Children of the Promise

[mikew]

There seems to be some confusion between the children of the promise as discussed in Galatians 4 with that in Romans 9.





In Gal 4, it can be said that Gentiles became children of the promise as an aftereffect of getting saved. First grace came to those not in the promise. With the grace, these people came under the promise. After Gentiles were saved then they became children of the promise under the promise to Abraham and his seed.

In Rom 9, the discussion was about who was Israel. The sample promises were specific to Abraham and his descendants, just to Abraham and Rebbecca actually. So the logical promises would be those to Jacob. The Romans topic arguably spoke only of promises that were applicable before salvation. Gentiles were not even mentioned in the chapter except as an extension of the discussion rather than a focus of the topic. Therefore we can see that the Gentiles weren't under consideration within the scope of the promise or children of the promise in the letter to the Romans.
When looking at Romans 9 at the children of promise, the Jews had the benefit of promise (Rom 9:4 to whom pertain ... the promises). At best the Gentiles had a catch 22 situation if viewed by the argument of Romans 9, they could not become children of the promise unless saved, and they could not be saved unless they were children of the promise.

If you want to understand Romans 9, don't refer to Galatians 4 to elaborate on the phrase "children of the promise." Paul's argument in Romans would be short circuited.