"For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

-         Romans 4:13

       There is something we need to understand about the operation of faith that carries a significant difference in the New Covenant as opposed to the Old Covenant. According to Galatians three, Paul states: "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed" (Gal. 3:23).  Although faith is sometimes used to refer to the message of the gospel itself (1 Tim. 3:9), there is still something more that I think we should consider.   

       Why would Paul make the statement: "But before faith came" or "...faith which should afterward be revealed?" We know that the faith Paul is referring to is the faith of the gospel, but isn't faith in God the same today as it was during Abraham's day?  After all, isn't Abraham called in Paul's own letters the "father of faith" (Rom. 4:11; Gal. 3:6-7)? Why make such a statement concerning faith where it appears to be saying it was something that had not yet come? Why not just say, "But before the gospel came" or "...before grace came?"

       When we look into this third chapter of Galatians, we can see why it was necessary to emphasis the operation of faith.  Paul refers back to Genesis chapter fifteen, verse six, when God first appeared to Abraham and promised him a seed that would be his heir, saying,  "And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness" (Gal. 3:6).  Abraham's faith rested upon a promise, and that promise was to Abraham and his seed" (Gal. 3:16).  It was not a promise "...and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ!" Israel became a partaker of the covenant God made with Abraham based upon a provisional law, but it was never intended to become the promise itself. The promise had to do with a righteousness that produced life, and not a righteousness which through the law only covered sin.  That is why Paul went on to say, "Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid.  For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. 3:21).

       But righteousness didn't come through the law.  It came through the faith of Jesus Christ! This is why Paul used this phrase, "But before faith came!" What this means to us is that faith was not intended to be something we just use to hold on to a promise, but something that is much bigger.  It was to become a force within that adheres to a person! See, the faith that we now have isn't resting upon a righteousness that is to come, but a righteousness that is here, in the person of Christ.  Paul explained this to the church of Philippi: "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil. 3:9).  

       Real covenant faith begins when we believe that God gave us his Son and that he died and rose again for our justification (Rom. 4:25; 10:9-10).   Now that we have entered into a relationship with God (through the righteousness of faith), our means of believing is more than just believing to receive a promise, it now becomes a tool to decree who we are and what we have as a result of being in union with the promised seed!

       Paul said, "All the promises of God "in him" are yea, and "in him" Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (2 Cor. 1:20).  Yes and amen are statements of affirmation, but the foundation to such an affirmation is our being "in him."   When you understand your place in the covenant, then your faith in Christ empowers you to proclaim everything he wrought for you in redemption. What makes this so powerful is the righteousness of faith isn't provided to regulate sin or to cover our transgressions.  It becomes the foundation whereby we can rise above all that we inherited in Adam, even as sinful nature, and come to live in union with Christ as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