And if you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's descendants, and heirs according to the promise.
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
If ye be Christ"s. Ifyou are members of the Head, and are the mystical body of its Spirit, then, as Christ Isaiah , so are ye Abraham"s seed, and hence inheritors of the righteousness promised to Abraham. Accordingly, Ambrose reads here: "If ye are one in Christ, then are ye Abraham"s seed," which gives the meaning very clearly.
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Whenever our Lord Jesus Christ is called Abraham’s offspring, this must be understood in the bodily sense of his generation from the stock of Abraham. But when it is applied to us who, receiving the Savior’s word, believe in him and assume the dignity of Abraham’s race, to whom the promise was made, then we should understand the offspring spiritually, as that of faith and preaching…. We must also note that, when the Lord is spoken of, Paul mentions promises in the plural—the promises are made to Abraham and his offspring—but when he speaks of those who through Jesus Christ are the offspring of Abraham, the promise is referred to in the singular, as in the present passage. .
