For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Parallel Translations
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For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
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For the promes that he shuld be the heyre of the worlde was not geven to Abraham or to his seed thorow the lawe: but thorow the rightewesnes which cometh of fayth.
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For the promise that he should be the heire of the worlde, was not giuen to Abraham, or to his seede, through the Lawe, but through the righteousnesse of faith.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Romans 4:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 3:29 If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
- Genesis 28:14 Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
- Genesis 22:17-18 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.’ ”
- Romans 9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.
- Psalms 2:8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
- Genesis 17:4-6 “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you.
- Genesis 17:16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”
- Galatians 3:16-18 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, which is Christ. Now I say this: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.
- Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.
- Psalms 72:11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 13. For the promise, etc. He now more clearly…
13. For the promise, etc. He now more clearly sets the law and faith in opposition, the one to the other, which he had before in some measure done; and this ought to be carefully observed: for if faith borrows nothing from the law in order to justify, we hence understand, that it has respect to nothing else but to the mercy of God. And further, the romance of those who would have this to have been said of ceremonies, may be easily disproved; for if works contributed anything towards justification, it ought not to have been said, through the written law, but rather, through the law of nature. But Paul does not oppose spiritual holiness of life to ceremonies, but faith and its righteousness. The meaning then is, that heirship was promised to Abraham, not because he deserved it by keeping the law, but because he had obtained righteousness by faith. And doubtless (as Paul will presently show) consciences can then only enjoy solid peace, when they know that what is not justly due is freely given them.
Hence also it follows, that this benefit, the reason for which applies equally to both, belongs to the Gentiles no less than to the Jews; for if the salvation of men is based on the goodness of God alone, they check and hinder its course, as much as they can, who exclude from it the Gentiles.
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That he should be the heir of the world, etc. Since he now speaks of eternal salvation, the Apostle seems to have somewhat unseasonably led his readers to the world; but he includes generally under this word world, the restoration which was expected through Christ. The chief thing was indeed the restoration of life; it was yet necessary that the fallen state of the whole world should be repaired. The Apostle, in Hebrews 1:2, calls Christ the heir of all the good things of God; for the adoption which we obtain through his favor restores to us the possession of the inheritance which we lost in Adam; and as under the type of the land of Canaan, not only the hope of a heavenly life was exhibited to Abraham, but also the full and complete blessing of God, the Apostle rightly teaches us, that the dominion of the world was promised to him. Some taste of this the godly have in the present life; for how much soever they may at times be oppressed with want, yet as they partake with a peaceable conscience of those things which God has created for their use, and as they enjoy through his mercy and good-will his earthly benefits no otherwise than as pledges and earnests of eternal life, their poverty does in no degree prevent them from acknowledging heaven, and the earth, and the sea, as their own possessions.
Though the ungodly swallow up the riches of the world, they can yet call nothing as their own; but they rather snatch them as it were by stealth; for they possess them under the curse of God. It is indeed a great comfort to the godly in their poverty, that though they fare slenderly, they yet steal nothing of what belongs to another, but receive their lawful allowance from the hand of their celestial Father, until they enter on the full possession of their inheritance, when all creatures shall be made subservient to their glory; for both heaven and earth shall be renewed for this end, — that according to their measure they may contribute to render glorious the kingdom of God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain A reason why the seed of Abraham is to…
A reason why the seed of Abraham is to be esteemed by faith, because that Abraham himself through faith was made partaker of that promise, whereby he was made the father of all nations.
That all the nations of the world should be his children: or by the world may be understood the land of Canaan.
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For works that he had done, or upon this condition that he should fulfill the Law.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 13 For the promise, that he should be the…
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Ver. 13. Heir of the world] That is, of heaven, say some; of Canaan, say others, the pleasant land, more esteemed of God than all the world besides, because it was the seat of the Church. A man is called every creature, Mar 16:15; the Church is called all things, Col 1:18. So Canaan is called the world, and Tabor and Hermon put for the east and west of the whole world, Psa 89:12.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Some by the world do understand, the world of…
Some by the world do understand, the world of the faithful, or believers dispersed over all the world: and so in effect it is the same which he said before, that Abraham should be the father of all that believe, whether of the circumcision or uncircumeision. Others by the world do understand the land of Canaan, under which also heaven was typically promised and comprehended: see Heb 4:3; Heb 11:9,10,16. This, by a synecdoche, is put for all the world; and so also Tabor and Hermen are put for the east and west of the whole world, Psa 89:12. This was promised to Abraham and to his seed, Gen 12:7; 15:18.
Was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith; i.e. it was not made to Abraham because he had merited it by keeping the law; but because he had believed God, and obtained the righteousness of faith. In the whole verse is couched an argument for justification by faith without works, which is the apostle’s drift; and it may be thus formed: If the promise of inheritance to Abraham and his seed was to be accomplished not by legal obedience, but by the righteousness of faith; then it follows, that we are justified by faith, and not by works; but the promise of inheritance to Abraham and his seed was to be accomplished, not by the law, but by the righteousness of faith.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain That is, the great promise which God made to…
That is, the great promise which God made to Abraham, and his seed, that they should possess that rich and pleasant part of the world, the land of Canaan, under which also heaven itself was typically promised and comprehended, was not made upon condition of their performing perfect obedience to the law, but they were to obtain it by faith; that is, by trusting to, and depending upon the gracious promise of a faithful God.
Note here, The argument couched for justification by faith without works, which is the apostle’s grand scope, design and drift; it runs thus: "If a promise made to the father of the faithful was accomplished, not by legal obedience, but by the righteousness of faith; then it follows, that all his children are justified by faith, as Abraham their father was. But the promise of the earthly inheritance, and under it, of the heavenly one, was accomplished, not by the law, but by the righteousness of Abraham’s faith: Therefore, justification is not to be expected by the works of the law, but by faith alone."
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For if they which are of the law be…
For if they which are of the law be heirs,.... That is, if the Jews who are under the law, and are seeking for righteousness and life by the works of it, should, on the account of their obedience to it, be heirs of the grace of life and of glory,
faith is made void; for if the right to the inheritance is by the works of the law, there is no room for faith; that can be of no use or service;
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and the promise made of none effect: if salvation is by works, it is to no purpose for God to promise, or men to believe; for the thing promised depends not upon God's promise, but upon man's obedience to the law; and if that is not perfectly observed, as it cannot possibly be, then the promise of God stands for nothing, and is in course made void. The apostle here argues from the absurdities which follow upon the doctrine of justification by works, as he does from the different effects of the law, in the following verse.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The promise, that he should be the heir of…
The promise, that he should be the heir of the world - Is the same as that he should be "the father of all nations," namely, of those in all nations who receive the blessing. The whole world was promised to him and them conjointly. Christ is the heir of the world, and of all things; and so are all Abraham's seed, all that believe in him with the faith of Abraham
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. For the promise, that he should be…
Verse 13. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world] This promise intimated that he should be the medium through whom the mercy of God should be communicated to the world, to both Jews and Gentiles; and the manner in which he was justified, be the rule and manner according to which all men should expect this blessing. Abraham is here represented as having all the world given to him as his inheritance; because in him all nations of the earth are blessed: this must therefore relate to their being all interested in the Abrahamic covenant; and every person, now that the covenant is fully explained, has the privilege of claiming justification through faith, by the blood of the Lamb, in virtue of this original grant.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For the promise ... - To show that the…
For the promise ... - To show that the faith of Abraham, on which his justification depended, was not by the Law, the apostle proceeds to show that the promise concerning which his faith was so remarkably evinced was before the Law was given. If this was so, then it was an additional important consideration in opposition to the Jew, showing that acceptance with God depended on faith, and not on works.
