“For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:”
For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless. The reductio: if law-keepers inherit, then faith becomes meaningless and the promise becomes void. The promise depends on grace and faith, not on the law's demands. To make the law the principle of inheritance would invalidate the promise made to Abraham centuries before the law.
Church Fathers on Romans 4:14
“For if they which are of the Law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect.” He had shown that faith is necessary, that it is older than circumcision, that it is more mighty than the Law, that it establishes the Law. For if all sinned, it was necessary: if one being uncircumcised was justified, it is older: if the knowledge of sin is by the Law and yet it was without the Law made evident, it is more mighty: if it has testimony borne to it by the Law,…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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