Romans 4 is often touted as the biblical “proof” for Reformed soteriology. However, when exegeted carefully, the opposite is actually true; see, for instance the following posts that address issues raised in Rom 4:
The following from biblical scholar, Celsius Spicq, on Rom 4:5 and the meaning of δικαιοω further refutes the “legal fiction” Reformed apologists teach based on their (eisegesis-driven) reading of the passage:
Cf. Rom 4:5—“The one who has no works but who believes in the One who justifies (δικαιουντα) the ungodly, will have his faith counted as righteousness.” M.J. Legrange (on this verse) comments: “δικαιοω in the active cannot mean ‘forgive’: it has to be ‘declare just’ or ‘make just.’ That God should declare the ungodly righteous is a blasphemous proposition. But in addition, when would this declaration be made?” H.W. Heidland (TDNT, vol. 4, pp. 288-292) explains λογιζεσθαι: “Justification is not a fiction alongside the reality. If God counts faith as righteousness, man is wholly righteous in God’s eyes . . . He becomes a new creature through God’s λογιζεσθαι.” (Celsius Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament [trans. James D. Ernest; 3 vols.: Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1994], 1:342 n. 88)
