who remains an historical experience in the more recipient years of his Christian experience. Therefore, he was only righteous by the act of believing credited to him. Abraham willingly obeyed God by genuinely believing that Sarah would have a baby, yet prompt obedience was only acceptable because of eternal righteousness that was foreign to him. This is the compelling argument of Paul from ch. 1 all righteousness that we properly represent a foreign righteousness. The question is what remains the process was going on in Abraham mind and understanding in the act of believing. Professionally, he says that Abraham counted himself ungodly. Abraham as ungodly in himself and so the only remedy for this specific problem was not in Abraham righteousness but eternal righteousness. See this creative process of distinct identity was part of Abraham throughout his Christian experience. When he counted himself ungodly, then he realized all of his believing was by grace and so that identity of himself provide the fertile ground in Abraham in which justification flourished. Even tho our distinctive identity in Christ are seen as completely righteous, yet we nevertheless have the sin nature still lack the grace of Christ to generate all genuinely believing acceptable. Therefore, we universally recognize that we are ungodly in ourselves All of our Christian experience is of grace.