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 the.
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 17:4,5,16 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations…
Genesis 22:17,18 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; …
through the.
Galatians 3:16-18,29 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ…
but through.
Romans 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
that he would be heir of the world
This phrase expands the scope of the promise beyond the land of Canaan to a more universal inheritance. The concept of being "heir of the world" suggests a future fulfillment in the messianic kingdom, where Christ, as the ultimate descendant of Abraham, reigns over all. This is echoed in Psalm 2:8, where God promises the nations as an inheritance to His Anointed One. The idea of inheritance is central to the New Testament, where believers are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
was not given through the law
The law, given to Moses at Sinai, came 430 years after the promise to Abraham (Galatians 3:17). This distinction underscores that the promise was based on God's grace and not on human effort or adherence to the law. The law served a different purpose, acting as a tutor to lead people to Christ (Galatians 3:24), but it was never the means by which the promise was fulfilled.
but through the righteousness that comes by faith
This phrase highlights the principle of justification by faith, a central theme in Paul's writings. Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), setting a precedent for how individuals are made right with God. This righteousness is not based on works but on faith in God's promises, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:22 and Philippians 3:9 further elaborate on this righteousness that comes through faith in Christ, apart from the law.
- From the very beginning, God spoke to Abram with a sweeping pledge: “I will make you into a great nation … and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). Paul reminds his readers that this is the same promise he has in mind in Romans 4:13.
- God later reiterated the promise, showing Abram the stars and declaring, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). Abram “believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
- Paul connects that ancient scene to every believer: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
- The scope is multigenerational and multinational—Abraham and “his offspring,” ultimately fulfilled in Christ and in all who are “in Christ” (Galatians 3:16).
- The phrase stretches the promise beyond Canaan to the entire earth. Psalm 2:8 speaks of the Messiah: “Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession”.
- Jesus echoed this global inheritance when He said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
- Paul widens the view again in Romans 8:17: “If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ”.
- Abraham’s promised inheritance, therefore, is ultimately realized in Christ’s universal reign and shared with all who trust Him.
- God spoke His promise to Abram roughly four centuries before the Law was given to Moses (Galatians 3:17).
- Because of that timeline, the promise and the Law stand on different foundations. The Law says, “The one who does these things will live by them” (Leviticus 18:5), yet Paul concludes, “No one will be justified in His sight by works of the law” (Romans 3:20).
- If the inheritance depended on law-keeping, it would rest on human performance and inevitably fail (Galatians 3:18).
- Paul’s point is simple: the Law cannot annul or upgrade what God already pledged by grace.
- Scripture calls Abraham “the father of all who believe” because “he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).
- That same righteousness is offered to everyone who believes: “The righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22).
- Faith is not a human work; it is the open hand receiving what God freely gives. As Paul puts it, “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
- Therefore, the promise stands secure, because it rests on God’s grace, accessed by faith, and not on the shaky ground of human effort.
Romans 4:13 teaches that God’s promise to Abraham—and to all who share his faith—covers the whole world, comes solely from God’s grace, and is received by faith apart from law-keeping. The inheritance is certain because it depends on God’s righteousness credited to believers, ensuring that every promise made to Abraham finds its “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ and in all who trust Him.
(13) Abraham was the father of all who walk in his steps. For this all is not limited by the Law any more than it is limited by circumcision. The promise of that world-wide inheritance was not given through the agency of the Law (which at that time did not exist), but as an effect of the righteousness which proceeds from faith.Heir of the world.--This promise was explained by the Jews of the universal sovereignty of the Messiah.
Through the righteousness of faith.--As a further consequence of that (imputed) righteousness which proceeds from faith. Three stages are indicated: (1) faith, (2) imputed righteousness, (3) access to the Messianic kingdom with all its privileges.
Verses 13-15. - For not through law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith, For if they which are of law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. For the Law worketh wrath: for where no law is, neither is there transgression. The point of the argument is that the principle of law is essentially different from that on which Abraham was justified, and which is hence to be understood in the fulfilment of the promise to him and his seed. How this is so is shortly intimated in ver. 15, the idea being more fully expounded in ch. 7. The idea is (as has been already explained) that law simply declares what is right, and requires conformity to it; it does not give either power to obey, or atonement for not obeying. Hence, in itself, it worketh, not righteousness, but wrath; for man becomes fully liable to wrath when he comes to know, through law, the difference between right and wrong (cf. John 9:41, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin"). Exactly the same view of the impossibility of the Mosaic Law being the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham is found in Galatians 3, where also the real purpose of the Law, intervening thus between the promise and its fulfilment, is further explained. The expression in ver. 13, "that he should be the heir of the world," has reference to the ultimate scope of the Abrahamic promises (see Genesis 12:2, 3; Genesis 13:14-16; Genesis 15:5, 6, 18; Genesis 17:2-9; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:17, 18). Now, it is true that in some of these promises the language used seems to denote no more than the temporal possession by Israel of the promised land, with dominion (actually realized under David and Solomon) over the whole country from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, as in Genesis 13:14, 15; Genesis 15:18, etc. But their full scope transcends any such limited fulfilment, as where it is said that the promised seed should be as the stars of heaven, and as the dust of the earth that cannot be numbered, and that in it all the nations of the earth should be blessed. The prophets accordingly recognized a far larger ultimate fulfilment in their frequent pictures of the Messiah's universal dominion; and there was no need for the apostle to prove here what the Jews already understood. The only difference between the view current among them and his would be that they would mostly have in view a universal worldly sovereignty with its local centre on the throne of David at Jerusalem, while he interpreted spirttually, seeing beyond the outward framework of prophetic visions to the ideal they imply. "Heres mundi idem est quod pater omnium gentium, benedictionem accipientium. Totus mundus promissus est Abrahae et semini ejus per totum mundum conjunctim. Abrahamo obtigit terra Canaan, et sic aliis alia pars; atque corporalia sunt specimen spiritualium. Christus beres mundi, et omuium (Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 2:5; Revelation 11:15), et qui in eum credunt Abrahae exemplo (Matthew 5:5) (Bengel). It is to be observed that, though Abraham himself in ver. 13 is spoken of as "the heir of the world," yet the preceding expression, "to Abrabam or to his seed," sufficiently intimates that it is in his seed, identified with him, that he is conceived as so inheriting.