Romans 4:4-8

4When a person works to get money, it is right for him to receive his money. That money is not a gift. It is what that person ought to receive as a result of his work.

5But someone may believe in God. He does not work to cause God to accept him. God accepts that person because of their faith. God says that people who have turned away from him are right with him, if they trust him. That is God's gift to them.

6David also wrote about the same thing. He describes those people that God has accepted as right with himself. God has not accepted them because they have done good things, but as his gift to them. David tells us how happy people like that are.

7David says: ‘The people that God has forgiven are really happy. They have done wrong things, but he has forgiven them.

8A person is really happy when the Lord accepts him. The Lord does not think about that person's sin any more.’