The key to gaining traction with any bad idea or belief is constant repetition. Any idea, ANY idea no matter what, no matter how unpopular it was at its inception, can become popular simply by consistent, persistent repetition. This is how ideas that were unthinkable in one age of the church, can become deeply held and cherished ideas in another age, and can even cause quite an emotional reaction in those who hold them when they are challenged.
One such idea is the concept of equality. For many
Christians the idea of equality has basically become synonymous with the
philosophy of Christianity, egalitarianism is seen as Christian and
Christianity is seen as egalitarian. Many people will even talk about how the
idea of equality is an intrinsically Christian idea that has seeped into the
world, even though it is never taught in scripture, it is actually rebuked in
scripture, and it is historically provable that the idea was an anti-Christian
idea that was held and propagated by Christianity’s most ardent opponents. I
won’t seek to make this case in any detail in this piece, simply because I have
made it in depth in many posts over the years, and if you want to explore the
topic there are plenty of articles about it on my blog for you to wrestle with.
However, I will note, how obviously anti-Christian the quest for equality is
with two passages which undermine it incredibly:
Philippians 2:3-7 – “3 Do
nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of
God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
1 Peter 3:7-8 – “7 Likewise,
husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the
woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life,
so that your prayers may not be hindered.”
The first passage passage tells us to shun the quest for
equality, explicitly, and the other explicitly mentions the lack of equality in
marriage to be a primary concern for how men should treat their wives. But like
I said, you can explore this topic in far more depth on my blog if you wish.
Another idea that should be challenged that has taken
hold in the church is the idea of the unconditional promise of the land to
Abraham and his bloodline descendants. This is an idea that is contradicted simply
looking at the scriptures involved, yet still many people hold on to this idea
today. In fact, it is incredibly popular. Let’s examine some of the passages
involved, because they establish that the promise was neither unconditional,
nor simply for the bloodline descendants of Abraham.
The first is found in Genesis 12, where it I says,
“12 Now the Lord said to
Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the
land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will
bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will
bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord
had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he
departed from Haran.”
This has often been described as the unconditional
promise to Abraham of God’s desire to bless the nations through him, which some
interpret today to mean you need to be nice to Israel or God will smite you.
Aside from that application not being justified from the text for a multitude
of reasons, how anyone can say this is an unconditional promise to Abraham and
his bloodline descendants is beyond me. Simply read what it says, “Go from your
country…” So, God is asking Abraham to do something here. And God says in
response to Abram doing this, “I will make of you a great nation and I
will bless you…”
This is a definite conditional promise. It is contingent
on Abraham “going” to the land God has told him to go to. And what does Abraham
do? He does just that, he goes, “4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him…”
God is literally saying here, “Do what I say and I will bless you.” Which is
perhaps one of the most consistent themes in the Bible. God responds to those
who trust him and act in faith. Another way to put that is God rewards the
faith of those who demonstrate their faith is real by their words and actions. To
make this conditional promise unconditional is incorrect based simply on a
direct reading of this passage, but it is also shown to be incorrect when other
passages which build on the promise are taken into account.
The conditional nature is again exemplified in Genesis
15. We read there that,
“1 After these things the
word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield;
your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you
give me, for I continue[j] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of
Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a
member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son[k] shall be
your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and
number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So
shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him
as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am
the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to
possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess
it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three
years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he
brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the
other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came
down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going
down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell
upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring
will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and
they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on
the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great
possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be
buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth
generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Not only is the conditional nature of these promises
clear from this text, but the foundation of the condition is actually expressed;
they are conditioned on faith. This is something Paul picks up on in Romans and
Galatians. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
To separate what God promises to the faithful from the fact that faith is
required from the faithful, is to misunderstand how God always has and always
will interact with his people. Without faith it is impossible to please God
(Heb. 11:6), but the converse of this is that with faith even a former pagan
Babylonian like Abraham can please God and be found righteous in his sight and
worthy of receiving those promises. This is not a worthiness based on Abraham’s, or any human righteousness, but a worthiness based in the righteousness that is
accounted to us by faith. It is a gift that one receives through faith, in other
words.
