“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham  for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” 

The covenant is about two things here – Abraham will be made the father of many nations and the everlasting possession of the land. We could do either one this morning but not both. The promise of the land or the promise of being the father of many nations.

So, I want to look at God’s covenant with Abraham from the Apostle Paul’s perspective in Romans 4. It is not about the land but about being the father of many.

When we were in Romans a few years ago we looked at Paul’s argument for God concluding all men under sin that he might include them all in grace. There is the law of the Gentiles written on their hearts and the Law of the Jews given by Moses. Both Jew and Gentile are accountable to their own laws but while there can be moral uprightness by obedience to each neither one can bring righteousness. “None are righteous, not even one; there is no one who understand, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Righteousness and a reconciled relationship with God comes from God alone – apart from both laws – and it comes only through faith. So, as he says in other places, there is no difference now between Gentile and Jew because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory (the righteousness) of God. Therefore, all share equally in the redemption of God. So, there is no boasting on the part of the Jew and no excuse or resentment on the part of the Gentile. “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law…since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.”

It’s here that we begin to see Paul’s larger picture and the great innovation for which he is responsible. I know it is hard to think of Paul as a religious innovator but he is and I think we skip over a part of his genius if we don’t look at it that way this morning.

1. “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?” Whose forefather? At first, we would think that Paul is referring to the father of the Jews but he is not. Abraham is the forefather of all mankind – not just the Jews. Remember, he was the last of line of Adam and now the forefather of all who follow.

Why Abraham?

Because his faith is a sign of righteousness that applies to all mankind – all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve – and not just to Jews. Abraham’s faith comes before Jewishness. In the earliest time when God speaks to Abram/Abraham in Genesis there is no law and no circumcision – there are none of the distinguishing marks of Judaism that come later. When God calls Abram in Chapter 12 of Genesis he says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” The next time God appears he says, “Look at the heaven and count the stars – if indeed you can count them…So shall your offspring be.” And then it says, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Here in chapter 17 God says, “..walk before me and be blameless..” but there is still no spelled out definition of blamelessness. There are no rules to follow and no commandments. It is not until afterwards that God says to Abram, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.” That is the definition of walking before God and being blameless. It would be hundreds of years later until God so clearly defines being blameless when He gives the Law to Moses. It was possible for Abraham to walk blameless before God without the Law as a guide or standard.

Finally, after Abraham’s test of sacrificing Isaac on Mt. Moriah, God says to him, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities and their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Abraham is the father of universal righteousness but the Jews had made themselves more sons of Moses than Abraham. Moses was the father of the Law and of the nation of Israel. He, more than any other, gave them the basis for their identity and special status with God. They were people of the Law as well as people of the Covenant. But Paul in his mind is more a descendant of Abraham than Moses. 

The Jews over time had only made the distinctions between them and the rest of the world more rigid as we had seen earlier in Romans. They thought of themselves as entitled and exempt. The non-negotiables of belonging had multiplied until the number of the true and faithful had narrowed to a few privileged. Yes, there were “God-fearers” who attached themselves to the moral codes of the Jews. They were sympathetic to the teachings of the Jews and there were actually rules for being a God-fearer. These are called the seven rules of Noah.

Do not deny God.

Do not blaspheme God.

Do not murder.

Do not engage in incest, adultery, pederasty or bestiality,[8] as well as homosexual relations.

Do not steal.

Do not eat of a live animal.

Establish courts/legal system to ensure obedience to the law.

But, the Jews made it intentionally difficult to convert and be included in the special status they enjoyed. Far from universal righteousness and blessing as God revealed through Abraham, the status of the Jew had become even more select and difficult to attain. As they narrowed they became increasingly rigid and perfectionistic. They had become ever more competent in practices that were making it impossible to adapt and grow. Perfecting the process had become the purpose. Any sense of a broader purpose had been lost completely. It happens when we lose sight of the outside and the larger purpose. We do more and more of what matters less and less.

Paul, however, understood the universal vision of God’s promise – not just the particular nature of the Jew in the world.

He understood that God’s promise to Abraham was twofold – a son and therefore a line of physical descendants but also a people to bless the whole earth. They were not chosen because of their goodness but chosen to fulfill God’s purposes in the world. We were not included because of racial descent or any other advantage but because of faith in the work of Christ on our behalf.

2. But here is Paul’s dilemma and the dilemma of any innovator.

In Galatians 2:7 we see that he had been given the mission of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles and therefore a mission to the wider world.

However, he had to wrestle with the increasing limitations of traditional Judaism as defined by Moses, the requirements of the covenant and the Jewish control of the early Church. He could not argue that the Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets, were obsolete as that would alienate him completely and label him as a heretic. Besides, he didn’t believe that. However, he needed an argument rooted in Scripture but not limited by the narrow confines of Judaism. He needed to find an argument for a universal gospel without losing the Jewish roots. He could not have a completely Gentile religion because God had a unique covenant with the Jews to bless the world. How to do that?

