¹³ For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Pursuing every angle in his theological response to the Jewish objector, Paul continues his emphasis on the Abrahamic promise. While he probably doesn’t have a specific objector in mind, after having 20-25 years of ministry under his belt, he was inevitably well acquainted with the “best” and most salient theological arguments against his teachings. However, such is no match for the crystal clear truth of God as revealed in Christ.

The centrality of Abraham in biblical history is assailed. While David is mentioned by name more often (he embodies the glory years of Israel as a nation), Abraham is more seminal both as the originator of the Jewish people and as the father of believers (as Paul makes the case here). Tellingly, New Testament references to Abraham outnumber those for David by 74 to 60. In fact, in Paul’s writings, he refers to David only four times (three times in Romans) but to Abraham 19 times (mostly in Romans and Galatians). Not that sheer numbers mean anything by themselves, but one cannot dismiss the importance of this patriarch and his relationship to our faith today, especially in Paul’s teachings.

God often conveys truth in Scripture through promises. These are specifically worded to convey certainty in the strongest possible way, namely, based on the character of God Himself. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you’… For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.” (Heb 6:13-14, 16–18)

God made a promise to Abraham that goes beyond the Law, is apart from it, and extends to all who believe in the same way that he believed. Righteousness is obtained through faith and not by keeping the Law or any merit-based human efforts or deeds. Paul belabors this issue because it is so absolutely essential to a right relationship to God.

Lord, I trust only in You and not on my good works; thanks for justifying me.