What Makes One an Heir of God?

Romans 4:13-25

Romans 4:13–25 NKJV

For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed 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 made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

We now come to the Second Sunday in Lent, a season of repentance in which we take stock of our spiritual standing before God, In it, we reflect upon the character of God as well as our own. This season prepares us for Holy Week in which the Lord Jesus came to Jerusalem to declare judgment upon Jerusalem for its rejection of Jesus and her many sins. At the same time we remember that Jesus came to do something about it. It was He who would bear our sin upon the cross that we might be saved and have eternal life. Then comes the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which is our hope for resurrection and eternal life.

Whereas this Sunday, I have chosen the Romans text for this Sunday to preach upon, it might be good to take a brief look at the other texts chosen for the Second Sunday in Lent, The Old Testament text comes from Genesis 17:1-7 in which the LORD appears to Abram and makes a covenant with Abraham, He would be blessed and become the father of many people and nations. This is reflected in the change of name to Abraham as well as the change of Sarai’s name to Sarah. This text also forms the foundation to Paul’s argument in Romans 4, as we shall see.

The Psalm text comes from Psalm 22:23-31. This is the Psalm which begins with “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This psalm predicts a thousand years in advance the crucifixion of Jesus, who is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. It would ultimately be through Jesus that the promise of Abraham would come to many people and nations. It is interesting to note here that this portion of the psalm does not mention the crucifixion, but the resurrection. So our reflections upon the suffering of Christ during Lent is not the end but the means to the end. Resurrection Sunday follows Good Friday. (for more on this text, you can look up the sermon “The Rest of the Story” or “Did God Turn His Back Upon Jesus” in this archive.

The Gospel text comes from Mark 8:31-38. Jesus had just heard Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ (Messiah). Peter was not directly commended for this as the source of this confession came from the Holy Spirit. In this text, Jesus begins to tell His disciples about His upcoming rejection and death in Jerusalem. This is too much for Peter who rebukes Jesus, saying that this could not happen to the Messiah. Mark brings out the detail that Jesus turned to all His disciples and not just Peter. His rebuke to Peter “Get thou behind me Satan” was meant for all His disciples. He also adds the detail that the words He next says is not just meant for the twelve as he speaks to the crowd also. The invitation to costly discipleship is to all who would follow Jesus, including us. During this season of Lent, we reflect that we must needs suffer if we would truly follow Jesus.

The Romans 4 text begins with the words that this promise in Genesis 17 to Abraham was not just for him. Others are included as heirs, indeed many others. As we read elsewhere in Genesis, the number of the blessed through Abraham would be as the sand of the sea. (Genesis 22:17) We should note that verse 13 begins with the word “for.” This word is a development marker which provides additional information to what had just been said by Paul. In the previous verses, Paul talks about the meaning of circumcision which was the Old Testament sign of the Covenant which was to be imposed upon Abraham. his children, and even his servants. This was commanded unto all generations. This would present an issue to those who were not the physical descendants of Abraham. Were they excluded from the inheritance? And were those who were Abraham’s physical descendants and were circumcised automatically included? We can see in the circumcision of Abraham’s servants that even though they were not physical descendants, they could participate to some degree in the Covenant, but only as slaves. It would seem that these proselytes might rise to the level of Gibeonites but not to sonship. they could draw water for the sons as well as hew wood. But they would be a perpetual underclass. This presents its own problem, one which Paul had to deal with in Galatians. (The story of the Gibeonites can be found in Joshua 11.)

Paul placed great emphasis in his teaching of the order of the blessing and the imposition of circumcision. First of all, it must be noted that Abraham was not a Jew. Paul does not elaborate but simply states that Abraham received the blessing before he was circumcised, in other words as a Gentile. We should add that Father Abraham had many sons. There was Ishmael, who was circumcised. He was a physical descendant. As the father of the Arabian nations, would not the blessing extend to Ishmael’s descendants as much as to Isaac? Islamic men are indeed circumcised when they turn 13, remembering that Ishmael was circumcised at that age. Abraham later had six more sons. Are not their descendant included also? Isaac was not a Jew. He was the promised son of Abraham. He had two sons. Esau and Jacob who would later be named “Israel.” What about Esau’s descendants? They were descendants of Abraham, but they were not Jews. The Children of Israel could properly be called “Israelites,” but not all of them were Jews. Only the sons of Jacob’s son, Judah, could properly be called Jews.

So even if we look at the promises of the Covenant of circumcision being limited to physical descendants and their slaves who were circumcised, we come to a conundrum. Who inherits what? The Land of Canaan which is today called Palestine was given to Abraham before he was circumcised. This blessing has become a curse of sorts as the physical heirs of Abraham continue to fight over rights to the land. Instead of sharing God’s blessing, They wish to apply the promise given to Abraham only to their particular group. There is simply not room for all of them. This infers, or course, that God has a much greater inheritance in mind than a small piece of real estate called Palestine by some and Israel by others.

