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.
14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;
15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
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,
17 (as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU") in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
V. 13 - “the promise to Abraham ... that he would be heir of the world” - Not that Abraham would inherit the world; one of Abraham’s descendants would rule the world. All the world, and the people in it would be his.
“was not through the Law” - There is no promise of a Messiah in the Law - Ten Commandments, Sacrifices, Ceremonies, or Festival laws, nor in the Civil portions of the Mosiac Law. These showed the price was blood - but some else’s blood. The sins were placed on another, an innocent, and cast away into the outer darkness.
“through the righteousness of faith” - Does Paul think this concept, righteousness through faith, is vital? He has only repeated it six times in this chapter alone. (v. 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13). Faith is mentioned over 30 times in the Letter to the Romans!
V. 14 - “For if those who are of the Law are heirs” - On the other hand - IF following the Law, doing the WORKS without faith can EARN you a place in God’s family - THEN...
“faith is made void and the promise is nullified” - You don’t need faith!
That is: if faith is void, it is useless.
And, if faith is useless, then the promise made to Abraham based on his faith cannot be true.
Even more, the promise of eternal life on the basis of our faith in Christ is not true.
Get back to work! And work some more! And never KNOW if you have done enough!
Compare that line of thought to “but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)
It may be obvious, but here it is anyway: BELIEF = FAITH = LIFE.
V. 15 - “for the Law brings about wrath” - The end result of living by the Law is the judgement of God falls on you - mostly because you cannot obey it perfectly. Our image of wrath is anger run wild, uncontrollable destruction. Wrath is vengeance writ large. However, the Biblical view is God handing out judgement against sin.
“but where there is no law... no violation.” - In this half of the verse, ‘law’ is not capitalized, so Paul is making a point using governmental laws rather than Mosaic Law. When you come to an intersection and it has no STOP sign, you won’t get a traffic ticket for not stopping.
The point is this: salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Law no longer has any jurisdiction, therefore no penalty can occur as a result of breaking a part of the Law.
V. 16-17 - Verses 16 and 17 are one long sentence. Now, that is a mouthful! I think that sentence can be diagrammed, and broken down - which for me makes it simpler and clearer.
The promise is guaranteed to the descendants of Abraham.
This guarantee is done by God’s grace, and accessed by our faith. Both physical and spiritual descendants of Abraham are recipients of the promise given by God, whom Abraham believed.
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