The Amish Voice 4
are heirs of his and of Christ. And there is only one
condition to receiving the inheritance: believing
God, that is, following in the “steps of that faith of
our father Abraham” (Ro. 4:12).
“
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteous-
ness.” (Ro. 4:3)
He, Christ, and his descendants are to receive the
promised land—a new heavens and earth that will be
perfected eternally.
“
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. For if they
which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the
promise made of none effect.” (Ro. 4:13-14)
3.
GOD GAVE HIS COVENANT OF FAITH BEFORE HE
GAVE THE LAW. (v.17)
How do we know that a person is justified by faith alone? Be-
cause God gave His covenant of faith to Abraham before He gave
the law to Moses. The covenant of faith preceded the covenant of
law. The law of God did not even appear upon the scene until four
hundred and thirty years after Abraham. Note two significant
things.
1.
When the law was given, the promise to Abraham had not yet
been fulfilled; therefore, the law could not void or change the cove-
nant of faith with Abraham. The promises of God to Abraham and
his descendent, Jesus Christ, still stood. As Lehman Strauss points
out:
The covenant of faith finds its roots in eternity past.
“
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ.” (Jn. 1:17)
Since Jesus Christ, who is eternal, existed before
Abraham, the covenant of faith was given to Christ
even before it was given to Abraham. (Lehman
Strauss. Devotional Studies in Galatians and Ephe-
sians, p.45.)
2.
The covenant made with Abraham told man how he was to
follow God and receive the promises of God, that is, by faith.
Therefore, when the law was given, it must have been given for a
different purpose entirely. It could not have been given to show men
how to follow God, for that truth was already established in the cov-
enant of faith given to Abraham.
The point is clear: no man is justified by the law, that is, by self-
effort and works, trying to become good and righteous through
obeying the law. That was not the purpose of the law. A person is
justified by faith and by faith alone.
APPLICATION:
God’s covenant of faith or of grace is sure. It cannot be revoked
or changed.
Believers
shall inherit the promises made to Abraham
and Christ.
“
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words
shall not pass away.” (Lu. 21:33)
4.
GOD GAVE HIS COVENANT OR INHERITANCE BY
PROMISE—NOT BY LAW (THE INHERITANCE OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS, OF BEING ACCEPTABLE TO GOD)
(
v.18).
How do we know that a person is justified by faith alone? Be-
cause God gave His covenant or inheritance by promise, not by law.
William Barclay sums up this passage in a most descriptive
way.
Again and again Paul comes back to the same point.
The whole problem of human life is to get into a right rela-
tionship with God. So long as we are afraid of God, so
long as God is a grim stranger, there can be no peace in
life. How can we achieve this right relationship? Shall we
try to achieve it by a meticulous and even self-torturing
obedience to the law, by performing endless deeds, by ob-
serving every smallest regulation the law lays down? If we
take that way we are forever in default, for man’s imper-
fection can never fully satisfy the perfection of God; we are
forever frustrated, forever climbing up a hill in which the
peak never comes in sight, forever under condemnation;
but if we simply abandon this hopeless struggle and bring
ourselves and our sin to God, then the grace of God opens
its arms to us and we are at peace with a God who is no
longer judge but father. Paul’s whole argument is that that
is what happened to Abraham; it was on that basis that
QUESTIONS:
1.
Who is Abraham’s seed? Why is this important to know?
2.
Do you think any of the promises made to Abraham have
lost their power over the course of thousands of years?
What is the secret behind the enduring quality of God’s
promises?
3.
What part, if any, does the believer have in God’s prom-
ises to Abraham?
Q
UESTIONS
:
1.
Which is older: the law or God’s covenant? That is, the
law given to Moses or God’s covenant given to Abra-
ham? Why is this significant?
2.
Why did God not “change the rules” when He gave the
law regarding how to follow Him?
3.
What difference does it make how God wants you to
follow Him?
