No — genealogy, nationality, or race can never make anyone a child of God, because being a child of God is a spiritual relationship that comes through faith and God's saving work, not through physical descent.
Israel assumed that being children of the covenant and of Abraham's line meant the promises were secure, but Paul shows in Romans 9 that not all Abraham's physical seed are children. Jesus likewise told the religious leaders who claimed God as their Father that they could not hear or understand His word, proving their ancestry did not make them God's children. Les Feldick emphasizes that entering God's promises is always by faith, and that no one is born a child of God, since all are born in sin.
Romans 9:7 — Paul explicitly states that being Abraham's physical seed does not make one a child; the promised seed is in Isaac.
John 8:42-43 — Jesus tells the Jews who claimed God as their Father that they cannot hear His word, showing physical ancestry is not what makes someone God's child.
Romans 9 shows that physical descent from Abraham was never enough. The Apostle Paul writes, "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Romans 9:7). Ishmael's descendants and Esau's descendants were children of Abraham physically, yet they were not children according to the promise. In John 8, the religious leaders told Jesus, "We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God" (John 8:41). Jesus answered, "If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me" (John 8:42). He explained their inability to understand Him: "Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word" (John 8:43). Their inability to hear God's word and receive the One He sent revealed that their physical ancestry did not make them God's children. Scripture also testifies that no person is born into God's family: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Every human being enters the world as a sinner, so physical birth into any nation or family line cannot establish anyone as a child of God.
Les Feldick emphasizes that Israel got "puffed up and arrogant," thinking that because they were children of the covenant, the prophets, and the promises, they had nothing to worry about. Paul, he says, blows them out of the saddle: no one enters God's promises simply because they are in the "right genealogy" — entrance is by faith. Les points to Romans 9:7 to show that Ishmael's offspring and Esau's offspring were children of Abraham physically but not children according to the promise [Clip 3]. Regarding John 8, Les highlights the furious exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders. When they claimed "we have one Father, even God," they were also throwing the rumor of Jesus' illegitimate birth at Him, since they did not believe in His virgin birth. Jesus answered that if God were their Father they would love Him, and He gave the reason they could not understand His speech: "because you cannot hear my word" [Clip 0]. Les also draws a sharp line between earthly lineage and spiritual relationship. Becoming a Christian does not make someone a Jew — people who think so are "way out in left field." Believers become children of Abraham spiritually because Abraham was "saved by faith plus nothing," and so are we. But a Jew is a Jew and a Gentile is a Gentile; what made the Jews a distinct people was birth and bloodline, not a religious system. Even Arabs, who are next of kin through Abraham, Ishmael, and Esau, are still counted as Gentiles in Scripture [Clips 2, 4, 5, 7]. Finally, Les uses the prodigal son to show that no one begins life as a child of God. The prodigal was a son by birth; we are not. "We're born in sin. We've all sinned and come short. So we weren't children of God." Genuine children of God are those who have been genuinely saved through God's work in salvation, and that relationship cannot be changed [Clips 1, 6].
Les Feldick says Israel became "puffed up and arrogant," telling themselves that as children of the covenant, the prophets, and the promises they had it made. Paul, according to Les, then blows them out of the saddle: "You're not going to enter into these promises of God simply because you're in the right genealogy, you're still going to have to enter in by faith." Les also notes that Ishmael's and Esau's descendants were children of Abraham physically but not children according to the promise — because the seed is in Isaac, referring ultimately to Christ.
In John 8, the religious leaders declared, "We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God." Les explains they were attacking Jesus with the rumor that He was born illegitimately, since they did not believe in His virgin birth. Jesus answered, "If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." He answered His own question — "Why do ye not understand my speech?" — with "even because ye cannot hear my word." Their response proved that their physical ancestry did not make them children of God.
