"For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."
Today's lesson continues Paul's explanation of how faith has always superceded the laws that were imposed upon the Jews.
Paul said that if the Jews were to be the only ones receiving salvation, through the law, God's promise would have been false and useless because it is faith, not the law, that was and is, the ONLY means by which a lost soul can be saved; "For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect".
Paul also said; "the law worketh wrath" and "where no law is, there is no transgression", this means that disobedience came through the law because there can be no disobedience where there is no law.
Although all of mankind are inherent sinners because of the fall of Adam, the actual and individual commission of sin came upon the Jewish people through and because of the law. The law was placed upon the Jews in order to demonstrate that they were incapable of living within the boundaries of it. The imposition of the law, and the Jews failure to obey it, were a part of God's plan for the eventual redemption of all mankind.
After the failure of the Jews, from the seed of faithful Abraham, God sent Jesus, His only begotten Son to fulfill all of the requirements of the law thereby providing the righteousness God demanded for eternal redemption. Jesus was also a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all those who place their faith in Him.
Abraham believed in God above all else, and through that believe he achieved eternal life and through him the world was given a redeemer. All off God's plan affirmed that "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9 in part.)~
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