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 justice of faith.
ου γαρ δια νομου η επαγγελια τω αβρααμ η τω σπερματι αυτου το κληρονομον αυτον ειναι του κοσμου αλλα δια δικαιοσυνης πιστεως
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The Apostle has already proved that justification comes not by the law, but by faith. Now he proves that Abraham also received the promise not by the law, but by righteous faith. What promise? That he would be heir of the world, that is, that in him all the nations of the whole world would be blessed.
For the promise to Abraham, that he would be heir of the world, was not given through the law, which was given four hundred years later (Gal. 3:17), but through the righteousness of faith.
It is clear that neither the law nor circumcision existed when the promise was given to believing Abraham and to his seed, which is Christ (cf. Gal. 3:16), who washes away the sins of men. Therefore John the Baptist says: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29). Thus he became heir of the world not by merit of service to the law, but by faith. The heir of the world is the heir of the earth, which he inherits in his sons. Christ, however, is heir of the nations, as David sings: "And I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession" (Ps. 2:8).
Paul says that the righteous will become heirs of the world because, when the ungodly are removed and handed over to punishment on the day of judgment, then the whole renewed world will henceforth belong to the righteous. They will possess both heavenly and earthly blessings.
The promise was not through the Law. That is, Abraham and his seed received the inheritance not for fulfilling the Law, but for the righteousness attained by faith (Gal. 3:18). When Abraham received the promise, the Law did not yet exist. When the promise was given, his seed did not yet exist either. Thus it was not given through the Law. Chrysostom and Theodoret take "the inheritance of the world" in a spiritual sense. According to this promise, Abraham became the father of believers throughout the whole world. In the person of the Messiah, his descendant, he inherited the whole world (Ps. 2:8).
Fourth section. Justifying faith is not the destruction of the law. On the contrary, it was and always is the constant and universal means of justification. This is proved by the example of Abraham and the testimony of David, and by the greatness of the fruits of our justification and of God’s love, which do not correspond to our sinfulness (Rom 4-5:11).
Rom 4:1-25. “What does the Scripture say” about Abraham? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3). “So David also calls the man blessed to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works” (Rom 4:6).
Looking more deeply into the history of Abraham, the Apostle asks: “When was it reckoned” to Abraham? Was it after circumcision or before circumcision? It was not after circumcision, but before it. For Abraham received the announcement of the birth of a son and believed it while he was still uncircumcised. “And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness through faith which he had in uncircumcision” (Rom 4:10-11).
In this event, that is, in the institution of circumcision only after Abraham had manifested faith concerning God’s promise to him, the holy Apostle sees a deliberate purpose of God. It was to show in Abraham a universal model of faith, both for the circumcised and for the uncircumcised. It was also so that he might be not the fleshly, but the spiritual father of all believers, “that righteousness might be reckoned to them also,” as to those “who walk in the steps of the faith which he had in uncircumcision” (Rom 4:12).
As a second gift, after justification, Abraham received the great promise that he would be heir of the world. This too was granted before the law. Therefore all believers have the right to be heirs with him in this promise, not only those under the law.
Those under the law, by the force of the law, can count on only one thing: punishment. For where there is law, there are also transgressions foreseen by the law, which provoke the Lawgiver to wrath.
Moreover, if the reception of the promise is made dependent on observance of the Mosaic law, then Abraham’s faith and the promise given to him lose their meaning. In this way faith is robbed, as it were, of its chief object, and its essential significance is destroyed. This, of course, cannot be allowed, for faith in God and hope in the promise concerning the Savior have always been the most important guides for all people.
By setting faith aside and putting forward the law, the law’s adherents destroy the promise. On the contrary, wishing to show the hopelessness of the condition under law alone, the Apostle says that the law only reveals sins. It produces God’s wrath upon those who transgress it.
Thus people would have lighter responsibility without the law, because then they would sin in ignorance. Under the law, sins are more visible, and therefore responsibility is greater. A person under the law constantly feels himself sinful and under wrath.
All this had to be said in order to show that only faith brings forgiveness of sins and gives peace with God. Therefore, after pointing out this unfavorable side of the law, the Apostle goes on to say that the cause of all this is man, his weakness, and not the law, which is holy and good...
Up to this point the holy Apostle has drawn conclusions from the words, “Abraham believed, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and from the fact that circumcision came after this justification by faith, as its seal. This latter fact led to Abraham’s special prerogative, that he is father of all who believe, both those in circumcision and those in uncircumcision. Since the substance of the promise given to him consisted in this, Saint Paul naturally fixed his attention on that promise as well. He directs it also toward proving that justification can take place only by faith.
Abraham, he says, received circumcision as the seal of righteousness by faith, so that he might be father of all who believe. This is the same as the promise that he, or his seed, should be heir of the world. But take this circumstance, he seems to add, even separately from what came before, and again you will see that justification is possible only by faith.
The promise was given to Abraham, or to his seed, that he or it would be heir of the world. By virtue of what was this promise given? Was it by virtue of Abraham’s faithfulness to the law, or by virtue of his faith? The promise was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. The law did not yet exist then. Circumcision, which is the doorway into subjection to the law, did begin then. Yet faith preceded it and determined its meaning. The promise was given to faith, and circumcision, serving as a sign of faith, serves as a sign of the promise.
But if circumcision contributed nothing here, then much less did the law, which came long after circumcision. Therefore the promise was given by virtue of faith. What is the substance of the promise? That he should be heir of the world, meaning that he or his seed would inherit the world. In other words, the whole world would be his. It is self-evident that this possession could not be fleshly, but spiritual.
In what does it consist? This must be explained from the words of the promise: “In you and in your seed all nations shall be blessed.” Inheriting the world is the same as this blessing of all peoples. But what is this blessing itself? If we stand beside Abraham at the moment of the promise, its force will not be so clear to us. It is evident that something great and radiant is promised, but precisely what is not so clear. If, however, we look at how it was fulfilled, everything becomes clear.
The seed of Abraham is Christ, the Savior of the world. In Him are all the powers for life, piety, and eternal blessedness. The outpouring from Him of these powers upon the world is the blessing in Him. The nations are united to Him and draw this blessing from Him. But by being united to Him, they become His own, and through Him they also become Abraham’s own. For Christ the Lord is Abraham’s seed according to the flesh. This is Abraham’s inheritance of the world, or the blessing of the nations in Him.
By virtue of what is all this arranged? By virtue of faith. The promise was given to faith, and it is fulfilled by the action of faith. For people are united to the Lord and Savior, and receive blessing from Him, only by faith. Through faith, then, Abraham became father of all who believe, blesser of the nations, and heir of the world.
So clear to us, looking from this point, is the promise given to Abraham. Saint Paul intended to present it as clear by virtue of these concepts. He spoke, as it were, in this way: by faith Abraham was counted worthy of the great promise, and by faith it is now being brought to fulfillment. Therefore you Jews should not mix your law into this.
But the Jews could object: you present the matter perversely. It should be understood like this: Abraham, our forefather, indeed received the promise for faith, but afterward the law came, and the fulfillment of the promise must depend on subjection to the law. Only those who receive the law and submit to it can enter the sphere of Abraham’s promise. To this the Apostle answers: No. By this you destroy the promise.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 21 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS