In What Sense are Israel and the Nations Today Heirs of the Covenantal Promises to Abraham?
What is the relevance for today of God’s ancient promises to Abraham?
Introduction
In view of the ongoing significance of Israel in the redemptive purposes of God, the three principal promises to Abraham may be explored in terms of their fulfillment for Israel and the nations today. The conclusion that a person reaches on this matter has significance not only in the realm of biblical and theological understanding. Beyond that foundational realm, the response to this question has far-reaching significance for the interrelationships of Israel and the nations in the world of today.
On the most basic level, the covenantal promises given to Abraham are three: land, seed and blessing (Gen. 12:1-3; 17:1-8). Careful consideration must be given to the specific nature of these three promises in terms of their fulfillment in a new covenant context. These three basic promises of the Abrahamic covenant will be considered in reverse order: the promise of the blessing, the promise of the seed, and the promise of the land.
1. First, the Abrahamic Promise of the “Blessing” in its New Covenant Context
Paul in his writing to the Galatians and the Romans defines the focal blessing of the Abrahamic covenant for today as “righteousness,” “justification” of the sinner in the presence of the holy God. Justification is not only the doctrine of the “rising and falling church.” Justification is also the gateway to all the blessings of God’s covenants. Unless a person has been forgiven of all his sins, declared righteous as he stands before the holy God, he cannot be adopted as God’s son, he cannot be sanctified and preserved by God’s Spirit, he cannot be perfected in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
What did Abraham our forefather discover with respect to justification? What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:1, 3; cf. Gen. 15:6). A thousand years later, Abraham’s royal descendant David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not count against him” (Rom. 4:7, 8; cf. Psa. 32:1, 2).
The question for today is, Is an unbelieving Israelite “according to the flesh,” an heir of the promised blessing of righteousness? Is he a “justified” person, declared righteous by God so that all his sins are forgiven, without having personal faith in the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ the Son of God?
Paul’s answer to this question in Galatians and Romans is an unqualified “No.” For by keeping the law, no flesh can be justified before God. As Paul says so succinctly:
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Gal. 2:15, 16 ESV).
Justification before a righteous God can never be achieved by observing the law. For the Law requires that a person keep all its stipulations, without a single exception (Gal. 3:10). This level of law-keeping no one can achieve. Without repentance from all sin and self-righteousness, and faith in the atoning blood of Jesus the Christ, no one can be justified and receive the blessing of righteousness before God.
From a biblical perspective, repentance to new life and faith in Jesus Christ come as a gracious gift of God through the working of the Holy Spirit. In terms of the possession of the Holy Spirit, Paul addresses this question directly. He asks the Galatians, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law, or by hearing with faith?” (Gal. 3:2)? Paul’s answer is obvious. What could a sinful, corrupted human being do to merit God’s gift of the Holy Spirit? He could do absolutely nothing to inherit this promise. An unbelieving Israelite cannot receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit as a consequence of his external circumcision in his flesh. He must be circumcised in his spirit to possess the indwelling Holy Spirit. As Paul bluntly states, “circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter” (Rom. 2:29).
Is this blessedness of sins forgiven the possession of an unbelieving Israelite? Does he possess this premier promise of the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant? Most evangelical students of Scripture would answer this question with a clear negative. For all the blessings of God’s redemptive covenantal promises, beginning with justification, can be claimed only by repentance and saving faith in Jesus as the promised Christ. At the same time, any person, whether Israelite or from any other nation, may be justified freely by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. No matter how deep may be his sin, he can be washed completely of all defilements, once and for all.
2. Second, the Promise of the “Seed”
What about the promise of a “seed” that will inherit the promises given to Abraham? May unbelieving Israelites claim identity with the promised “seed” in the context of the new covenant?
Paul in Romans is quite precise in dealing with God’s promise to Abraham of the “seed” as it finds new covenant fulfillment. He explains that Abraham has two “fatherhoods,” two sets of “seeds.” First, he is the “father” of all people from all the nations of the world who have believed, though they may have never joined the Israelite nation by undergoing the initiatory rite of circumcision (Rom. 4:11). But then with meticulous care to avoid being misunderstood, Paul defines a second “fatherhood” of Abraham. He is also the father of all those who have membership within the nation of Israel by their circumcision, but “who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised” (Rom. 4:12). In terms of being a part of the seed that inherits God’s promises, Abraham is the father of circumcised Israelites who also believe, as did Abraham. At the same time, just as Ishmael, the seed of Abraham by the flesh, was not an heir of the Abrahamic promises, so all those Israelites who are Abraham’s seed according to the flesh but not according to the Spirit are not a part of the inheriting seed. Otherwise, inheritance of spiritual blessings would be by the flesh rather than by the supernatural working of the Spirit. And just as Sarah’s child, born according to Abraham’s faith in the supernatural intervention of God, inherited Abraham’s promises, so Jew as well as Gentile who trust in the supernatural work of redemption through Jesus Christ, may claim all the promises of Abraham by their faith (Gal. 4:21-31). They are the legitimate “seed” of Abraham.
