Romans 4:13, Heir of the World

Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

I recall giving a bible to a retiring department manager who worked in Singapore for over 30 years as an expatriate. He saw the development of the semiconductor industry from its infancy in his lifetime. His comment when he received the Bible was “Faith”! It was my prayer that he understood the faith of the Bible and be saved, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Salvation does not come by keeping the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. This is the emphasis of the text. It is a deep mystery that God unraveled through His written Word and made effectual by the Living Word, Jesus Christ. This promise of reconciliation with God through the righteousness of faith is a blessed truth that the Apostle Paul is presenting.

God’s promise to Abraham was recorded in Genesis 12:2-3 “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”  The promise to Abraham that he should be the heir of the world is not in a physical promise that will be fulfilled in his lifetime or that of his descendants. Abraham lived a pilgrim all his life and the only real estate he owned was the family burial place. He would be the heir of the world through Jesus Christ who would rule the world at His Second Coming with His saints for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-6) and thereafter for eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. Abraham and his descendants would be heir not by keeping the Law but by faith in the righteousness won by Jesus Christ.

This is understood more clearly by the words of Jesus in Revelation 21:6-7 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Abraham sets the example of salvation by faith and life lived by faith. And we by that same faith inherit the promises of God to Abraham through this faith and await the glory to come as Romans 8:17-18 tells us “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”