Heir of the World

The faith of uncircumcised Abraham provides an example for Jewish and Gentile believers to live from the faith of Jesus – Romans 4:11-17.

God implemented His plan to redeem humanity and His Creation by establishing His covenant with Abraham. This began with the summons for the Patriarch to leave his homeland and journey to the “land I will show you.” God would produce a “great nation” from him, and the covenant would bless all the “Tribes of the Earth.” From the start, the promise of territory was central to the covenant.

The Apostle Paul presents Abraham as the great exemplar of faith for Jewish and Gentile believers in his Letter to the Romans, the model for every man and woman who chooses to live “from faith” to follow. Moreover, he designated Abraham as the “Heir of the World.”

[Photo by Gaël Gaborel on Unsplash]

The original promise of land in Canaan is fulfilled in the coming resurrection of the righteous dead and the New Creation. Thus, the Patriarch and those who live from the same faith will inherit the “world” or ‘kosmos’ - (Romans 4:11-17, Genesis 17:4-5).

God declared Abraham “right” in Genesis and reckoned his faith as “righteousness” when uncircumcised. He was justified apart from the “works of the Law,” namely, the Torah that was given centuries later and required all males to be circumcised. Because of his faith in God’s promise, Abraham became the “father” of everyone who is “from faith,” circumcised or not, and they became members of the “Seed of Abraham” and covenant heirs.

The Greek preposition used in the passage or ‘ek’ means “FROM [‘ek’] faith” and “FROM [‘ek’] the works of the law,” not “by faith” or “by the works of the law” - (Romans 3:21-22).

The distinction is important since Paul used the story of Abraham to echo his statement at the start of the Letter – the “righteousness of God is being revealed FROM faith FOR faith” – (Romans 1:17).

His reference to believers emulating the “faith of Abraham” is a verbal link to his explanation in Chapter 3 about how men are justified before God - “The righteousness of God through THE FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST, FOR all those who believe.”

It is not generic faith or the exercise of faith by itself that saves, but the source, content, and target of that faith. Sinners are justified before God “from” (ek) the faith or faithfulness of Jesus. They respond by placing faith in him and what God accomplished in his Death and Resurrection. His act of “obedience unto death” justifies and saves. All we can do is respond in faith - (Romans 3:22).

References to “promise” and “heir” point to future realities. For Abraham and his “seed,” the promised inheritance is the entire “world” or ‘kosmos’. The Apostle Paul has universalized the promise of a small territory in Palestine to include the “world,” the Cosmos.

HEIR

The promise was to Abraham and “his seed.” This includes all men who walk in the same faith that he did, the “faith of Abraham.” The inheritance is through faith and grace; therefore, the “promise is firm to all the seed.” God appointed Abraham as the “Father of many nations,” not just Israel.

The description of him as the “heir of the world” and the “father of all who believe” anticipates the detailed discussion of our future hope in Chapter 8 of Romans. We have received the “Spirit of adoption” and call God “Father.” If we are His “children,” then we are also the “heirs of God” and the “coheirs” of Jesus who will participate in his “glory.”

Regardless of the sufferings of this present life, the “coheirs” of Christ will be “delivered from bondage and corruption” when they receive the “redemption of their bodies,” namely, the bodily resurrection when Jesus arrives from Heaven and ushers in the New Creation – (Romans 8:15-23).

Abraham qualified for this inheritance because he believed in God’s promise, the same God who “raises the dead and calls the things that are not into being.” Paul applies this to the Patriarch’s belief that God would grant him “seed” as promised, namely Isaac, even though Sarah’s womb was “dead.”

The “Apostle to the Gentiles” finds the promise of territory to Abraham is being fulfilled as men and women from every nation are gathered into the Assembly in response to the Gospel. Like Abraham, they will inherit the “world,” they have become full heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant. The proclamation of the Gospel to the nations is part of the “blessing of Abraham” promised for the Gentiles. Its announcement to humanity will culminate in the resurrection of the righteous dead and the New Creation.

The covenant finds its fulfillment in Jesus, the “Seed of Abraham,” and in the Good News of the Kingdom proclaimed by his followers to “the ends of the Earth.” All men who respond to the “faith of Jesus” with faith become “children of Abraham” and therefore, “heirs of the world.”

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RELATED POSTS:

• From Faith For Faith - (Men are not set right before God from the works of the law but from the faith of Jesus Christ)

• His Covenant Faithfulness - (The righteousness of God refers to His faithfulness to His promises, and this is demonstrated in the salvation He has provided in Jesus)

• Coheirs with Jesus - (The covenant with Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus, his seed and heir, including the promise of land – Romans 8:1-23)