Who are the Children of Abraham?
Romans 4
9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
In all of Romans 4 Paul is talking about how Abraham’s faith was given to him before he obeyed any stipulations that God had set up in a covenant; faith even then was the instrument God used to rescue individuals from the wrath to come, not the individual’s personal piety or obedience to the “rule of life” for that particular dispensation—salvation has never been granted any other way by grace alone, through faith alone, in The Christ (future or come) alone.
Covenantal obedience in Romans 4 is specifically characterized by the act of circumcision. In the Apostolic age the gentile Christians might have questioned their legitimate claim on a Jewish Messiah, but in Paul’s letter to a gentile city and church, he writes about how faith is given apart from or before the obedience to a peculiar Jewish custom—which in this case was circumcision.
The peculiar act of circumcision pictured the curse by which God Himself would be defecated if He did not uphold the unconditional promises He made to Abraham in that covenant. It was a sign of the animals cut in two when God “cut” that covenant with Abraham, and a seal to all the children of Abraham afterward that God would remain faithful, not that all those who were circumcised were the spiritual children of Abraham, but that it pictured the promises God made to him and his offspring, thus the removal of his foreskin is typical. On the cross, Christ was “cut off” in the place of Abraham and all his spiritual children. He was the cut off foreskin in the place of those who couldn’t fulfill the law for righteousness. It was a strange ritual, but it makes sense when you consider the nature of the promise, that it would come through Abraham’s Seed (Christ), to Abraham’s offspring (those counted “in Christ”). The misunderstanding of many, because it was formerly a mystery, was that the spiritual blessing that came to Abraham and will come to his offspring through Christ is not only for those who were circumcised in the flesh, but for those who were circumcised in their heart; those who were and are spiritually circumcised, and Paul establishes his claim by telling us that Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised, not after, and the purpose of God doing it in that order was so God could count both the physically circumcised and the physically uncircumcised righteous—by faith alone, not by faith plus circumcision. Just consider the harsh words Paul had for the Galatians.
Furthermore, if Abraham is the Father of all those who have faith and are counted righteous, then he is obviously in the same redeemed group as all of those who are counted righteous; all those who are counted as his children. He cannot be “the father of all who believe without being circumcised” and at the same time, the member of a completely different group in eternity. Paul places Abraham in the same group as all who believe (circumcised or not); who “walk in the footsteps of the faith that Abraham had before he was circumcised”.
In Galatians 3:29 Paul calls all of those in Christ Abraham’s seed or offspring. We can logically and biblically equate the term “Abraham’s offspring” with the term, “children of Abraham”. Every redeemed person is counted in Christ instead of being counted in Adam, and if counted in Christ, then counted as the seed or offspring or children of Abraham. How then can anyone say that Abraham is the father of all of those in Christ, and yet he is not part of that same eternal group? We cannot!
Romans 4
9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
In all of Romans 4 Paul is talking about how Abraham’s faith was given to him before he obeyed any stipulations that God had set up in a covenant; faith even then was the instrument God used to rescue individuals from the wrath to come, not the individual’s personal piety or obedience to the “rule of life” for that particular dispensation—salvation has never been granted any other way by grace alone, through faith alone, in The Christ (future or come) alone.
Covenantal obedience in Romans 4 is specifically characterized by the act of circumcision. In the Apostolic age the gentile Christians might have questioned their legitimate claim on a Jewish Messiah, but in Paul’s letter to a gentile city and church, he writes about how faith is given apart from or before the obedience to a peculiar Jewish custom—which in this case was circumcision.
The peculiar act of circumcision pictured the curse by which God Himself would be defecated if He did not uphold the unconditional promises He made to Abraham in that covenant. It was a sign of the animals cut in two when God “cut” that covenant with Abraham, and a seal to all the children of Abraham afterward that God would remain faithful, not that all those who were circumcised were the spiritual children of Abraham, but that it pictured the promises God made to him and his offspring, thus the removal of his foreskin is typical. On the cross, Christ was “cut off” in the place of Abraham and all his spiritual children. He was the cut off foreskin in the place of those who couldn’t fulfill the law for righteousness. It was a strange ritual, but it makes sense when you consider the nature of the promise, that it would come through Abraham’s Seed (Christ), to Abraham’s offspring (those counted “in Christ”). The misunderstanding of many, because it was formerly a mystery, was that the spiritual blessing that came to Abraham and will come to his offspring through Christ is not only for those who were circumcised in the flesh, but for those who were circumcised in their heart; those who were and are spiritually circumcised, and Paul establishes his claim by telling us that Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised, not after, and the purpose of God doing it in that order was so God could count both the physically circumcised and the physically uncircumcised righteous—by faith alone, not by faith plus circumcision. Just consider the harsh words Paul had for the Galatians.
Furthermore, if Abraham is the Father of all those who have faith and are counted righteous, then he is obviously in the same redeemed group as all of those who are counted righteous; all those who are counted as his children. He cannot be “the father of all who believe without being circumcised” and at the same time, the member of a completely different group in eternity. Paul places Abraham in the same group as all who believe (circumcised or not); who “walk in the footsteps of the faith that Abraham had before he was circumcised”.
In Galatians 3:29 Paul calls all of those in Christ Abraham’s seed or offspring. We can logically and biblically equate the term “Abraham’s offspring” with the term, “children of Abraham”. Every redeemed person is counted in Christ instead of being counted in Adam, and if counted in Christ, then counted as the seed or offspring or children of Abraham. How then can anyone say that Abraham is the father of all of those in Christ, and yet he is not part of that same eternal group? We cannot!
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