law and promise

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Yesterday we read how Abraham was righteous because he trusted God's promise. Today Paul goes on to examine the relationship between Abraham's righteousness and the covenant of circumcision. He concludes that Abraham became righteous and received God's promise before he was circumcised. That's important because that way all of us who share Abraham's faith inherit God's promise to him. The promise was sealed and symbolized by circumcision, but it was not limited to the circumcised or those who keep the law. We come to God by faith and the doors to relationship with God are wide open.

God bless,
Sam

Romans 4:9-15

9Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” 10How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, 12and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13For 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. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.