For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his descendants, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
All Commentaries on Romans 4:13 Go To Romans 4
Ambrosiaster
AD 400
It is clear that the law had not yet been given, neither was there as yet circumcision, when the promise was made to Abraham the believer and to his seed, which is Christ, who would cleanse the sins of all. Therefore Abraham was made heir to the world not by the merit earned from keeping the law but by faith. The heir of the world is the heir of the earth, which he obtained in his children. For Christ is the heir of the nations, as David sings: “I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.” Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
