Here is another beautiful verse from Paul hijacked by the Preterists (those who believe that God is finished with Israel and that Christianity is "spiritual Israel"), who don't know what a metaphor is.
A metaphor is simply a sophisticated simile. A simile says that something is LIKE another thing, and is easier to understand. For instance, "We of the body of Christ are LIKE sons of Abraham." No one would become confused about that. The metaphor is much stronger, even though it is, just as the simile, a figure of likeness: "We of the body of Christ ARE the sons of Abraham." Neither the simile nor the metaphor are literally true. So why does Paul even say
such a thing?
Because we have something wonderful in common with old Abraham (Abram) from way back there in Genesis 15:6: Abraham believe a wild promise of God with no evidence behind it whatsoever, and God accounted it to him as righteousness.
Sound familiar?