Romans 4.16a-The Promise of Inheriting the World is By Means of Faith That It Might Be Fulfilled In Accordance with Grace
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 7, 2008
Romans: Romans 4:16a-The Promise of Inheriting the World is By Means of Faith That It Might Be Fulfilled in Accordance with Grace
Lesson # 128
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 4:1.
This evening we will study Romans 4:16a, which teaches that the promise of inheriting the earth can only be received by means of faith in order that it might be fulfilled in accordance with God’s grace policy.
Romans 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”
Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”
Romans 4:3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
Romans 4:4, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.”
Romans 4:5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
Romans 4:6, “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.”
Romans 4:7, “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.”
Romans 4:8, “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”
Romans 4:9, “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, ‘FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
Romans 4:10, “How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.”
Romans 4:11, “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them.”
Romans 4:12, “and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.”
Romans 4:13, “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.”
Romans 4:14, “For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified.”
Romans 4:15, “for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.”
Romans 4:16, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
“For this reason” is the prepositional phrase dia touto, which points out that the purpose for the inheritance of the earth being received by means of faith in Jesus Christ was in order that it might be in accordance with God’s grace policy.
“It is” that follows “for this reason” and comes before “by faith” does not appear in the original Greek text of Romans 4:16 but is correctly added by the translators because they interpret Paul as omitting the verb eimi (ei)miv) (i-mee) due to his use of the figure of ellipsis.
The verb eimi functions as a substantive and the pronoun “it” is implied in the verb and is the subject.
The subject refers to both the promise and the inheritance since Paul stated in Romans 4:13 that the promise was to inherit the earth and was appropriated by Abraham by faith.
In Romans 4:13, “the promise” is the noun epangelia (e)paggeliva) (ep-ang-el-ee-ah), which means, “promise” and is a “collective singular” referring to all the promises contained in the Abrahamic covenant, which collectively imply that Abraham and his descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ will inherit earth.
This indicates that the promises of the Abrahamic covenant in a collective sense constitute the promise to Abraham and his spiritual descendants that they would be heirs of the world.
Romans 4:16, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
In Romans 4:13, “the world” is the noun kosmos (kovsmo$) kos-mos), which refers to creation that is subject to the laws God established to govern its operation.
There is no express mention of Abraham and his spiritual descendants being heirs or possessors of the earth in the Genesis account of Abraham.
However, since these promises contained in the Abrahamic covenant make clear that God purposed through Abraham and his offspring, the Lord Jesus Christ to work out the destiny of the entire world, it was implicit in the promises to Abraham that he and his spiritual descendants and the Lord Jesus Christ would inherit the earth.
The full realization of this awaits the consummation of the millennial kingdom at Christ’s Second Advent.
Genesis 12:1-3, 6-9; 13:14-18; 15:1-6, 18-21; 17:1-8; 22:15-18; 26:4; 28:13-15; 35:9-13 reveal that Abraham received the following promises: (1) The promise of an heir from Abraham’s own body (Genesis 15:4, 13-14; 18:10, 14), (2) Innumerable (biological and spiritual) descendants (Genesis 13:16; 15:5; 17:2; 22:17; 28:14; 35:11), (3) The land of Canaan plus an extensive portion of land on the earth whose boundaries are on the Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea, the Euphrates River and the Nile River, which would include what is now known today as Turkey, most of East Africa, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and Red Sea, Syria, Iraq and Jordan (Genesis 12:7; 13:14-18; 15:7, 18-21; 17:8; 28:13; 35:12), (4) The nation of Israel (Genesis 12:2; 28:14; 35:11; 46:3), (5) Arab nations (Genesis 17:3-5; 35:11; ), (6) Nations composed of Gentile believers (Genesis 17:3-5; 35:11), (7) Arab and Israelite kings (Genesis 17:6, 16; 35:11), (8) Regenerate Gentile kings (Genesis 17:6, 16; 35:11), (9) Dominion (Genesis 22:17; 28:14), (10) Abraham would be the medium of blessing to all the nations through the Messiah who would descend from him (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 28:14).
Romans 4:16, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
“By faith” indicates that faith in Jesus Christ is “the means constituting the source by which” the sinner appropriates the promise of inheriting the world.
“In order that it might be in accordance with grace” indicates that the purpose for God decreeing that the promise of inheriting the world can only be appropriated by faith in His Son Jesus Christ was in order that it would be fulfilled in accordance with His grace policy.
“Grace” refers to God’s grace policy in which He imparts to the sinner unmerited benefits, both temporal and spiritual, as a result of the sinner making the non-meritorious decision to trust in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.
Grace is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior based upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross.
It is God treating us in a manner that we don’t deserve and excludes any human works in order to acquire eternal salvation or blessing from God.
Grace means that God saved us and blessed us despite ourselves and not according to anything that we do but rather saved us and blessed us because of the merits of Christ and His work on the Cross.
It excludes any human merit in salvation and blessing (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and gives the Creator all the credit and the creature none.
By means of faith, we accept the grace of God, which is a non-meritorious system of perception, which is in total accord with the grace of God.
Grace and faith are totally compatible with each other and inseparable (1 Tim. 1:14) and complement one another (Rom. 4:16; Eph. 2:8).
Grace, faith and salvation are all the gift of God and totally exclude all human works and ability (Eph. 2:8-9).
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
In Romans 4:16, the noun charis, “grace” refers to God’s grace policy in which He imparts unmerited blessings to the sinner, both temporal and spiritual, as a result of the sinner placing his absolute confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.
The word denotes the fact that the promise of the inheritance of the world is based upon God’s grace policy.
The promise of the inheritance of the world can only be appropriated by means of faith in Jesus Christ since faith is compatible with God’s grace policy since faith is non-meritorious.
The sinner has no merit with God as Paul established in Romans 1:18-3:20.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only member of the human race who has merit with God since He is impeccable and the God-Man Savior.
The promise of the inheritance of the world can only be appropriated by faith in Jesus Christ.
On the basis of the merits of Jesus Christ and His substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross, the sinner receives the inheritance of the world.
Therefore, we can see that faith in Jesus Christ is in accordance with God’s grace policy since the former is non-meritorious and the latter is all God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to the sinner the moment the exercise faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Grace is for the undeserving and is God blessing us despite ourselves.
Therefore, the fulfillment of the promise of the inheritance of the world is dependent upon God’s faithfulness and grace since faith in Jesus Christ is non-meritorious and God’s grace means that the sinner can never earn nor does he deserve being the recipient of the promise.
The promise of the inheritance of the world is an unmerited gift since it is received by means of faith in Jesus Christ, which is in accordance with God’s grace policy towards sinful mankind.
If the promise of the inheritance of the world was appropriated by means of observing the Law and not by means of faith, then this would exclude the Gentiles from receiving the promise since the Jews and not the Gentiles were given the Law.
The promise could never be guaranteed to all the spiritual descendants of Abraham if it could only be received by means of obedience to the Law since only the Jews received the Law and not the Gentiles.
Therefore, the fact that the promise of the inheritance of the world is appropriated by means of faith and not by observing the Law permits Gentile believers to receive it along with Jewish believers.
Consequently, this would fulfill the promise to Abraham that he would be the spiritual father of many nations meaning the spiritual father of the Gentiles who form the nations of the world.
Furthermore, if the promise of the inheritance of the world was appropriated by means of observing the Law and not by means of faith, then this would exclude the Jews as well since no person has been able to obey perfectly the Law.
But since it is according to faith, this will enable the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that he would not only be the spiritual father of the Gentiles who live among the nations but also the spiritual father of those Jews who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.