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18 For [gar] if [ei] the inheritance [kleronomia]
be of [ek] the law, [nomos] it is no more [ouketi] of [ek] promise: [epaggelia] but [de] God [theos] gave [charizomai] it to Abraham [Abraam] by [dia] promise. [epaggelia] KJV-Interlinear
18 For if
the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God
has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. NASB
The Law refers to the written text of Moses, which in turn refers to the efforts of man to live a prefect life in accordance with the requirements of the Mosaic Law.
Also, if a person chooses to live their life in accordance with the Law, then they are also committed to enduring the threats and punishments that accompany the Law.
Faith in contrast to the Law is set apart herein so that they both are unrelated and disconnected from each other. That means that you cannot live by both simultaneously, but must live by one or the other as they are mutually exclusive.
That means that when God made promises, then the promises attended one and not both paths to the promises.
If the promise attached to the Law, then it could not attach to the faith. If the promise attached to faith, then it cannot attach itself to the Law.
And when we get into the next couple of verses, then that distance between the two views will become clearer as the Law was not given by God, but by angels, to Moses and thus to the people. The alignment of the angels and their part in this paints a picture of distancing and separation between God and creation. Whereas, the promise comes through the seed of Abraham, namely Christ, and thus the separation is closed and made non-existent. But more on that when we get there.
But God gave the promise to Abraham. The word gave, means a lavish gift of infinite and enduring effect. The promise was given and documented long before the Law. The promise was given directly by God to man, and not through another intermediary as was the Law.
And of course the mention of the inheritance, means that which is given as a permanent possession. God gives and man receives, and the gift and possession are both one and the same and they are permanent. Once God gives you something, then you can never lose it.
Better to invest in Gods gift, than in mans effort.