That he should be heir of the world - An heir is one who succeeds, or is to succeed to an estate. In this passage, the world, or the entire earth, is regarded as the estate to which reference is made, and the promise is that the posterity of Abraham should succeed to that, or should possess it as their inheritance. The precise expression used here, “heir of the world,” is not found in the promises made to Abraham Those promises were that God would make of him a great nation Gen 12:2; that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed Gen 12:3; that his posterity should be as the stars for multitude Gen 15:5; and that he should be a father of many nations Gen 17:5. As this latter promise is one to which the apostle particularly refers (see Rom 4:17), it is probable that he had this in his eye. This promise had, at first, respect to his numerous natural descendants, and to their possessing the land of Canaan. But it is also regarded in the New Testament as extending to the Messiah Gal 3:16 as his descendant, and to all his followers as the spiritual seed of the father of the faithful. When the apostle calls him “the heir of the world,” he sums up in this comprehensive expression all the promises made to Abraham, intimating that his spiritual descendants, that is, those who possess his faith, shall yet be so numerous as to possess all lands.
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Or to his seed - To his posterity, or descendants.
Through the law - By the observance of the Law; or made in consequence of observing the Law; or depending on the condition that he should observe the Law. The covenant was made before the law of circumcision was given; and long before the Law of Moses (compare Gal 3:16-18), and was independent of both.
But through ... - In consequence of or in connection with the strong confidence which he showed in the promises of God, Gen 15:6.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Of the world, &c. By the world, some understand…
Of the world, &c. By the world, some understand the land of Chanaan, which is sometimes meant by the whole earth, particularly in the times of David and Solomon, when they ruled over the neighbouring nations. But others think that the apostle alludes to the passage of Genesis, where the Almighty promises that in his (Abraham’s) seed, all the nations of the earth should be blessed; which promise extends much beyond the narrow limits of Chanaan. In fine, it may be understood in a spiritual sense, of his dignity of father of all the faithful; which makes him, in a manner, master of the whole world, since his spiritual children, spread through the whole world, have the universe for their inheritance. (Calmet) --- Postula a me, et dabo tibi Gentes hæreditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terræ. (Psalm ii. 8.) (Haydock) --- It was by Christ that Abraham was to be heir of the world, in as much as the spiritual kingdom of Christ should be spread over all the world. And this of one who was of the seed of David, being heir of the world, was not by the law, or by virtue of the law, which was not given to Moses till 400 years after. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For the promise, &c.--This is merely an enlargement of…
For the promise, &c.--This is merely an enlargement of the foregoing reasoning, applying to the law what had just been said of circumcision.
that he should be the heir of the world--or, that "all the families of the earth should be blessed in him."
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was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law--in virtue of obedience to the law.
but through the righteousness of faith--in virtue of his simple faith in the divine promises.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Heir of the world—Through his divine-human descendant, to…
13. Heir of the world—Through his divine-human descendant, to whom all power in heaven and earth was given. (Note on Mat_28:18.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. For the promise, &c.] Here again the Gr.…
13. For the promise, &c.] Here again the Gr. order is emphatic: For not through the law came the promise, &c.
that he should be the heir] Perhaps better, namely, his being: heir, in apposition with “the promise.” The promise made him heir at once, and foretold actual possession. The Gr. word rendered “heir” sometimes means one with a prospect of possession, more rarely an actual possessor.
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the world] Perhaps here in its widest meaning; “heaven and earth,” “the universe.” In Christ, the Son of Abraham, to whom “all power is given in heaven and earth,” the inheritance is seen to be universal. And even a Rabbinic phrase is quoted in which “heaven and earth” are named as promised to Abraham. (See too p. 260.) But looking at Gen_12:3; Gen_22:18, and at the frequent use of “the world” for “the world of man” (e. g. ch. Rom_1:8, Rom_3:19; Col_1:6; 1Ti_3:16;) and at the special doctrine of this passage (that of a righteousness for believers of every nation), it seems best to understand it here as = “every land.” Abraham was to possess, in “his seed,” every land; “all kindreds, peoples, and tongues.” Comparing Gal_3:16 and its connexion, it seems clear that the reference here is to the dominion of Christ, “the Prince of the kings of the earth,” to whom “the utmost parts of the earth” are given “for His possession,”—a possession real now, and indeed manifested as real in the important respect that the redeeming power of Messiah is felt in every region, and in an ever-growing degree.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Abraham was the father of all who walk…
(13) Abraham was the father of all who walk in his steps. For this all is not limited by the Law any more than it is limited by circumcision. The promise of that world-wide inheritance was not given through the agency of the Law (which at that time did not exist), but as an effect of the righteousness which proceeds from faith.
Heir of the world.—This promise was explained by the Jews of the universal sovereignty of the Messiah.
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Through the righteousness of faith.—As a further consequence of that (imputed) righteousness which proceeds from faith. Three stages are indicated: (1) faith, (2) imputed righteousness, (3) access to the Messianic kingdom with all its privileges.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 13-15. For not through law was the promise…
Vers. 13-15. For not through law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith, For if they which are of law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. For the Law worketh wrath: for where no law is, neither is there transgression. The point of the argument is that the principle of law is essentially different from that on which Abraham was justified, and which is hence to be understood in the fulfilment of the promise to him and his seed. How this is so is shortly intimated in ver. 15, the idea being more fully expounded in ch. 7. The idea is (as has been already explained) that law simply declares what is right, and requires conformity to it; it does not give either power to obey, or atonement for not obeying. Hence, in itself, it worketh, not righteousness, but wrath; for man becomes fully liable to wrath when he comes to know, through law, the difference between right and wrong. (cf. Joh_9:41, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin Exactly the same view of the impossibility of the Mosaic Law being the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham is found in Ga 3, where also the real purpose of the Law, intervening thus between the promise and its fulfilment, is further explained. The expression in ver. 13, "that he should be the heir of the world," has reference to the ultimate scope of the Abrahamic promises. (see Gen_12:2, 3 13:14-16 15:5, 6, 18 17:2-9 18:18 22:17, 18) Now, it is true that in some of these promises the language used seems to denote no more than the temporal possession by Israel of the promised land, with dominion (actually realized under David and Solomon) over the whole country from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, as in Gen_13:14, 15 15:18, etc. But their full scope transcends any such limited fulfilment, as where it is said that the promised seed should be as the stars of heaven, and as the dust of the earth that cannot be numbered, and that in it all the nations of the earth should be blessed. The prophets accordingly recognized a far larger ultimate fulfilment in their frequent pictures of the Messiah"s universal dominion; and there was no need for the apostle to prove here what the Jews already understood. The only difference between the view current among them and his would be that they would mostly have in view a universal worldly sovereignty with its local centre on the throne of David at Jerusalem, while he interpreted spirttually, seeing beyond the outward framework of prophetic visions to the ideal they imply. Heres mundi idem est quod pater omnium gentium, benedictionem accipientium. Totus mundus promissus est Abrahae et semini ejus per totum mundum conjunctim. Abrahamo obtigit terra Canaan, et sic aliis alia pars; atque corporalia sunt specimen spiritualium. Christus beres mundi, et omuium, (Heb_1:2 Heb_2:5 Rev_11:15) et qui in eum credunt Abrahae exemplo (Mat_5:5) (Bengel). It is to be observed that, though Abraham himself in ver. 13 is spoken of as "the heir of the world," yet the preceding expression, "to Abrabam or to his seed," sufficiently intimates that it is in his seed, identified with him, that he is conceived as so inheriting.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For the promise, that he should be the heir…
Rom_4:13-15
For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not … through the law.
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The promise made to Abraham
I. The promise, that he should be heir of the world, was made not entirely to Abraham, but to his seed also (Rom_4:16). This promise included--
1. Both the earthly and the heavenly Canaan, for--
(1) Abraham and the other believing patriarchs so understood it (Heb_11:8-10; Heb_11:13-16). But no promise of it is to be found unless it was couched under that of the earthly Canaan as a type. The whole of the gospel revelation was then, and for many ages afterwards, under the veil of figurative language, and of typical rites, objects, and events. But that the promise was given was manifest from the passages from Hebrews just quoted, and also from Heb_6:12.