As we have noted, Paul had a much deeper vision into this greater promise, one that included all people, Jew or Gentile, regardless of their genealogy, Jews and Gentiles are on equal footing in Christ. Through the covenant of baptism. women could be included as well as men. As Paul notes from Genesis 22:18

Genesis 22:18 NKJV

In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

We read from Paul in Galatians 3:16:

Galatians 3:16 NKJV

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

As we noted before, the promise to Abraham was not ultimately fulfilled in Isaac or any other of Abraham’s physical descendants but by one special seed. Isaac serves as a type of Christ, but he was not the Christ. The Christ would come from his descendants, first through Jacob, then on to Judah, then eventually to the descendants of David’s, and then to Christ Jesus. The Christian confesses that this Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. The true heirs, then are Christ’s heirs. This is not to say that Abraham’s physical descendants are blessed in some way. But it is as the blessing Isaac gave to Esau and not to Jacob. The Christian should not strive for land in earthly Jerusalem. There is enough conflict already. But the Christian confesses that he is a stranger and pilgrim on this earth, Abraham was invited to look upon the land of Canaan as an earthly inheritance for his descendants. But Hebrews 11 reminds us that he looked for a better city not make by human hands but by God. Abraham was a stranger who lived in the fields at the edge of Canaan land. The only possession he ever owned was the burial cave for him and his family. The good news is that Abraham has found a far greater inheritance than earthly Canaan.

We have now covered what the inheritance is and who is the guarantor and giver of our inheritance, we now turn to the questions as to who is an heir and what makes us an heir. Do we earn the inheritance? Do we have an earthly birthright to this inheritance? This was a view of many Jews in Paul’s day. These Jews felt that they were elected to it by Yahweh. The mark of circumcision was proof of their right of inheritance. To this also was their commitment to the Law of Moses which proved their justification. But Paul teaches that there is a difference between external commitment to the Torah and actually keeping it. If these Jews were right, then where do those who were not Jews stand? There was some allowance by becoming a proselyte Gentile. But there were restrictions. Some had to wait ten generations. Then their descendants might come into the Covenant as true Jews. Certain people like the Moabites were to be permanently excluded. Circumcision was required of all males. there was a class of God-fearers who were the same as the Gibeonites we mentioned earlier. In the early Christian church, great controversy broke out over whether Christian converts who were Gentiles had to make a commitment to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. The Gentiles who did not submit to this might be accorded some sort of inferior status. Thankfully, the Church made the right decision and did not require circumcision, but rather baptism, to be a full member of the body.

Paul’s argument in Romans 4 as well as in other places is that we need to see how Abraham was justified before God. Abraham lived before there was a formal Torah. This is not to say there was no moral code in those days, but this was not the source of Abraham’s justification. Abraham was a very good man, but even his righteousness fell short of the glory of God. Joshua 24 implies that he was an idol-worshiper before God called him. The call of Abraham by Yahweh was entirely based upon the grace of God. If Abraham was so justified, then the basis of the justification is solely the grace of God who calls sinners to follow Him.

Ephesians 2 tells us that we are saved by grace through the agency of faith. As we read in Ephesians 2:8:

Ephesians 2:8 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

So grace and faith serve as the basis of the covenant. By grace alone God called Abraham and made covenantal promises. One of these covenantal promises occurs in Genesis 15:5 where he was to be the father of many people and nations, as numerous as the stars of heaven. Paul rightly reminds us of Abraham and Sarah’s advanced age. Sarah was certainly well into menopause. It was impossible by the means in that day to change that. But Abraham’s response is that he did not consider the situation he was in but rather that the LORD was able to keep His promise. We read in Genesis 15:6:

Genesis 15:6 NKJV

And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Note that the text does not say that Abraham believed the LORD and was rewarded with children. This is true enough. But notice it says that his faith was accounted for righteousness. Having children flows out from this, as do all works. But the important word is that he was accounted as being just, even though Abraham was not perfectly so. Even afterward, we can see in the Ishmael project that he was not perfect in that he and Sarah felt the need to do something about it to bring God’s promise to pass. This led to Hagar being used as a surrogate mother to cover the deadness of Sarah’s womb. But God had a greater thing in mind. When Abraham was 86, he was still able to father children, even of Sarah could not conceive. But thirteen years later, when even Abraham was unable to physically father a child, the promised child to Abraham and Sarah was born.

We should also notice that there are two covenants made with Abraham, one in Genesis 15, and the other in Genesis 17. The first covenant is unconditional and universal in scope. The second is that of circumcision and is conditional and limited to Abraham’s house. As the LORD is absolutely faithful to His promise, no later covenant can annul a previous one. Therefore a third covenant made at Sinai with Moses and the people of Israel can annul or modify either of these two covenants. And if one goes back to Genesis 3:15 where a promise is made that Eve would have a son who would bruise the head of Satan in response to having his own heel bruised. As Adam and Eve were the only one’s alive then, this is a universal promise to all humanity. This promised seed is Jesus Christ, whose feet were bruised by the nails of the cross. It is He who gives the death wound to the serpent. There is no limitations here, except as we see that we must believe on the One whom God sent. So, the promises of God are for all who believe. This is what Paul and the Scripture teach us. This is what we should reflect upon.

So we take time during Lent to mourn our sins and failure to believe as we ought. But in doing so, we reflect that the New covenant is based upon God’s perfect faithfulness to the covenant. We look to the cross as well as the resurrection which is the guarantor for our justification. We hope not in ourselves but in the promises of God, Our physical bodies age and die, but our hope does not. Romans tells us that this hope will never bring us to shame but eternal life. We rejoice that we have been included by grace through the agency of faith. We realize that the one who created all things out of nothing can completely transform us into His image as incredible as it must seem at times. Let us continue in the walk of faith which shall never disappoint.