We know from our study of Acts 15 and Paul’s letter to the Galatians that he could not have a completely Jewish religion because it could not grow and fulfill the promise to Abraham. The demands were too high and their focus had become almost completely internal. They wanted to be distinct and that made growth almost impossible. They wanted to preserve their special status and that meant excluding as many people as possible. They wanted to maintain as many of the demands of the Law as possible and that made the barriers to entry even more difficult. It would be like expanding an exclusive boutique to a wider market or opening up membership to a family. It would not work. You may remember the story of the man who happened on a desperate man about to jump off a bridge to his death.

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What denomination?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.

And it was this Law and the demands of the Law that was the biggest barrier of all. So, he needed someone other than Moses as a starting point. The legacy of Moses, the Law, emphasized the exclusivity of the Jew. It focused on their peculiarity and their perfection. It also distracted them from the original vision of the covenant: to bless the world. A few regulations are necessary for healthy growth but too many regulations constrain growth.

Paul did not want to make his gospel an addition to Judaism – just one more thing to believe. He wanted to make it the re-discovery of God’s original intention – to create a people of righteousness and not just a Jewish people. He was not wanting to make it “new wine in new wineskins” and that is why he uses the analogy of the Gentiles being grafted into the root. The Church is not a new wineskin but an expression of God’s purpose from before the giving of the Law and the creation of the Jewish identity. The Church is not separate. It is not a replacement. It is new growth. It is God’s plan for the future of Judaism.

That is why I like to think of Christianity as an innovation but not an invention. Inventions are new things – like the airplane. The innovation is the jet plane. Invention is the telephone and the innovation is the smart phone. Invention is the lightbulb and the innovation is the LED bulb. Paul needed to find a way to preserve the original without losing what is central but to adapt it for a broader mission.

3. How did the Jews take to Paul’s innovation? Not well.

In their eyes, at best he wanted to create Jewish lite. All the benefits of the covenant without the work. All the prestige with none of the restrictions that defined them.

He was creating a knock off of Jewish religion. It might look the same but without the quality.

He was mass merchandising an exclusive product and cheapening it.

He was destroying the faith of their fathers – and should be killed as an apostate. Imagine walking into a Bible church or Bible college and saying, “The Bible has been our tutor until now but faith in Christ is beyond our being people of the Book.” 

The Jews could not leave Moses to embrace Abraham. Moses is the father of the chosen nation and the moral code. Abraham is the father of many and of peace with God through faith for all people. To leave Moses would have been to dilute the faith of the fathers and make them no more special than the Gentiles.

The Jews could not adapt. They had lost the vision of Abraham – and without the ability to innovate and adapt they were brittle and vulnerable. But that is what happens when people double down on what they know instead of being open to change.

David Burkus at Oral Roberts University has written extensively on why people reject new ideas and often it is because they are surrounded by uncertainty.

“We now know that regardless of how open-minded people are, or claim to be, they experience a subtle bias against creative ideas when faced with uncertain situations. This isn’t merely a preference for the familiar or a desire to maintain the status quo. Most of us sincerely claim that we want the positive changes creativity provides. What the bias affects is our ability to recognize the creative ideas that we claim we desire. Thus, when you’re pitching your creative idea, it may not be the idea itself that is being rejected. The more likely culprit could be the uncertainty your audience is feeling, which in turn is overriding their ability to recognize the idea as truly novel and useful. Regardless of how open-minded people are, they experience a subtle bias against creative ideas when faced with uncertain situations.”

The Jews at the time were under a constant threat of losing their identity to what we call the “hellenization of Judaism” where the power of Greek ideas and culture was eating away at Jewish distinctives and traditions. As well, they had lost their autonomy to the Romans which created an undercurrent of anger, rebellion and resentment. All of this produced anxiety and uncertainty. Paul was seen as part of a larger threat to dilute the purity of Judaism. As Burkus says, in times of uncertainty people reject new ideas. If necessity is the mother of invention then uncertainty is the graveyard of innovation and change. People choose revolution or entrenchment but not innovation.

It’s a physiological and neurological fact that when people are under stress or a perceived threat their adrenaline levels go up and some of the most common side effects are:

Tunnel vision: Peripheral vision drops away and all you see is the immediate threat.

Auditory exclusion: Your hearing can go away because every brain cell you have is focused on the threat.

That is one explanation for the expression in Isaiah 6:9. “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.” When you shut down all your systems except those you need to survive you are not open to change and innovation. It is not just a rebellious heart that keeps you from seeing or hearing but a genuine fear of losing your way of life.

We are all, in the end, either children of Abraham or children of Moses in one way or the other. We are either children of faith, hope and a larger vision or children of narrowness, exclusion and locked up by uncertainty.

4. What was Paul’s genius then?

He redefined the roots of Judaism from Moses to Abraham. God’s promise was by faith.

He did not throw out their special role and relationship. He avoided the trap of new wine and new wineskins.

He gave them an opportunity to fulfill their global purpose to bless all nations.

He kept Christianity from becoming a Gentile religion detached from the roots of Judaism.

That is what we call “threading the needle” or finding a way to skillfully navigate treacherous waters without getting thrown up against the rocks. Did it work in history? Probably not. The Christian faith separated itself quite early on from its Jewish roots but as we will see later in Romans it is just a matter of time until they meet again. They are like a river divided by an obstruction that flows for a time in separate streams around it but afterwards converge again into a single stream. We will all be reunited in the promise to Abraham.