(2) Believers in all ages are called heirs according to the promise of inheritance given to Abraham (Gal_3:18; Gal_3:10; Heb_6:17-20).
2. But the word world means the whole inhabited earth that was to be the possession of Abrahams seed; and the possession of Canaan was but a small prelude to it. There is an obvious difference between a right and actual possession. The whole earth may be, by the gift or promise of God, the property of this seed, although they may not be for a good while invested with the actual possession of it. The view of the promise, therefore, must be understood of the seed, collectively considered. Were we speaking of the wars in any former period of British history, we should say, without hesitation, We were successful in such a battle. So we may, with perfect propriety, say that the promise spoken of is to us because it shall be verified to the seed of which we are a part. The following scriptures countenance this view of the promise (Psa_2:8; Psa_72:8; Dan_7:27; Isa_54:3). When the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and thus the declaration be fulfilled, in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed; then the promise, that Abraham should be the heir of the world, shall be fully verified, the whole earth becoming the possession of his seed--the people of God.
II. In considering the extent of the promise, I have necessarily led you to anticipate my view of the seed here spoken of. Of this we have a plain infallible interpretation (Gal_3:16). That the name Christ is sometimes used as inclusive of His people, the Head being intended to express the whole body connected with it is evident from 1Co_12:12. It is so used in Galatians. For while Christ is here said to be the Seed, to whom the promises were made, it is said that believers are Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise. And the reason of their being so called is their being all one in Christ Jesus (Gal_3:28-29). The passage before us likewise makes the same thing evident. The seed, in this verse, is that of which Abraham is the father, in the spiritual sense, even the seed spoken of in verses 11, 12 consisting of all them that believe. These passages show, then, that the promises contained in the Abrahamic covenant--
1. Were both made to the same seed: To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. There is no hint of the distinction that the temporal promise was made to the fleshly seed as such, and the spiritual promise to the spiritual seed as such. But the promises of that covenant, without difference, are declared to have been made, not to seeds as to many, but as of one, and to thy Seed which is Christ.
2. And if this be a just view of the matter, it follows that these promises were made on the same footing. None of them were given on the ground of law or personal obedience, but all by grace (Gal_3:16). Which leads us to consider--
III. The ground on which the promise rests. The inheritance must certainly mean, in the first instance, the earthly inheritance; that which is literally specified in the promise. And it must have continued to be held not by law, but on the footing of the original grant made to Abraham and to the one seed here mentioned. The heavenly inheritance is admitted to be entirely a matter of free promise, and never can become, as to us, a matter or right on the ground of personal obedience or of law. Now, if it was otherwise with the earthly inheritance, the type fails in one of the most important and striking points of resemblance. But we are not left to inference. Recorded facts appear in perfect harmony with the apostles statement.
1. What was the reason why the Israelites wandered forty years in the wilderness till the rebellious generation was consumed? It was unbelief (Heb_3:18-19; Heb_4:2) which amounted to a rejection of the Word of God and a rejection of God Himself, as the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
2. The Israelites are, indeed, spoken of as continuing to hold the land of Canaan in possession through obedience; but by this obedience we must understand the obedience of faith, that is, obedience springing from and evincing faith, for, if the inheritance be of the law it is no more of promise; and if they who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. These expressions stand in perfect opposition to the idea of the land of Canaan being ever held as the reward of legal obedience. Many passages, accordingly, describe the obedience required of Israel as being inward and spiritual subjection, manifested by outward (Deu_10:12-22; Deu_6:1-19). And such subjection is the fruit and evidence of faith.
3. The reason why the Jews were, with such awful judgments, at length cast out from the Land of Promise, and now continue a proverb, and a bye-word, and a hissing among all nations, corresponds with these ideas. It was unbelief--rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom_11:20, etc.; Luk_19:41-44; Mat_23:34-39; 1Th_2:15-16; Act_3:23, etc.). The curses which Moses so many hundred years before had denounced against them, if they should prove disobedient, were verified on account of their unbelief. Thus it appears that the promise was originally through faith--that it was as professors of Abrahams faith that the Israelites entered on the possession of Canaan--that the possession was continued through the obedience of faith--and that, on account of the opposite disobedience, judgments were threatened and inflicted. By faith the inheritance was obtained; by faith it was held; and by unbelief it was lost. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Abrahams privilege and how he attained it
I. The position which Abraham attained.
1. He was made by God the heir of the world. We must look upon the patriarch--
(1) As the natural head of the nation.
(2) As the federal head of a peculiar people, for all believers are styled the children of Abraham. They which are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. If ye be Christs, then are ye Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise.
2. It is necessary to keep these distinct, otherwise we shall confound the blessings peculiar to Israel with blessings peculiar to Christians.
(1) There are certain blessings of a substantial nature, every one of which became secured by charter to the house of Israel. Do we not find Scripture portraying the beauty, the glory, and the fertility of that land which God was to give to His people? Do we not find promises of temporal protection--all of which are bestowed upon the natural children of Abraham?
(2) Now ask whether this presents to us the blessings peculiar to the spiritual people? Where have we in the Word of God assurances that prosperity and worldly distinction are to belong to them? That they may belong to their condition is possible, but that they are not a necessary part of their present condition is very certain. A man may be a Lazarus in rags, lying at the rich mans gate, and he may be a child of God. But the blessings that God has prepared for the spiritual progeny of Abraham are those that, like so many stars in the firmament, are found to be studded in the rich constellations of this Epistle.
3. Both these sets of blessings were dependent upon Jesus; for Abraham was not the heir of the world absolutely; he was the figurative heir, the representative and the type of a greater One, whom God appointed Head of all things. The truth is this, that the world in its bankruptcy is to be reinstated by Christ and Christ alone. He is not only the worlds grand Trustee, He is the worlds mighty Heir. Everything has come into His hands; all power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth; and, therefore, as we have seen these double blessings, so we say that there is a double touchstone with regard to them.
(1) Christ was the Touchstone to Israel. Its fortunes hung trembling in the balance when the Lord Jesus Christ came, and who can question that if Israel had received the long-expected One with open arms Israel would have been the chief among the nations still? But it was a stumbling stone, and they stumbled at it and missed the pathway to happiness, to glory, and to continued national blessedness, simply by the rejection of Christ. Jerusalem, Jerusalem … how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not;…your house is left unto you desolate.
(2) The same touchstone tells upon a believer still. Everything turns upon this: will you or will you not have Christ?
II. How it was he became possessed of it.
1. It was impossible for him to attain it by law, for between Abraham and the giving of the law there was a long lapse of four hundred and thirty years. If the agency was not in existence the position could not be attributable to it. And even if the law had been in existence, Abraham by the law even then could not have become possessed of the position, because the condition of the law is faultless obedience, and Abraham was not faultless. Abraham could not have claimed his position by virtue of a law which he never could keep.
2. But there is another process by which men look for spiritual advantage, viz., through ordinances. You shall find men at the present day who will tell you that baptism is an ordinance of justification. Now circumcision is the correlative of baptism, and yet we find the apostle here laying particular stress on this, that Abrahams position was not dependent on his circumcision because the circumcision came subsequent to his gaining the position.
3. And then when we pass from the negative to the positive and ask ourselves how it was that he obtained it, the answer is, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. It is this that makes the simplicity of salvation! Whether in times patriarchal, Jewish, or Christian man has no other resort; and an appeal to the mercy of God through Christ Jesus is after all but putting into exercise that process whereby being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Dean Boyd.)