Abraham is the father of two lines of the promised seed, both of them clearly defined by their faith. Paul’s answer to this question about the saved “seed” is clear. Only by faith and not by fleshly descent shall a person be able to properly claim the promise of being a part of the saved “seed” of Abraham. In this regard, believing people from all the various nations of the world are equally a genuine part of the “seed” of Abraham alongside believing people from Israel (Eph. 3:6).
3. Third, the Promise of the “Land”
Now consider the third basic promise of the Abrahamic covenant: the promise of the land. Does Paul have anything to say about the land-promise given to Abraham in terms of its fulfillment for today? Yes, he does.
To fully appreciate the remarks of Paul about the promise of the land, it is necessary to understand the Scriptural concept of “shadow” and “fulfillment”. The redemptive images of the Old Testament, though true in themselves, prophetically anticipate consummate realities of the New Testament. For example:
-the OT animal sacrifices, including the Passover lamb (the shadow) prophetically anticipate the NT sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Passover lamb (the fulfillment – 1 Cor. 5:7, 8)
-the OT earthly Jerusalem prophetically anticipates the NT heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:25, 26)
-the OT tabernacle and temple prophetically anticipate the NT people of God as the temple of the Lord (1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:21, 22)
-the OT land of Palestine prophetically anticipates the NT world as the land-possession of God’s people (Rom. 4:13)
In this last instance, Paul specifically indicates that Abraham has been promised that he is “heir of the world” (the cosmos – Rom. 4:13). By deliberately substituting “world” for “land,” Paul redefines the old covenant promise given to Abraham so that it corresponds to new covenant realities. As part of the cosmos, the world, Rome too is embraced in the land-promise given to Abraham. In writing earlier from Ephesus in Asia to Corinth in Europe, Paul assures believers that the “world” (the cosmos) belongs to them because they belong to Christ (1 Cor. 3:21-23). For “in Christ God was reconciling the world, the cosmos to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).
This substitution of “world” for “land” could be understood as expanding the original promise of the “land” of Palestine to embrace the whole of this globe. Paul’s expansive ministry may be seen as a “fulfillment” of the land-promise to Abraham. The “Apostle to the Nations” begins his ministry in the Middle East, in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Antioch of Syria. Then he strides across Asia and Europe in his three missionary journeys, vigorously claiming “land for the Lord” like a pioneer staking out his claims in unexplored territory. Paul expresses his hope to the Corinthians that he would be able to preach the gospel in “regions beyond” (2 Cor. 10:15, 16). He declares to the Romans his determination to pass through them as he travels to Spain, the “dropping-off point” of the world (Rom. 15:24, 28). Earliest traditions record that Paul actually reached that outermost goal after his release from his first Roman imprisonment.
On what basis did Paul dare to stride across continents, declaring Christ’s lordship over all nations and nationalities? On the basis of God’s promise of the “land” to Abraham. He sees the shadowy form of “Palestine” finding its fulfillment in the reality of the “world.” As he says, Abraham was promised that he would inherit the “world,” the cosmos (Rom. 4:13). Paul was simply acting on his faith in God’s promise to the patriarch.
Would you go back? Would you now limit the promise of the “land” to Palestine? Would not that be an act of retrogression, a going back from the realities of new covenant fulfillment to the shadows of old covenant prophecy? If you go back to seeing Palestine rather than the world as the fulfillment of the land-promise, would you also go back to the shadowy sacrifices at the temple in the land of the old covenant? Hopefully you would not go back.
In any case, the “world,” the “cosmos” that Paul presents as the fulfilment of the land-promise to Abraham cannot be identified with the limited geographical area of Palestine. For “Palestine” is simply not equal to the “world” that Paul says was promised to Abraham and his seed. The shadow of Old Testament prophecy cannot equate with the magnitude of New Testament fulfillment.
Paul states: “the promise to Abraham and his seed that he would be heir of the world did not come through the [keeping of the] law but through the righteousness that comes by faith” (Rom. 4:13). Possessing the promise of the “land” now means laying claim to the “world.” As Paul says, “all things are yours,” including the “world,” the “cosmos” (1 Cor. 3:21, 22). As grandiose as it may seem at first, the “world” belongs to believers in Christ.
But if the land-promise of Abraham is identified in its current new covenant fulfillment as the land of “Palestine,” then the possession of Palestine by Israel “according to the flesh” becomes an inevitable point of international contention among Christians, Jews and peoples from all nations. So what can be done?
It may be helpful to consider Paul’s representation of new covenant fulfillments from the following three perspectives:
(1) The promises of land, seed and blessing in the Abrahamic covenant in their new covenant fulfillments may be possessed only by faith in Jesus as the Christ, and not by personal and national identity through circumcision and keeping the law.
(2) The prophetic land-promise of the Abrahamic covenant now encompasses the whole of the cosmos, and is not to be identified in new covenant fulfillment with the land of Palestine.
(3) Believing Israelites, along with believers from all other nations of the world, through grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone, are equal heirs of all the promises of the Abrahamic covenant, including land, seed and blessing.
Excerpt from O. Palmer Robertson Christ of the Consummation, A New Testament Biblical Theology, Volume 2: The Testimony of Acts and Paul (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, forthcoming 2025).