Read Pastor Prince’s Entry for 6th July Here:
https://www.josephprince.org/blog/daily-grace-inspirations/freely-receive-what-god-freely-gives
What Pastor Prince’s entry is about
Through being made righteous by faith in Christ, believers are heirs of the world just as Abraham was. Therefore the blessings that come with being an heir of the world are now ours. We don’t seek to earn these blessings by performance. Rather, as the title to the devotional says, we freely receive what God freely gives. The blessings that God freely gives include getting a better job with a higher pay after retrenchment as well as a happy marriage.
Things to agree with and encourage
The title to Pastor Prince’s entry is great! Freely receive what God freely gives. It is a sentence that speaks highly of God’s character:
- God is able to bring about whatever he promises because he is all-powerful. He doesn’t make promises he has no power to keep. So we can trust him.
- God is faithful and trustworthy. He keeps the promises that he makes. He doesn’t leave them unfulfilled. So we can trust him.
We receive the gifts that God gives to us without thinking that we have earned them through good works and merit. They are gifts, not rewards. And therefore we receive them, not achieve them.
Things that are worth taking a closer look at
Pastor Prince uses two verses in this devotional. We’ll begin by taking a look at the use of these two verses. Let’s start with Romans 4:13. I’ve put down the NKJV which Pastor Prince uses as well as the ESV here:
13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. (NKJV)
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. (ESV)
Let’s ask a few questions and answer them…
Why does Paul talk about all this? Because he wants to convince the Romans that they too are justified by faith in a promise God made, just like Abraham (Romans 4:16, 23-25)
Who was the promise of Rom 4:13 made to and what was the promise? The promise was made to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world.
What does this promise of being heir of the world mean? Since Paul in this chapter is talking about Abraham being made righteous by his faith in a promise God made to him, we can get the answer if we look to that particular story. We find that story in Genesis 15:5-6
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. (ESV)
So the first thing we learn about what Abraham being heir of the world involves is that he will have an innumerable multitude of descendants. Now, it means more than this because Genesis 15 is actually the third episode of God making his big promise to Abraham. The first two times are in Genesis 12:2-4 and Genesis 13:14–17. Also, because this promise was passed down to Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob, we can learn about what it means to be heir of the world from when God speaks to them in Genesis 26:2-6 and Genesis 28:13-15. When we put all this data together, we find that the promise of inheriting the world has to do with:
- Numerous Offspring
- Being given lands
- The nations being blessed through an offspring of theirs.
This is what it meant for Abraham to be heir of the world. Pastor Prince then uses Galatians 3:29 to support his point that this same promise has been given to us and so we will look at that next. But for now, can you see that the types of things Pastor Prince talks about as examples from his church members receiving as heirs is quite different to what was promised Abraham?
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:29 ESV)
Yes, it says that we are heirs here and it is also very closely tied to being Abraham’s offspring. But in order to understand what it means to be an heir and the blessing that is received, we need to look at the context in which this verse is found. And who we are actually heirs of might surprise you!
The Galatians are a church that is in trouble because they are turning away from the gospel that Paul preached to them (Galatians 1:6). They are being led astray by teachers who tell them that they need to be circumcised in order to truly be God’s people. And he wants them to reject this false teaching and to really know that they are to rely only on Jesus for their salvation. This is the gospel! They are not to depend on their works, which is what they would be doing if they follow the instructions of these false teachers. And in Galatians 3, Paul supports his point by bringing in the story of Abraham and how he was justified by faith before he was circumcised. He wants them be justified (declared righteous) by faith in Jesus. This is the only way. And it is in this context that we discover what it means to be an heir and the blessing that we have. Let’s take a look at a few key verses.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Gal 3:8-9 ESV)
THAT’S AMAZING!!!! This verse is saying that the gospel was already proclaimed in GENESIS 12:3!!!!! How is this so? Well as we saw above, God promised that the nations would be blessed through an offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This offspring is Jesus! Look at this verse:
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. (Gal 3:16)
God blesses the nations through a descendent/seed/offspring of Abraham who is Jesus! God blesses the nations through Jesus by saving the world through him! The righteousness/justification that we receive through faith in Jesus is our blessing (Galatians 3:6-8). And that’s not all! The blessing we receive is also God the Holy Spirit!! He is our blessing! Look at Galatians 3:14!
14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (ESV. see also Gal 3:5)
Earlier I also said that who believers are heirs of in Galatians 3:29 might surprise you. It doesn’t seem that Paul has Abraham in mind primarily which is where Pastor Prince lands on. Paul has God in mind and that believers are heirs of God himself! Because right after he says 3:29 he makes an illustration about slaves and sons in 4:1-2 and then makes the point in 4:3-7 that believers have been set free from slavery and adopted by God through Jesus who redeems us!
7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal 4:7 ESV)
Does being an heir of God mean that we can expect a higher paying job after retrenchment? Well, actually, no… now, I’m not saying that nice things will never happen. But we’re going to go back to Romans where we started our little journey and what it says does not fit that shape of life that Pastor Prince is getting us to expect from the story of his church member getting a higher paying job after retrenchment. Look at this:
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:17 ESV)
Actually, it seems getting mistreated at work is closer to the norm for the Christian.
Conclusion
We as believers are not heirs of the world like Abraham. But we are “sons of Abraham” because we have been justified by faith just like him. We are heirs of God, but that is closely tied to being people who suffer, rather than being people who can expect only good gifts. And the way that we have been WONDERFULLY blessed in Galatians is that we have been justified and have received the Holy Spirit!
Dear Pastor Prince 