Abraham the heir of the world only through the righteousness of faith
Note--
I. The promised inheritance--the world.
1. But in turning to the original covenant (Gen_17:1-27), we find that only the land of Canaan was promised (Gen_15:18). Along with that, however, are the assurances of Gen_12:8; Gen_22:15-18. On these rest all the predictions of the kingdom of the Messiah, even as these have their backward reference to Gen_3:15. Which also had its implicit reference to the original place of dominion over all the earth from which man by transgression fell. Of the restoration of that dominion Psa_8:1-9 is a triumphant anticipation; while on the promise made to Abraham (Gen_22:17-18) is founded the assurance, given to the King of Zion, that Jehovah would give to Him the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession (Psa_2:8). On this also was made the similar announcements of (Psa_72:8; Zec_9:10). And it is precisely upon this ground that St. Paul here assumes that the promise made to Abraham and his seed was a promise that they should inherit the world, of which Palestine was but a predictive type. The promise, therefore, clearly implied that so surely as the literal seed of Abraham were put in possession of the land of Canaan, so surely will the Christ Himself and His believing people, who are truly the Israel of God, be put into possession of the whole earth. For our Jesus, the seed of Abraham, shall not fail nor be discouraged till He have set judgment in the earth, etc. (Isa_42:1-4). He is the Heir of the world, and He shall yet have His inheritance.
2. But even this does not fill up or complete the promise. For that was the promise of eternal inheritance (Gen_17:7-8). Such possession is not possible in this probationary state. To Abraham himself there was given none inheritance, though God had promised it (Act_7:5). He, and Isaac, and Jacob, who were the heirs with him of the same promise, died without possession. Yet they lived and died in the confidence that the promise should be made good. And why? Because they looked for something better and more enduring, of which these earthly things were but the temporary types (Heb_11:10; Heb_11:16). It was in recognition of this hope that the sublime predictions of Isaiah, concerning Messiahs kingdom, stretched out far away into the future, till they laid the foundations of and brought forth to perfection the new heavens and the new earth (Isa_65:17; Isa_66:22; Dan_7:22; Dan_12:1-3; Heb_11:39-40). In and with Christ, the Seed of Abraham and the Son of God, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, we shall inherit all things (Rev_21:1-27).
II. The heirs of this inheritance--Abraham and his seed. We must notice--
1. Those who are not heirs, or are not included in this seed to which the promise was made. Abraham himself was not an heir nor the father of heirs, merely as a man, but only as a believing man. The promise was not made either to him or to his descendants through the law, which had no existence till some four hundred and thirty years after, and even if it had the promise must have been made of no effect; for the law, being transgressed, works only wrath. It was not conditional upon circumcision; for the promise was made before circumcision had been enjoined. It was not conditional upon natural descent; for then Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, and Esau with their descendents, must all have been included in the seed of promise--which they most certainly were not. Therefore the right of heirship did not pertain to the Jew as a Jew. It was needful that the nation, as a nation, should be maintained in possession of the land till the Christ should come, who was the true Seed of Abraham, and the appointed Heir of all things. But the promise apart from this would have received a true fulfilment, though the whole multitude of the seed had been gathered from amongst Gentile nations. For--
2. The true heirs are the men who are made partakers of precious faith, like that of Abraham. That promise was given to him and confirmed by an oath, as he was a believing and justified man. Had he fallen away the whole covenant must have been annulled so far as he was concerned, and his right to the inheritance cancelled. And the seed which was to share the promise and the inheritance with him was to be, not a natural, but a spiritual seed. If an Israelite attained to the righteousness of faith, then he became part of the seed of Abraham and an heir according to the promise. But the same thing might be truly affirmed of any and every Gentile who also became a believer. For before God Abraham is the father of all believers from amongst all nations, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations. And, therefore, to whatever nation, tribe, or people they may pertain, those who have become one with Christ by faith have given to them this assurance (Gal_3:29). (W. Tyson.)
But through the righteousness of faith.--
The righteousness of faith
1. There are two great streams of tendency at work on the ordering of human destinies. There is the current of things which makes for righteousness through the great universe, which is ultimately irresistible; and there lies in the mystery of human freedom the source of an effort and tendency which is ever striving against it, which brings men and human affairs into ceaseless collision with it, and which thereby fills the world with anguish and wreck. A new element is added to the anguish by the conflict which rages within man himself. The righteousness which reigns around has an awful witness within which cannot be silenced; and the inward protest is reinforced with terrible emphasis by all the misery with which unrighteousness never fails to chastise a people or a soul. Rest there cannot be while unrighteousness is regnant. The cry for righteousness is the strongest and most agonising cry of a mans awakened spirit. Till he has set himself with the stream, till he is borne up and on by the current, he cannot see even the beginning of peace.
2. There are mainly two methods in which the restoration seems feasible. There is the legal method which proceeds upon a strenuous effort of intellect and will to obey the commandment. There stands the law against whose rigid breastwork you are constantly dashing; study, it, mark well its lines, keep within its borders, and live. This method is now in full vogue in our agnostic schools. Sin is mainly ignorance; throw fresh light on things, educate, and save. By all means, is the response of the gospel; still one thing thou lackest if thou wouldst be saved--faith, the principle of a living righteousness which satisfies God and satisfies the soul. The deepest principle of the Old Testament culture and discipline for mans spirit is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, etc. Loving Him we shall love His righteousness. And that the love might be profound and mastering, God lived amongst us. Was light needed, His life flooded the world with it; was love needed, the love that endured the cross-bound man by its cords to the Sufferers heart of hearts. Was sacrifice needed, He made His soul an offering for sin, and reconciled the Father and the sinner on the basis of the perfect Sacrifice, which presented the righteousness from which man had revolted and to which man must be restored, invested in the glorious beauty and splendour of ineffable and infinite love. To believe is to open the heart to this world of purifying, uplifting, saving influence. To believe is to establish a vital link by which warm currents of quickening energy pass between the living soul and the living Saviour; so that He lives in us by His Spirit, and we live in Him. The germ of His perfect righteousness by faith is within us; the full form of it will be developed as we grow into His likeness, behold His glory, and enter fully into the possession of His bliss. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)
For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void.--
Faith made void by the law
Law implies a right and a title; faith or grace a gift. If a person has duly purchased an estate, there is no need that he should put out his hands as a suppliant to receive the title deeds. And so if man looks for the heavenly inheritance by law, by compliance with the terms This do and live, there is no longer any necessity for the kindly offices of faith which says, Believe and live. If law enters upon the scene, faiths occupation is gone; it is emptied, drained of its contents, and rendered useless and worthless. (C. Neil, M. A.)
Because the law worketh wrath.--
The law in its relation to salvation
I. It prepares the way.
1. It exposes sin.
2. Convinces of sin.
3. Disposes the sinner to receive mercy.
II. It cannot save.
1. It gives no promise of mercy, and no power to obey.
2. But the more clearly it is revealed, the more powerfully it impels the sinner to Christ. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The condemning power of the law
The blessings which the heirs of the Divine promise receive can never be from the law, because the law worketh wrath. To give life is in direct opposition to its very nature. To offer it to a sinner is like offering fire to a man perishing of thirst. For the innocent and obedient, indeed, it is ordained to life, and was so in the case of man before the Fall. Subsequently its operation was wrath alone. The law worketh wrath.
I. In the obedience it demands. If it were a mere outward system, and referred wholly to open transgressions, it would rather encourage men to endeavour to meet its claims, that they might hope for the life which they would thus deserve. But the law is spiritual. Such is the exceeding breadth of its requisitions, the perfect obedience which it claims, the heart-reaching power of its demands, that it charges man with guilt not only in his transgressions, but in his obedience.
1. If he loves God the law asks, Does love rise to the full measure of the precept? Is it with all the heart, etc. If not, there is sin even in this best attainment, and so condemnation.
2. So in regard to all efforts to fulfil the commands of God. The law cannot receive the disposition in place of the act, or the desire instead of the duty. It allows no deficiency. It presents as its standard perfection of character, and denounces death as the only alternative. To this man can never attain, and so stands condemned. In thus shutting us out, however, from all hope in itself, it shuts us up to the Saviour.
