Romans 4:6

Even as David also pronounce the blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin.

Having already shown that Abraham was justified by an obedient faith in God, rather than by perfect fulfillment of a law not even then in existence, Paul next introduced David's remarkable pronouncement, with apparent emphasis on the fact that David spoke of justification as something imputed or reckoned, rather than as something earned or merited. The terms translated "iniquities," "sins" and "sin" are said by Lenski to regard three characteristics of sin, namely, "rebellion," "missing the mark" and "turning deliberately aside."[6] Nothing in David's statement (Psalms 32:1) suggests any basis of justification; and, therefore, the point of Paul's bringing this scripture forward lies in the fact that it refutes, by implication, the thought that anyone ever earned salvation. David's thoughts on justification show that not even the Jews had earned redemption, and this carried the implication that the Gentiles were as entitled to be saved as the Jews. But the Jew might have replied, "Oh yes, but we are circumcised." Paul then proceeded to deal with that. It will be noted that the classical diatribe method of discourse was used by Paul throughout.