Paul’s discussion of Abraham has followed one of the simplest declarations of faith in the New Testament; Romans 3: 27 – 31,
“Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
What Paul is saying is that any boasting about one’s lineage, works or inherent goodness is not sufficient to warrant the imputation of faith; that is, God grants faith solely on His good pleasure and for no other reason. In light of this truth, all basis for human boasting is done away with simply because the sinner has been saved by the activity of God and not the activity of the sinner. Those who had received the Law; the Jews, were saved not because they obeyed the Law. Rather, the Law pointed them toward a personal relationship with God and through this relationship which had been initiate by God; the Jewish people who believed were brought into right standing with God. Those who had not received the Law; the Gentiles, were not inherently lost because they had no knowledge of the Law of God. Rather, God desiring to move even on the hearts of some Gentiles brought about a saving faith in their hearts and wrote His Law on those same hearts to demonstrate the obedience of faith. In this way, the universality of the gospel, that is right standing with God, is not given to one group of people exclusive of other groups but the justification of the gospel message goes to people of both Jewish and Gentile heritages. The Jews cannot boast in their national identity and the Gentiles cannot boast in their acts of belief; both are a gifting of God to those groups with the specific intent of bring a portion of each group into faith. Ultimately, as God saves a people for His own possession, their standing before God is not simply legal however; it is familial. To this doctrine attention will now be turned.
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