II. In the sentence which it passes. In this, too, it urges man to flee from all attempts to obtain life by any personal satisfaction for his offences. The penalty of disobedience is death. But death is a state from which there is no return, but by the direct interposition of Divine power. Certainly God has provided a remedy but this is not in the law, or in mans obedience. It is in the perfect work and righteousness of Christ. In this man lives forever; but in works of his own the curse abides, and the law offers no mitigation or redress. Thus it worketh wrath and wrath forever. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
The condemning power of the law
Tell me, then, ye who desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? Does it say anything to you but Do this and thou shalt live? Does it set before you any alternative but Cursed is he that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the law to do them? Has it any other terms but these? Do this, the wrath-working law proclaims; Do it all from first to last and thou shalt live; but an everlasting curse awaits you if you offend in any one particular. Plead what yon will, these denunciations are irreversible. You may say, I wish to obey; and it answers you, Tell me not of your wishes, but do it. I have endeavoured to obey. Tell me not of your endeavours, but do it. I have done it in almost every particular. Tell me not what you have done almost; have you obeyed it altogether, and in all things? I have for many years obeyed it, and once only have I transgressed. Then you are cursed; if you have offended in one point you are guilty of all. But I am sorry, I cannot regard your sorrow. But I will reform, and never transgress again. I care nothing for your reformation. But I will obey perfectly in future, if I can find mercy for the past. I can have no concern with your determinations for the future; I know no such word as mercy; my terms cannot be altered for anyone. If you rise to these terms, you will have a right to life, and need no mercy. If you fall short in any one particular, nothing remains but condemnation. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
For where no law is, there is no transgression.
No law, no transgression
Would it not have been better, then, that man should have been left without law? Certainly not. For--
(1) If there were no law there could be reward of obedience, and so the Christian religion would have lost part of its attractiveness. And--
(2) It might well be that certain courses of conduct, though they could not properly be called transgression, would yet bring with them misery and suffering.
I. The general truth of the assertion. Where there is no law, there is--
1. No prescribed mode of action.
(1) In the physical world. Suppose that no path had ever been marked out, let us say, for a planet, but that it had always travelled hither and thither in any direction. In such a case it could not transgress its law. To transgress is to pass over the boundaries, but with no boundaries determined that could not be. So it was when the earth was without form and void; before as yet out of chaos God had called the cosmos, with its light, its order, and its law.
(2) In the social world. In certain low states of barbarism there is no such thing as government. No course of conduct is either prescribed or forbidden, but all actions are indifferent, so that whatever a man may do he does not transgress.
(3) In the moral and spiritual world. There are in man moral distinctions, he knows what is good and what is evil. Because of this, those who have not the written law of God are, as the apostle teaches, a law unto themselves, for they have a conscience which approves or condemns. But suppose it otherwise; suppose man really did not know right from wrong; in such a case there would be neither law nor transgression.
2. No knowledge of sin. The law does not make man a transgressor, but it makes him know that he has transgressed. As Paul teaches: I had not known sin but by the law; Without the law sin is dead; Sin is not imputed when there is no law. It prescribes righteousness, and in so doing proscribes sin. It is when the commandment comes sin revives, and is made to appear exceeding sinful. But as long as we are incapable of knowing, we are incapable of sinning. We sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth.
3. No supreme authority to judge, to acquit or condemn. Transgression is disobedience, and this could not be except by reference to one who has authority to exact obedience.
II. The assertion in the light of Christianity. So far we have referred to law generally, but we are under the highest and best law ever laid down for the guidance of human conduct--the law of Christs love. This law is--
1. Clearly stated. In earthly kingdoms it is often a very difficult thing to know what the law in a given case is; but we know the will of Christ, for we have His new commandment.
2. Widely known. Not yet universally, but wherever the gospel of Christ is preached.
3. Easily obeyed. It is not enough that a law be clearly stated and widely known. The behests of a tyrant might be that. But Christ said, My yoke is easy. His commandments are not grievous. The Psalmist said, O how love I Thy law. I love Thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. And the law of Christ is better, holier, and more easily obeyed than that which the Psalmist thus esteemed.
4. Of beneficial tendency. In many earthly kingdoms there have been laws adverse to the prosperity of the subjects. But Christs reign is both in righteousness, and for the highest benefit of His followers. They have liberty, life, peace, hope, etc. Blessed are they that do His commandments. In keeping of them there is great reward.
III. How this ought to affect our life and conduct. The character of a people may be known by their laws. What manner of persons thus ought they to be who have become Christs subjects? This great truth should lead to--
1. Earnest solicitude.
2. Cheerful obedience.
3. Activity for the extension of Christs rule. (J. A. T. Skinner, B. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Chapter 11
Chapter 11
ABRAHAM (2)
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Rom_4:13-25
AGAIN we approach the name of Abraham, Friend of God, Father of the Faithful. We have seen him justified by faith, personally accepted because turning altogether to the sovereign Promiser. We see him now in some of the glorious issues of that acceptance; "Heir of the world," "Father of many nations." And here too all is of grace, all comes through faith. Not works, not merit, not ancestral and ritual privilege, secured to Abraham the mighty Promise; it was his because he, pleading absolutely nothing of personal worthiness, and supported by no guarantees of ordinance, "believed God."
We see him as he steps out from his tent under that glorious canopy, that Syrian "night of stars." We look up with him to the mighty depths, and receive their impression upon our eyes. Behold the innumerable points and clouds of light! Who can count the half-visible rays which make white the heavens, gleaming behind, beyond, the thousands of more numerable luminaries? The lonely old man who stands gazing there, perhaps side by side with his divine Friend manifested in human form, is told to try to count. And then he hears the promise, "So shall thy seed be."
It was then and there that he received justification by faith. It was then and there also that, by faith, as a man uncovenanted, unworthy, but called upon to take what God gave, he received the promise that he should be "heir of the world."
It was an unequalled paradox-unless indeed we place beside it the scene when, eighteen centuries later, in the same land, a descendant of Abrahams, a Syrian Craftsman, speaking as a religious Leader to His followers, told them {Mat_13:37-38} that the "field was the world," and He the Master of the field.
"Heir of the world"! Did this mean, of the universe itself? Perhaps it did, for Christ was to be the Claimant of the promise in due time; and under His feet all things, literally all, are set already in right, and shall be hereafter set in fact. But the more limited, and probably in this place the fitter, reference is vast enough; a reference to "the world" of earth, and of man upon it. In his "seed," that childless senior was to be King of Men, Monarch of the continents and oceans. To him, in his seed, "the utmost parts of the earth" were given "for his possession." Not his little clan only, encamped on the dark fields around him, nor even the direct descendants only of his body, however numerous, but "all nations," "all kindreds of the earth," were "to call him blessed," and to be blessed in him, as their patriarchal Chief, their Head in covenant with God. "We see not yet all things" fulfilled of this astonishing grant and guarantee. We shall not do so, till vast promised developments of the ways of God have come to sight. But we do see already steps taken towards that issue, steps long, majestic, never to be retraced. We see at this hour in literally every region of the human world the messengers-an always more numerous army-of the Name of "the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." They are working everywhere: and everywhere, notwithstanding innumerable difficulties, they are winning the world for the great Heir of the Promise. Through paths they know not these missionaries have gone out; paths hewn by the historical providence of God, and by His eternal life in the Church, and in the soul. When "the world" has seemed shut, by war, by policy, by habit, by geography, it has opened, that they may enter; till we see Japan throwing back its castle doors, and inner Africa not only discovered but become a household word for the sake of its missions, of its martyrdoms, of the resolve of its native chiefs to abolish slavery even in its domestic form.
