FAITHFULWORD.ORG | TEACHINGS

Romans 4:1-18; Ephesians 1:1-16; Galatians 6:14-16; Ephesians 3:1-6; 2:11-19; Galatians 3:28; Romans 2:28,29; 9:6-8; John 8:31-43, 56; 9:6; Galatians 3:16-29; [I Corinthians 2:8; Romans 10:9; Galatians 3:27]; Genesis 12:1-3; Acts 3:25; Genesis 18:18; Galatians 3:29; Romans 3:1-3; 9:1-5; Romans 2:28, 29; 3:28-31; Philippians 3:3; II Corinthians 5:19; John 3:16; Romans 4:19-25; Colossians 1:27; Galatians 6:14-16

We will be considering two particular phrases — “Our Father Abraham” and “The Israel of God.” The scriptures declare Abraham is the father of all who believe. Through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, Abraham became the father of every Christian man and woman. Also through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we become part of the Israel of God. As such, we are fellow heirs of the same promises as Israel.

Abraham, through faith, was made the father of many nations, not just those who are the bloodline of Israel. Abraham is the father of all them that believe! In Ephesians we learn that every individual who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ becomes a child of God and therefore an heir of the promises because Abraham was the father of all who believe.

The holy spirit of promise is the earnest, the down payment, that there is something more to come. We glory in what Christ accomplished on the cross. We earned none of it.

What or who is the Israel of God and what is the significance of the Israel of God? We hear a great deal about the country of Israel, but there is more to the Israel of God than a country. In Romans, Paul differentiates between the bloodline of Israel and those who are by faith part of the family of God. He categorizes the Jews into two groups — Jews outwardly and Jews inwardly. One is talking about physical. The other is talking about spiritual. One has to do with ancestry or bloodline. The other has to do with spiritual qualities based on faith or believing. Abraham was a Jew outwardly because he was of the bloodline. He was also a Jew inwardly because he looked to the day when God’s Messiah would come. The children of God by faith in Christ Jesus are Abraham’s seed — Jews inwardly — the true Israel of God. Circumcision was first given to Israel and passed through the nation of Israel. It was a sign — the deadness of the flesh. The physical circumcision, just like the bloodline, was a type, forerunner of what God planned to do. Just like the seed of the bloodline of the nation of Israel was a type of what God was going to do with the whole earth, Israel was a type of what God would do with the TRUE Israel of God — a spiritual circumcision of the heart. We are not to have confidence in circumcision or any type of works, but in what Christ accomplished. Abraham was a Jew outwardly. He also was a Jew inwardly because he believed. He had a circumcision of the heart. So do we by faith.

The mystery revealed in part is Christ in us, the hope of glory. It also includes the Gentiles being fellow-heirs with the Jews, sharing in the same promises. There is a hope of future glory. The gift of holy spirit is only a token of what is to come. We glory in nothing save the cross of Christ and him crucified — what he accomplished. Paul wrote that whoever conducts his life according to that rule, grace and mercy will be upon them as the Israel of God

The scriptures declare Abraham is the father of all who believe. Through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, Abraham becomes the father of every Christian man and woman. Also, through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we become part of the Israel of God. As such, we are fellow heirs of the same promises.