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And they are not all the children of Abraham because they are by blood his descendants. No, [the promise was] Your descendants will be called and counted through the line of Isaac [though Abraham had an older son].(A)

That is to say, it is not the children of the body [of Abraham] who are made God’s children, but it is the offspring to whom the promise applies that shall be counted [as Abraham’s true] descendants.

For this is what the promise said, About this time [next year] will I return and Sarah shall have a son.(B)

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Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[a](A) In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,(B) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.(C) For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[b](D)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:7 Gen. 21:12
  2. Romans 9:9 Gen. 18:10,14