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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: Ishmael and Isaac were both the natural children of Abraham. By rights
Ishmael should have enjoyed the prerogatives of the firstborn, if physical
generation had any special value. Nevertheless he was left out in the cold
while Isaac was called. This goes to prove that the children of faith are the
real children of Abraham.
Some find fault with Paul for applying the term "faith" in Genesis 15:6 to
Christ. They think Paul's use of the term too wide and general. They think
its meaning should be restricted to the context. They claim Abraham's faith
had no more in it than a belief in the promise of God that he should have
seed.
We reply: Faith presupposes the assurance of God's mercy. This assurance
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