Les is emphatic that people who think becoming a Christian makes them a Jew are "way out in left field." A believer becomes a child of Abraham by the spiritual connection of faith plus nothing, just as Abraham was saved. But a Jew is a Jew and a Gentile is a Gentile. Les explains that what made the Jews Jews was their birth and bloodline, not the law or worship system — and even Arabs, who are next of kin through Abraham, Ishmael, and Esau, are still counted as Gentiles in Scripture.
No. Les uses the prodigal son to answer this. The prodigal was a son by birth who left home; that is not our condition before salvation. "We've always been sinners," Les says. "We're born in sin. We've all sinned and come short. So we weren't children of God." Once a person is genuinely saved, however, that person becomes a bona fide child of God by virtue of the acts of God attendant to salvation — and nothing can change that.
Jesus Confronts the Jews' Claim to God as Father
Les shows that when the Jews claimed God as their Father, Jesus answered that if God were truly their Father they would love Him — and He explained their failure to understand by saying they cannot hear God's word, proving physical ancestry did not make them God's children.
Becoming a Child of God Through Genuine Salvation
Les teaches that a person becomes a bona fide child of God by the acts of God attendant to salvation — not by human lineage — and that this relationship cannot be changed for the genuinely saved.
Faith Plus Nothing: The Spiritual Link to Abraham
Les clarifies that believers become children of Abraham spiritually by the same faith-plus-nothing that saved Abraham, but becoming a child of God never makes someone a Jew — Jewishness is a racial, not spiritual, category.
The Right Genealogy Does Not Secure God's Promises
Les stresses that Israel wrongly assumed its genealogy made the promises secure; Paul demolishes that idea — no one enters God's promises by being in the right genealogy, but only by faith.
Arabs Are Kin to Jews but Still Gentiles
Les notes that even Arabs, who are next of kin to Jews through Abraham, Ishmael, and Esau, are still considered Gentiles in Scripture — physical kinship to Abraham did not make them children of promise.
A Jew Is Defined by Birth and Bloodline
Les teaches that what made the Jews Jews was never the Law or a system of worship but their birth and bloodline — showing that nationality and race are earthly categories, not spiritual ones.
No One Is Born a Child of God — We Are Born in Sin
Les points out that unlike the prodigal son, we were never children of God by birth — everyone is born in sin and has come short, so no human birth can make anyone a child of God.
Abraham Became the Father of a New Race
Les explains that God brought Abraham out of the mainstream of humanity to become the father of the nation of Israel — a separated race of people, again showing that earthly lineage is a national, not spiritual, matter.
Romans 9:7: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Paul's direct statement that physical descent from Abraham does not make one a child of God; Les uses this to show Ishmael's and Esau's offspring were excluded from the promised seed.
John 8:41: Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
The Jews' own claim to God as their Father, which Jesus immediately refutes in the following verses.
John 8:42: Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Jesus' direct answer: love for the One God sent is the evidence of being God's child, not physical ancestry.
John 8:43: Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Jesus explains that their inability to hear God's word reveals that their claimed ancestry did not make them God's children.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Shows everyone is born in sin, so no one is a child of God by physical birth.
Genesis 12:1: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
God sovereignly called Abraham out from the mainstream of humanity to begin the nation of Israel — a national and racial separation, not a spiritual inheritance for all his physical descendants.
No. Les Feldick points to Romans 9:7 — not all Abraham's physical seed are children. Israel wrongly assumed its genealogy made the promises secure, but Paul shows that entering God's promises is always by faith, not by being in the right family line.
Les Feldick says no — people who think that are "way out in left field." Believers are children of Abraham spiritually through faith plus nothing, but a Jew is a Jew and a Gentile is a Gentile; Jewishness is a matter of birth and bloodline, not conversion.
No. Les uses the prodigal son to show the difference: the prodigal was a son by birth, but we are born in sin and have all sinned and come short. No one is a child of God by physical birth. We become bona fide children of God through genuine salvation.
Watch the Teaching: Why Did God Hate Esau? Romans 9:13 and Sovereignty Explained