Of this inheritance we must speak further later on. Suffice it now to
say that it is the inheritance promised to Abraham, whose children we
become by faith. The inheritance belongs to all who are children of God
through faith in Christ Jesus; and the Spirit that marks our sonship is
the promise, the pledge, the first-fruits of that inheritance. Those who
accept Christ’s glorious deliverance from the curse of the
law,—redemption not from obedience to the law, for obedience is not a
curse, but from disobedience to the law,—have in the Spirit a taste of
the power and the blessing of the world to come.
[Sidenote: The Promise Was Made to Abraham.]
It will be seen that Abraham is the one about whom this chapter centers.
He is the one to whom the Gospel of world-wide salvation was preached.
He believed, and received the blessing, even the blessing of
righteousness. All who believe are blessed with believing Abraham. They
who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse, in order that the blessing of Abraham might
come on us. “To Abraham and his seed were the promises made.” “If the
inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to
Abraham by promise.” Thus it is clear that the promise to us is the
promise that was made to Abraham,—the promise of an inheritance,—and in
which we share as his children. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse,
that we might receive the inheritance of righteousness. Christ through
the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, to purge our
consciences from dead works to serve the living God; because “He is the
Mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death ... they which are
called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Heb. 9:14, 15.
[Sidenote: “And His Seed.”]
“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.”
There is here no play upon words; the issue is a vital one. The
controversy is over the way of salvation, whether it is by Christ alone,
or by something else, or by Christ and something or somebody else. Many
people imagine that it is by them,—that they must save themselves by
making themselves good. Many others think that Christ is a valuable
adjunct, a good assistant to their efforts; while others still are
willing to give Him the first place, but not the only place. They regard
themselves as good seconds. It is the Lord and they who do the work. But
our text shuts off all this assumption and self-assertion. Not seeds,
but the seed. Not many, but one. “And to thy Seed, which is Christ.”
Christ is the One.
[Sidenote: Not Two Lines.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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