No secular conscious programme has had to do with this. Causes entirely beyond the reach of human combination have been, as a fact, combined; the world has been opened to the Abrahamic message just as the Church has been inspired anew to enter in, and has been awakened to a deeper understanding of her glorious mission. For here too is the finger of God; not only in the history of the world, but in the life of the Church and of the Christian. For a long century now, in the most living centres of Christendom, there has been waking and rising a mighty revived consciousness of the glory of the Gospel, of the Cross, and of the Spirit; of the grace of Christ, and also of His claim. And at this hour, after many a gloomy forecast of unbelieving and apprehensive thought, there are more men and women ready to go to the ends of the earth with the message of the Son of Abraham, than in all time before.
Contrast these issues, even these-leaving out of sight the mighty future-with the starry night when the wandering Friend of God was asked tobelieve the incredible, and was justified by faith, and was invested through faith with the worlds crown. Is not God indeed in the fulfilment? Was He not indeed in the promise? We are ourselves a part of the fulfilment; we, one of the "many Nations" of whom the great Solitary was then made "the Father." Let us bear our witness, and set to our seal.
In doing so, we attest and illustrate the work, the ever blessed work, of faith. That mans reliance, at that great midnight hour, merited nothing, but received everything. He took in the first place acceptance with God, and then with it, as it were folded and embedded in it, he took riches inexhaustible of privilege and blessing; above all, the blessing of being made a blessing. So now, in view of that hour of Promise, and of these ages of fulfilment, we see our own path of peace in its divine simplicity. We read, as if written on the heavens in stars, the words, "Justified by Faith." And we understand already, what the Epistle will soon amply unfold to us, how for us, as for Abraham, blessings untold of other orders lie treasured in the grant of our acceptance "Not for him only, but for us also, believing."
Let us turn again to the text.
For not through law came the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, of his being the worlds heir, but through faiths righteousness; through the acceptance received by uncovenanted, unprivileged faith. For if those who belong to law inherit Abrahams promise, faith is ipso facto void, and the promise is ipso facto annulled. For wrath is what the Law works out; it is only where law is not that transgression is not, either. As much as to say, that to suspend eternal blessing, the blessing which in its nature can deal only with ideal conditions, upon mans obedience to law, is to bar fatally the hope of a fulfilment. Why? Not because the Law is not holy; not because disobedience is not guilty; as if man were ever, for a moment, mechanically compelled to disobey. But because as a fact man is a fallen being, however he became so. and whatever is his guilt as such. He is fallen, and has no true self-restoring power. If then he is to be blessed, the work must begin in spite of himself. It must come from without, it must come unearned, it must be of grace, through faith. Therefore it is on (literally, "out of") faith, in order to be grace-wise, to make secure the promise, to all the seed, not only to that which belongs to the Law, but to that which belongs to the faith of Abraham, to the "seed" whose claim is no less and no more than Abrahams faith; who is father of all us, as it stands written, {Gen_17:5} "Father of many Nations have I appointed thee"-in the sight of the God whom he believed, who vivifies the dead, and calls, addresses, deals with, things not-being as being. "In the sight of God"; as if to say, that it matters little what Abraham is for "us all" in the sight of man, in the sight and estimate of the Pharisee. The Eternal Justifier and Promiser dealt with Abraham and in him with the world, before the birth of that Law which the Pharisee has perverted into his rampart of privilege and isolation. He took care that the mighty transaction should take place not actually only, but significantly, in the open field and beneath the boundless cope of stars. It was to affect not one tribe, but all the nations. It was to secure blessings which were not to be demanded by the privileged, but taken by the needy. And so the great representative Believer was called to believe before Law, before legal Sacrament, and under every personal circumstance of humiliation and discouragement. Who, past hope, on hope, believed; stepping from the dead hope of nature to the bare hope of the promise, so that he became father of many Nations; according to what stands spoken, "So shall thy seed be." And, because he failed not in his faith, he did not notice his own body, already turned to death, near a century old as he now was, and the death state of the womb of Sarah. No, on the promise of God-he did not waver by his unbelief, but received strength by his faith, giving glory to God, the "glory" of dealing with Him as being what He is, Almighty and All-true, and fully persuaded that what He has promised He is able actually to do. Wherefore actually it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Not because such a "giving to God the glory" which is only His eternal due was morally meritorious, in the least degree. If it were so, Abraham "would have whereof to glory," The "wherefore" is concerned with the whole record, the whole transaction. Here was a man who took the right way to receive sovereign blessing. He interposed nothing between the Promiser and himself. He treated the Promiser as what He is, all-sufficient and all-faithful. He opened his empty hand in that persuasion, and so, because the hand was empty, the blessing was laid upon its palm.
Now it was not written only on his account, that it was reckoned to him, but also on account of us, to whom it is sure to be reckoned, in the fixed intention of the divine Justifier, as each successive applicant comes to receive; believing as we do on the Raiser-up of Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered up on account of our transgressions, and was raised up on account of our justification.
Here the great argument moves to a pause, to the cadence of a glorious rest. More and more, as we have pursued it, it has disengaged itself from the obstructions of the opponent, and advanced with a larger motion into a positive and rejoicing assertion of the joys and wealth of the believing. We have left far behind the pertinacious cavils which ask, now whether there is any hope for man outside legalism, now whether within legalism there can be any danger even for deliberate unholiness, and again whether the Gospel of gratuitous acceptance does not cancel the law of duty. We have left the Pharisee for Abraham, and have stood beside him to look and listen. He, in the simplicity of a soul which has seen itself and seen the Lord, and so has not one word, one thought, about personal privilege, claim, or even fitness, receives a perfect acceptance in the hand of faith, and finds that the acceptance carries with it a promise of unimaginable power and blessing. And now from Abraham the Apostle turns to "us," "us all," "us also." His thoughts are no longer upon adversaries and objections, but on the company of the faithful, on those who are one with Abraham, and with each other, in their happy willingness to come, without a dream of merit, and, take from God His mighty peace in the name of Christ. He finds himself not in synagogue or in school, disputing, but in the believing assembly, teaching, unfolding in peace the wealth of grace. He speaks to congratulate, to adore.
Let us join him there in spirit, and sit down with Aquila and Priscilla, with Nereus, and Nymphas, and Persis, and in our turn remember that "it was written for us also." Quite surely, and with a fulness of blessing which we can never find out in its perfection, to us also "faith is sure to be reckoned, μελλει λογιζεσθαι. as righteousness, believing as we do, τοις πιστευουσιν, on the Raised-up of Jesus our Lord, ours also, from the dead." To us, as to them, the Father presents Himself as the Raiser-up of the Son. He is known by us in that act. It gives us His own warrant for a boundless trust in His character, His purposes, His unreserved intention to accept the sinner who comes to His feet in the name of His Crucified and Risen Son. He bids us-not forget that He is the Judge, who cannot for a moment connive. But He bids us believe, He bids us see, that He, being the Judge, and also the Law Giver, has dealt with His own Law, in a way that satisfies it, that satisfies Himself. He bids us thus understand that He now "is sure to" justify, to accept, to find not guilty, to find righteous, satisfactory, the sinner who believes. He comes to us, He, this eternal Father of our Lord, to assure us, in the Resurrection, that He has sought, and has "found, a Ransom"; that He has not been prevailed upon to have mercy, a mercy behind which there may therefore lurk a gloomy reserve, but has Himself "set forth" the beloved Propitiation, and then accepted Him (not it, but Him) with the acceptance of not His word only but His deed. He is the God of Peace. How do we know it? We thought He was the God of the tribunal, and the doom. Yes; but He has "brought the great Shepherd from the dead, in the blood of the everlasting Covenant". {Heb_13:20} Then, O eternal Father of our Lord, we will believe Thee; we will believe in Thee; we will, we do, in the very letter of the words Thou έπί τόν Εγείραντα, as in a deep repose. Truly, in this glorious respect, though Thou art consuming Fire, "there is nothing in Thee to dread."
"Who was delivered up because, of our transgressions." So dealt the Father with the Son, who gave Himself. "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him"; "He spared not His own Son." "Because of our transgressions"; to meet the fact that we had gone astray. What, was that fact thus to be met? Was our self-will, our pride, our falsehood, our impurity, our indifference to God, our resistance to God, to be thus met? Was it to be met at all, and not rather left utterly alone to its own horrible issues?
