Saturday 17 October 2009
- Bible Book:
- Romans
"For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith." (v.13)
Background
For Paul there were a number of important things about Abraham,an Old Testament character who often featured in his letters.
- First, he lived several hundred years before Moses, and,therefore, before the Law (Torah) was given. So Israel's earliestidentity as Abraham's descendents, the people of God, the originalcommunity of the redeemed, did not depend on the Law because theLaw came later.
- Second, the promise God made to Abraham was that he would havemany descendents (
- Third, and this is sometimes forgotten, Abraham did haveanother, older son called Ishmael by his wife's Egyptian slave,Hagar (another odd story in
What Paul was trying to do was prove, using the JewishScriptures, that the people of God were defined, not as those whoobeyed the Law, but as those who received God's grace and trustedGod's promises. His argument was directed mainly at JewishChristians who insisted that Gentile converts should be circumcised(if male), observe the Sabbath and eat a kosher diet. No, saidPaul, not if they were true descendents of Abraham.
To Ponder
Jews and Muslims both claim Abraham as theirfounding father. Paul's argument was that Christians sharedAbraham's 'spiritual DNA'. How far do you think we recognise theimplications of that argument today?
Sometimes Christians talk about 'the god of theOld Testament' as though that god was somehow different from thegod they worship. Would Paul agree with that?
Is it enough to receive God's grace and trustGod's promises in order to belong to the community of the redeemed?What else is necessary?