Week 9 - Saturday

God's Promise to Abraham

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there violation. (Romans 4:13-15)

In Romans 4:1-8 Paul has shown that both Abraham and David were not justified by their works but by their faith. Paul knew a lot of the Jews would object to this because most of them believed that they were justified by their works. Two of the works they depended upon most to save them was their circumcision and their obedience to the Law. In Romans 4:9-12 Paul answered their objection by stating that Abraham’s justification had nothing to do with his circumcision. He pointed out that Abraham was declared righteous by God before he was circumcised. In fact Abraham was declared righteous by God more than 13 years before he was circumcised. Therefore Abraham could not have possibly been justified by his circumcision. Abraham was not justified by keeping the Law either. In Abraham’s case that too would not have been possible. The first person God gave His Law to was Moses and that didn't happen until more than 400 years after Abraham lived. That isn't the argument Paul uses here though. He did use it in his letter to the Galatians (Gal. 3:17-18), but here Paul defends his position by explaining that it's impossible to be justified by works because if it were possible, it would cancel or nullify God's promise.

A promise that's subject to an impossible condition isn't really a promise at all. It's kind of like a father telling his child that if they don't do anything wrong for a whole year, he will give them $10,000. The father never expects to have to pay his child the money because he knows the condition he has set is impossible. Paul has already shown us in Romans that no one can be saved by keeping the Law because no one is capable of keeping it perfectly. Therefore if God’s promises depended on whether or not a person could keep God’s Law (which is an impossible condition), there would not be any promises at all. Our faith in God would be useless or void because all of God's promises would be nullified by the impossible condition. God made some promises to Abraham. The first promise regarded a land. God told Abraham that his descendants would inherit a land of their own. God's second promise concerned a people. God promised Abraham that he would have a son. God also told him he would have so many descendants they would not even be able to be counted. God's third promise involved a blessing. God promised Abraham that through him the entire world would be blessed. God kept all those promises he made to Abraham. Abraham did have the son God promised. Although it wasn't until hundreds of years later, the Jews finally did inherit their land and became a great nation. The entire world was blessed through one of Abraham's descendants too. The very first verse in the New Testament tells us who that was. It says that Jesus Christ is the son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). Jesus's mother Mary was a Jew. That means that Jesus is a physical descendant of Abraham and it was through Jesus that God blessed the entire world. Paul sums up God's promises by saying that Abrahams descendants would be heir of the world. Everyone who receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is united to Him through His Spirit and they become children of God. The Bible says that Jesus will one day inherit all things and those who are children of God will be joint heirs of the world with Him.

The Law simply cannot save us. God gave it to us to show us our sin. He did it so it would lead us to Christ, that we might be saved from God's wrath against sin. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that a person can be right with God. Jesus lived a perfect life that was pleasing to God. That's why His death was a worthy enough sacrifice to pay for all the sins that every person would ever commit. The punishment that the Law demanded was completely satisfied by Christ. In God's eyes those who believe in Him are no longer guilty of any violation. Abraham believed the promises of God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Today, we too are saved by believing God's promises. God asks us to believe that he offered His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He asks us to believe that He then raised him from the dead. He asks us to believe that now, His Son Jesus, is building a kingdom of people who will inherit everything with Him and live forever. The way that we can be righteous before God is by believing, just as Abraham did, the promises of God. Through faith in Jesus Christ all believers are blessed. They become descendants of Abraham, children of God, and heirs of the world. What a glorious future we have in Christ. Praise God and thank Him for all that he has promised to us.

Readings for today: Gen. 12:1-3, 13:14-16, 15:5, 18:18; Gal. 3:14, 29; Rom. 8:16-17; John 1:12