So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.
Parallel translations
- WEB That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.
- KJV That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
- NKJV That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
- NASB That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
- NLT This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
It is not children of the flesh but children of the promise who count as God's true offspring. Spiritual heirship comes through God's promise, not natural descent.
Overview
Drawing the lesson from Isaac, Paul states the principle plainly: physical descent (children of the flesh) does not make one a child of God; rather, those born through God's promise are reckoned as his offspring. This anticipates the gospel reality that membership in God's family comes by grace through faith, fulfilling the promise to Abraham, and includes believing Gentiles as well as Jews.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 1:13children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
- Rom 4:11–16And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
- Gal 3:26–29You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Rom 8:14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
- Gal 4:22–31For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
- 1 Jn 3:1–2Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- Ps 87:6The LORD will record in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” Selah
- Ps 22:30Posterity will serve Him; they will declare the Lord to a new generation.
- Gen 31:15Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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