Was it eternally necessary that, if met, it must be met thus, by nothing less than the delivering up of Jesus our Lord? It was even so. Assuredly if a milder expedient would have met our guilt, the Father would not have "delivered up" the Son. The Cross was nothing if not an absolute sine qua non. There is that sin, and in God, which made it eternally necessary that-if man was to be justified-the Son of God must not only live, but die, and not only die, but die thus, delivered up, given over to be done to death, as those who do great sin are done.
Deep in the heart of the divine doctrine of Atonement lies this element of it, the "because of our transgressions"; the exigency of Golgotha, due to our sins. The remission, the acquittal, the acceptance, was not a matter for the verbal fiat of Divine autocracy. It was a matter not between God and creation, which to Him is "a little thing," but between God and His Law, that is to say, Himself, as He is eternal Judge. And this, to the Eternal, is not a little thing. So the solution called for no little thing, but for the Atoning Death, for the laying by the Father on the Son of the iniquities of us all, that we might open our arms and receive from the Father the merits of the Son.
"And was raised up because of our justification": because our acceptance had been won, by His deliverance up. Such is the simplest explanation of the grammar, and of the import. The Lords Resurrection appears as, so to speak, the mighty sequel, and also the demonstration, warrant, proclamation, of His acceptance as the Propitiation, and therefore of our acceptance in Him. For indeed it was our justification, when He paid our penalty. True, the acceptance does not accrue to the individual till he believes, and so receives. The gift is not put into the hand till it is open, and empty. But the gift has been bought ready for the recipient long before he kneels to receive it. It was his, in provision, from the moment of the purchase; and the glorious Purchaser came up from the depths where He had gone down to buy, holding aloft in His sacred hands the golden Gift, ours because His for us.
A little while before he wrote to Rome St. Paul had written to Corinth, and the same truth was in his soul then, though it came out only passingly, while with infinite impressiveness. "If Christ is not risen, idle is your faith; you are yet in your sins". {1Co_15:17} That is to say, so the context irrefragably shows, you are yet in the guilt of your sins; you are still unjustified. "In your sins" cannot possibly there refer to the moral condition of the converts; for as a matter of fact, which no doctrine could negative, the Corinthians were "changed men." "In your sins" refers therefore to guilt, to law, to acceptance. And it bids them look to the Atonement as the objective sine qua non for that, and to the Resurrection as the one possible, and the only necessary, warrant to faith that the Atonement had secured its end.
"Who was delivered up; who was raised up." When? About twenty-five years before Paul sat dictating this sentence in the house of Gaius. There were at that moment about three hundred known living people, at least, {1Co_15:6} who had seen the Risen One with open eyes, and heard Him with conscious ears. From one point of view, all was eternal, spiritual, invisible. From another point of view our salvation was as concrete, as historical, as much a thing of place and date, as the battle of Actium, or the death of Socrates. And what was done, remains done.
"Can length of years on God Himself exact, And make that fiction which was once a fact?"
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 13–15. For the promise. The reference is to the…
13–15. For the promise. The reference is to the substance of various promises to Abraham for himself and his seed. See Gen. 12:7; 13:14; 15:18. Was not … through the law. Was not through law, the article being wanting in the Greek. No body of law had been given. The Mosaic law was given many years afterward. The law of circumcision had not been enacted. It was through the righteousness of faith, not of law, or works of law, that Abraham secured the promise.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 13. “For the promise to Abraham and his seed,…
MILLENNIUM
13. “For the promise to Abraham and his seed, that he should be the heir of the world, was not through the works, but through the righteousness of faith.” The covenant with Abraham was simply the renovation of the Messianic (Gal 3:16), by which Christ purchased this world with His blood. Hence it is here stated that Abraham is to inherit the world. A title made to a man is valid to his children forever. Hence Abraham’s seed, i. e., Christ, is to inherit the whole earth in the millennium, in due time renovated, and possess it forever. Hence, if you would be a member of the glorified Bridehood and reign with Christ a thousand years (Rev 20:4-6), you must be a child of Abraham. Hence it is positively specified that this inheritance is not through the law, i. e., you do not get it by good works, but through faith.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain Section 3. (Rom 4:13-25.)
Section 3. (Rom 4:13-25.)
This faith in One who manifests Himself in resurrection.
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How plainly then has God made the history to speak to him who has ears to hear! But there is more yet to be drawn from it, which if not so plain upon the surface, all the more convincingly declares the purpose of God toward which all history moves. Abraham is here to bear witness to another principle which in the time to come was to be more fully unfolded, and to attain a deeper significance. We have seen already that Paul’s gospel begins with a risen Christ, from whom he himself learned it; but he would show us now that resurrection was always in God’s mind as the way of blessing, and that Abraham had to learn this also; no doubt in a different way from that in which the gospel declares it, and yet with the same wrapped up in the germ as is now unfolded for us in the developed fruitage. We believe in the God of resurrection: well, so did Abraham; and in spite of an immense difference in the application, the identity of principle is as apparent as it is important.
1. To Abraham and to his seed was the promise made which constituted him heir of the world spiritually. The apostle reminds us that this promise was not given by law, which therefore could not burden it with conditions that in fact would nullify it. For the law (as the Jew so little realized) only brought in wrath: where no law is there is no transgression. If sin were, as is so generally asserted from a false rendering of a familiar passage, "the transgression of the law,"* the apostle’s words would be wholly unintelligible, and perfect moral confusion would result. Then the law would be chargeable for all the sin in the world; and the law must have existed from the beginning: a conclusion which many frankly accept, but which would utterly destroy the apostle’s argument here as it is expanded in the epistle to the Galatians. There he builds upon the fact that the promise was 430 years before the law, which could not be therefore added as a condition to a covenant made so long before it (Gal 3:15-17). This would of course be necessarily set aside if it were proved that the law was antecedent to the covenant, instead of following it at so long an interval. But there was yet "no law," says the apostle, to make the promise void -no condition attached to it to be violated, no line drawn to be overstepped: which is exactly what transgression means, the overstepping of a line drawn. Sin is a deeper thing: it is the lawlessness, the spirit of independence and revolt, which underlies, of course, every transgression, but which may and does exist apart from any law given to overstep; but this we shall come to later.
{*1Jn 3:4. The Revised Version has set this right. It translates, "Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness: and sin is lawlessness."}
The promise then was entirely apart from law or condition: it was God speaking out of His own abundant goodness, -a covenant with one party to it only, and that One who cannot fail: He who accredited to Abraham righteousness by faith, in the same way gave him the promise also. For what is faith but the confession of having and being nothing, so that we turn to God of necessity for all? Righteousness came thus to him who consciously had none; and the promise to him who on his own part could promise nothing. Grace after this manner made it sure to all the seed; and those of the law could not deprive those of it who have the faith of Abraham, nor claim it, save as of faith themselves. "A father of many nations" went out certainly beyond Israel; and for all alike must He who spake be Quickener of the dead.
Here the true condition of man is reached, and the principle comes out in full reality upon which God must be with him to be with him at all. The dead, and things that are not! how thoroughly does this set aside the legal principle, and enthrone God in the supremacy of resources which are His alone! Man in himself is heir only to the penalty which attaches to the failed old creation; God must come in beyond the failure in the plenitude of a power which is no less grace to bring up into a life which, being His own redemptive gift, cannot again be forfeited, so as to make the failure His. Resurrection out of death is the bringing into life subject henceforth to none.
2. Here Abraham again helps us, made to learn in his body the lesson of the divine ways such as undoubtedly in those primitive days men were quicker to read in nature than we are today. With few books or none, the book of nature was more naturally their resource than ours; not certainly in this leaving us the gainers whatever we have gained besides. For God met them there with living parables of precious meaning, and the material world became, who can doubt? more like the friend it should be than the slave that we have made it.