The promise is also shown to be conditional when God
tells Abraham to get some required victims for a sacrifice, which Abraham duly
obeys, “9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat
three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10
And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against
the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.” Abraham’s righteousness is
not based on his obedience. It is based on his faith evidenced in obedience,
which is exactly what Paul says in Galatians (c.f. Chapters 2-3). Again and
again God is asking for a response from Abraham and he is getting it, and as
Abraham is a man of faith he does as he is asked by God.
Now, you might say here, “Matt, that is your reading of
the text, and it may be implied, but does it directly say that?” Well, the
basis of a condition is that if you do something, then doing that something
leads to gaining what was offered. In this case Abraham was offered to be a
blessing to all the nations if he left and went to Canaan, so this is
conditional and the condition was fulfilled by his faithful obedience. In the
next instance, he was offered assurance that the promise would be fulfilled if
he gathered what God required for the sacrifice. Again, this condition was
fulfilled. God’s mercy is seen in that he asks for far less than he gives in
return, and what he really wants is Abraham’s faith. That is what he wants from
us as well, that is all we need to be included in his promises.
To show that faithful obedience was the condition for the
promise to be fulfilled we can read Genesis 22 and Genesis 26. The first
passage says this,
“17 I will surely bless you,
and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the
sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of
his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:17-18).
And the next passage says this,
“3 Sojourn in this land, and
I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will
give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham
your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will
give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my
charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Gen. 26:3-5).
It must be noted these words in Genesis 26 were spoken to Isaac,
Abraham’s child of promise, and they reiterate clearly how we should read the
interactions between God and Abraham in the prior verses. Abraham fulfilled his
condition which was to act with faithful obedience, that is to demonstrate his
faith by doing as God asked, and God carried out his side of the bargain which
was to fulfill the promise.
The promise of the land and blessing were all wrapped up
in the same promises and they were always conditioned on faith which was
evidenced in obedience. As James says,
“21 Was not Abraham our
father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You
see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his
works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and
it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God”
(Jam. 2:21-23).
As we all know James is not saying here that we are saved
by works, he is saying we are saved by true faith that is demonstrated by
evidence. This was how the promise was always conveyed, it was always and only ever
for all who had faith. It never was unconditional and it certainly never was
conditioned on the flesh. Faith and flesh are in opposition in the scriptures.
We can even demonstrate that this is how the Apostles
want us to read this, as well as Moses. Hebrews tells us,
“8 By faith Abraham obeyed
when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an
inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he
went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with
Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking
forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God”
(Heb. 11:8-10).
“By faith Abraham obeyed God when he was called to go our
to a place…” Note that, Hebrews 11 is telling us explicitly that this was a
conditional promise made by God, and it was conditioned on being accepted or received by
faith, and that faith is evidenced in obedience. In other words, Abraham showed
his faith by going where God told him to, by trusting God would fulfill his
promises, and God made him worthy of this promise by credited righteousness. The
land was never a conditional blood and flesh promise for the physical
descendants of Abraham, it was always a conditional promise contingent on faith
evidenced in living as God told his people to live. Which is why disobedience
and lack of faith led to exile.
This is why Paul can say that only Gentiles and Jews who
trust in Jesus are the real circumcision, “3 For we are the circumcision, who
worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in
the flesh—” (Phil. 3:3). This is why Paul can say that Gentiles are heirs of
Abraham’s promised inheritance,
“13 For the promise to
Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come
through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the
adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is
void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no
transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise
may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the
adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is
the father of us all,…” (Rom. 4:13-16).
It was never, ever, an unconditional promise based on the
flesh, Paul says this explicitly, “this is why it depends on faith…” Note, some
will say Paul is simply talking about salvation here. But this is not correct,
he is talking about who are the heirs of Abraham’s inheritance (v.13), which
includes salvation, plus the inheritance of the whole world. In fact salvation
is never a standalone thing, it brings a lot with it, including this inheritance
of the whole new heavens and new earth. The land of promise pointed to this, it was but a shadow but the
fulfilment is far larger as Hebrews 11, Romans 4, and Galatians 3 all
demonstrate.
As you can see, we have demonstrated conclusively that
there was no unconditional promise based on a fleshly land grant for Abraham’s
blood relatives. The promise was always conditioned on faith and only those who
have faith, whether Jews or Gentiles, have a claim on the promises made to
Abraham. This is why he is called the man of faith, he is the beginning of the
gathering of God’s people.
“So
then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Galatians
3:9
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