"In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring" (Romans 9:8)

It is amazing to belong to the promise and subsequently be a part of God's wonderful redemption plan initiated in the garden, prophesied throughout prophets and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God chose us and His hope is that we will chose him. It is through the blood of Jesus that we have obtained this sweet and precious promise. Paul told us in Ephesians, "Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ" ( Ephesians 2:12-13 ). We have been brought near and made the true seed of Abraham because of the promise spoken to him centuries ago. The promise was Jesus. It was nothing we could do to obtain it and it was everything that Jesus did for us which brought us into fellowship with the Father. Paul said in Ephesians that He had an intense, wonderful and great love towards us so he reached out in mercy to include us in the promise and to save us by grace ( Ephesians 2:4-5 ).

Paul started out this chapter by expressing his sadness at the rejection of Israel on the account of Christ, he said in verse 4 and 5, "Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen" ( Romans 9:4-5 ). However, in today's passage he is saying that while Israel holds a wonderful heritage, their ancestry cannot bring them into right relationship with God. Paul said, it is not children of the body of Abraham who are God's children, but the offspring of the promise will be counted and Abraham's true descendants ( Romans 9:8 ). In other words, Israel still has to put their faith in Jesus Christ to be counted righteous, holy and blameless before God. To be God true child in this world can only comes through faith in the Savior. It cannot come through reliance on a natural lineage or the faith of the patriarchs.

The amazing thing about being born again into the family of God is that he dwells on the inside of you and fellowships with you in a personal, loving way. It is an intimate relationship. Peter said concerning this, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" ( I Peter 2:9-10 ). Just like the heritage that Israel shares, once we are born into the family of God we become part of a holy nation and royal priesthood. We may have started out in life with no hope, no future and no family, but we have been called out of darkness and into God's light. Now we belong to God and we have become the light to this dark world. He has equipped us, called us and loved us and all of this while we were sinners and separated from him.

Paul said in Ephesians, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" ( Ephesians 2:19-21 ). Today, ours future is so bright in Christ Jesus. We are being built into a wonderful holy people where God lives and dwells among us. Through Christ our heritage is wonderful, built on the foundations of those saints who have gone before us which Christ Jesus being the cornerstone which holds everything together. I am so bless to be counted among the promise spoken to Abraham and I am so excited that by faith he believe God and so blessed the entire world. Today, I pray that the truth of how much God loves you will sink into your heart and your response to this will be faith. Faith is what pleases the Lord ( Hebrews 11:6 ) and faith is what will bless the world, amen!

Previous: Romans 9:7  Next: Romans 9:9

Original article published January 8, 2010.

"Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned" (Romans 9:7)

Many times we look to the physical world around us to interrupt it. Being human we based everything on our five senses. However as Christians we also have a sixth sense, which is most important for us in the truths of God. We need to use it to filter the world around us and understand what the Bible is speaking to us. This sense is faith. The Israelites were a natural people and they were familiar with God, His principals and His promises to them. However God's promises are spiritual so without faith it is easy to misinterpret them and miss them completely.

God's promise to Abraham's was having a son through Sarah. He rushed fulfillment of this by having a son with Sarah's maidservant Hagar. However, the promise spoken to Abraham was much more than a physical descent, the promise is that Abraham would be the father of many nations and the he would bless the entire world ( Genesis 12:2-3 ). The promise referred to the coming Messiah. It would be through his seed that the Christ came. Paul said in Galatians, "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ" ( Galatians 3:16 ). Fulfillment of this promise could only come through his wife Sarah. Abraham had to believe God for this to happen because they were well along in years and Sarah was barren. This took faith and the Bible says that because of it, Abrahams faith was credited to him as righteousness ( Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3 ).

In today's passage Paul tells us that it is not the natural children that are Abrahams children, but it is children of the promise which came through Isaac. Paul adds clarity to this in Galatians 4, "For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise" ( Galatians 4:22-23 ). Remember the promise was that the Messiah would come through his line and bless the world. This blessing came through the birth of Isaac and this came about by faith in what God said. Abraham was justified and made righteous before God on the account of this faith.

The same is true for us who believe in that promise originating with Abraham. If we have faith in Christ as our savior and do not rely on our works to make us right with God, then we are part of Abrahams family and part of this promise. "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" ( Galatians 3:29 ). What an amazing thing to understand. Through faith in Jesus we do not have to rely on the physical interpretation of God's family, we can rely on his supernatural definition of who his children are. "Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all" ( Romans 4:16 ).

Faith is the beginning of the adventure. Today I am blessed to be counted among this wonderful promise that Abraham receive of the Lord. Today, I am join with the millions of people who have partaken in the blessedness of his seed, the Messiah. This journey starts with faith by believing in what God has promised us, and it ends with being made righteous and holy before him. Today, I pray that you take the first steps in being reconciled with God through faith in his son Jesus, amen!

Previous: Romans 9:6  Next: Romans 9:8

Original article published January 6, 2010.