So Abraham was made to face in his own body the impracticability of natural effort as night by night those pendant lamps of heaven shone down over his whitening head, and the word of promise whispered in the stillness, "So shall thy seed be." Faith though he had had, he too, with us all, had thought that that promise was not quite unconditioned, as Hagar and Ishmael were witness; and Sarah had had fully her part in that which had introduced the bondmaid as heir to her mistress. Did we ever try to help God but to our own shame? So Abraham had at last to walk before an Almighty God with a body now dead, which he could reckon upon no more, and there learn in experience what, having learned, we wonder we could be so slow in learning, that faith in ourselves is only so much unbelief in Him, a hindrance to the blessing He would give us. God leaves him till his case is hopeless enough for Him to be glorified aright in meeting it, and for us to see, as else we could not, the glory of His power.
Man then is put in His place, and God in His; God is glorified and man is blessed; his ruin is owned and his redemption found: and the faith that brings us there can suitably be reckoned therefore for righteousness; it is a faith that makes God all, man nothing; "wherefore also it was reckoned to him for righteousness."
3. The principle applies still for us: the faith is, of course, in its characteristics essentially the same. In its object it is here quite different. "It was not written for his sake only that it was reckoned unto him, but for ours also, to whom it shall be reckoned, if we believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from among the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification.
God is indeed in the faith of Abraham as given here and in our own the same God, the Almighty God of resurrection; but His power is now seen as displayed for us, and not in us. Yet it is displayed in regard to Another who is in the most wonderful manner identified with us, so that what has been done to Him has indeed been done to us in the best and most precious sense. It is Christ seen as our Substitute who was delivered. for our offences, and whose resurrection therefore testifies the acceptance of that which has removed them from the sight of God. It is therefore for our justification: that is, it is, in a true and simple sense, our justification itself. The meritorious cause is, of course, His blood, and so it is stated a little later that we are justified by His blood. But the resurrection is the justifying sentence -the act of God on our behalf, as the Lord’s work on the cross was what was presented to Him, -the work of the Saviour. And thus it is that we believe on Him who raised up Jesus: God in this showing Himself now upon our side in righteousness through the work accomplished, so that we know Him as toward us, and always so.
There are thus three ways in which justification is spoken of here. We are justified by His blood: the penalty that was upon us having been borne for us. We are justified by His resurrection, as the sentence in our favor which assures of the value of His blood, and its acceptance in our behalf. Finally, we are justified by faith, as that which puts us among the number of those whose Representative Christ was, and is. So that, while for the sentence and the cause we look back through the centuries to the work long since done, yet we are not actually justified till we have believed on Christ. The hyper-calvinistic thought of men justified before they are born is a dangerous fantasy, which is as unscriptural as it is hurtful.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain For not through the law was the promise to…
For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith . [In this third division of his argument Paul shows that Abraham did not obtain the promise of heirship for himself and his seed through the agency of the law, but by reason of the righteousness reckoned to him because of his faith. Many promises were given to Abraham ( Gen_12:7 ; Gen_13:14-15 ; Gen_15:13 ; Gen_17:8 ; Gen_22:17 ), and Paul sums them all up in the phrase, "that he should be heir of the world." This phrase has been variously explained, but it obviously means that Abraham should inherit the world as his spiritual children, and that his children should inherit it also as their spiritual family or household. The heirship of Abraham in no way conflicts with that of Christ or God. Comp. Rom_8:17 ]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The promise is not by the Law:
The promise is not by the Law:
v. 13. for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
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v. 14. For if they which are of the Law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect,
v. 15. because the Law worketh wrath; for where no law is, there is no transgression.
v. 16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
The apostle had explained that Abraham was intended to be the spiritual father of all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, circumcised or uncircumcised, because he had been justified by faith before he was under the rite of circumcision. For not through the Law did the promise reach, come to, Abraham or to his seed, his descendants, that he should be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. If God had attached the promise which He made to Abraham to the order establishing the Old Testament sacrament, then it would have been connected with the Law. But the promise made to Abraham that he should be the heir of the world (since the earthly Canaan was only a type of the perfect heritage, of the heavenly Canaan), was connected with his being justified, and therefore: since the promise is not by the Law, justification cannot be either. This is confirmed by the history of Abraham; for to him as believer, after he had been justified by faith, the possession of Canaan and therefore also of the world to come was assured. And like Abraham, all his seed, all his spiritual children, have the promise of the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, Heb 11:10. It is theirs through the righteousness of faith, through the acceptance, by faith, of the righteousness which is valid before God. He that is justified before God by faith thereby becomes an heir of the world of God, the world of glory, the home of everlasting righteousness, which God has prepared for the children of men.
On the other hand, Paul argues, if those of the Law be heirs, faith is emptied of all power, is made void and of none effect with respect to its object, and the promise is abolished. Faith was the original condition, that under which God gave the promise. If, therefore, a new condition be substituted, according to which the people that have the nature of the Law in themselves, that hope to be saved by the works of the Law, are made heirs, then faith, of course, is rendered useless, it is made empty and vain, it has nothing to hold to, and the promise is done away with: the entire plan and order of salvation is subverted. And this, in turn, follows from the fact that the Law worketh wrath: for where there is no Law, there is also no transgression. If the promise depended upon the Law, upon the fulfillment of the Law, then, since all men are transgressors of the Law, the wrath of God is brought upon them, and the promise of salvation will fall as a matter of consequence. The Law, from its very nature, demands perfect obedience and condemns all that are not perfect; therefore, by its very nature, it is unsuited to give life to sinners. If thus God had given the promise of salvation with the condition of keeping the Law, promising the inheritance of His eternal blessings to them that are of the Law, the promise of God would by that mere fact be rendered of none effect. It thus follows once more that the promise is attached to faith. For that reason it is of faith, that it might be according to grace. Because of this fact, that the promise of God would be useless from the start, it is attached to faith; the blessed inheritance of the happiness of heaven is of faith, in order to be in accordance with grace. Faith and grace are correlates: as a man is justified by grace; through faith, so he also is saved by grace, through faith. And to this end has God given the promise of the inheritance of the world to come out of free grace, without the slightest consideration of, and reference to, the works of men, in order that the promise of salvation might be sure and certain, being dependent, not upon any work or condition of man, but entirely and alone on the grace of God apprehended by faith. And Paul emphasizes the universality of the grace and promise by saying that it is to all the seed, to all the descendants of Abraham, not only to those that have the way and form of the Law, that is, the believing Jews, but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham, the spiritual children of Abraham among the heathen, who had nothing in common with Abraham except his faith. The promise is to all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles; for Abraham is the spiritual father of them all, and their faith makes them partakers of the inheritance promised to Abraham, Gen 17:5, Note: All Christians are Israelites in truth, children of Abraham indeed, by the faith which they hold in common with him, which unites them in a closer relationship with the ancient patriarch than mere blood and family ties ever could.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The people to whom God has made promises are…
heirs
The people to whom God has made promises are spoken of as if they were to inherit property and wealth from a family member. (See: Metaphor)
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but through the righteousness of faith
The words "the promise came" are understood from the first phrase. You can translate this by adding these implied words. AT: "but the promise came through faith, which God considers as righteousness" (See: Ellipsis)
if those who live by the law are to be the heirs
Here "live by the law" refers to obeying the law. AT: "if those who obey the law are the ones who will inherit the earth" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
faith is made empty, and the promise is void
"faith has no value, and the promise is meaningless"
there is no trespass
This can be restated to remove the abstract noun "trespass." AT: "no one can break the law" or "it is impossible to disobey the law" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
law
promise
descend
heir
wrath
disobey
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:13 the whole earth: God told Abraham that he…
4:13 the whole earth: God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations (4:17; Gen 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 17:4-6, 16-20; 22:17) and that he would be the means of blessing to all people (Gen 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; cp. Isa 55:3-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.