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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
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 1:13who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- Rom 4:11–16He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
- Gal 3:26–29For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Rom 8:14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
- Gal 4:22–31For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman.
- 1 Jn 3:1–2See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
- Ps 87:6Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah.
- Ps 22:30Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
- Gen 31:15Aren’t we accounted by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also quite devoured our money.
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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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.