Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.32
Certain opinions, taken over from heretical teaching, betray ignorance of God's dispositions and of the mystery of the resurrection of the just and the kingdom -- a kingdom that is the very beginning of incorruptibility, through which those who are counted worthy gradually become accustomed to receiving God. It is therefore necessary to speak of these matters: the just must rise first, in this condition that is being renewed, to the appearance of God and receive the promise of the inheritance that God promised to the fathers, and reign in it; only afterwards comes the judgment. In whatever condition they labored or were afflicted, having been tested in every way through suffering, it is just that they receive in that same condition the fruits of their suffering. In whatever condition they were killed for the love of God, in that condition they shall be made alive. In whatever condition they endured servitude, in that condition they shall reign. For God is rich in all things, and all things belong to Him (Romans 8:19). Therefore this condition itself, restored to its original state, must serve the just without hindrance; and the Apostle makes this clear in the letter to the Romans when he says that creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the One who subjected it in hope, since creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God (Romans 8:20–21).
In the same way the promise God made to Abraham stands firm. He said: "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever" (Genesis 13:14–15). And again: "Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you" (Genesis 13:17). Yet Abraham received no inheritance in it, not even a foot's breadth, but remained a stranger and sojourner all his life. When Sarah his wife died, the Hittites offered him a burial place freely, but he refused to accept it as a gift; instead he bought the cave of Machpelah for four hundred shekels of silver from Ephron the son of Zohar, holding fast to God's promise and unwilling to appear to receive from men what God had pledged to give him. God then repeated: "To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18). If God promised him the inheritance of the land, yet he did not receive it in all his sojourning, he must receive it together with his own -- that is, those who fear God and believe in Him -- in the resurrection of the just.
Now his offspring is the Church, which through the Lord receives adoption as sons of God, just as John the Baptist declared: "God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham" (Matthew 3:9). The Apostle likewise says in the letter to the Galatians: "You, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise" (Galatians 4:28). And again he states plainly in the same epistle that those who believe in Christ receive Christ, the promise made to Abraham: "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring." He does not say "and to offsprings," referring to many, but "and to your offspring," referring to one, who is Christ (Galatians 3:16). And again, confirming these words, he says: "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness" (Galatians 3:6; Genesis 15:6). Therefore you understand that those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying: "In you shall all the nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8; Genesis 12:3). So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith (Galatians 3:9). Thus those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, and these are the sons of Abraham. But God promised the inheritance of the land to Abraham and to his offspring; neither Abraham nor his offspring -- that is, those who are justified by faith -- now possess that inheritance; they will receive it in the resurrection of the just. For God is true and faithful; and for this reason He declares the meek blessed, because they shall inherit the land (Matthew 5:5).
Latin
®QuonrAm igitur transferuntur quorundam sententiz ab heereticis sermonibus, et sunt ignorantes dispositiones Dei, et mysterium justorum resurrectionis et regni, quod est principium incorruptele, per quod regnum qui digni fuerint paulatim assuescunt capere Deum: necessarium est autem dicere de illis, quoniam oportet justos ®primos in conditione hac quze renovatur, ad apparitionem Dei resurgentes recipere promissionem hereditatis, quam Deus promisit patribus, et regnare in ea: post deinde fieri jndicimn. In qua enim conditione laboraverunt, sive afflicti sunt, omnibus modis probati per sufferentiam, justum est in ipsa recipere eos fructus sufferentice : et qua conditione interfecti sunt propter Dei dilectionem, in ipsa vivificari: et in qua conditione servitutem sustinuerunt, in ipsa regnare eos. Dives enim in omnibus Deus, et omnia sunt ejus. Oportet ergo et ipsam conditionem reintegratam ad pristinum, sine prohibitione servire justis: et hoc Apostolus fecit manifestum in ea que est ad Romanos, sic dicens : exspectatio creature revelationem filiorum Dei exspectat. Vanitati enim creatura subjecta est, non volens, sed propter eum qui subjecit in spe: quoniam et ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptele, in libertatem glorie filiorum Dei. 2. Sic ergo et promissio Dei, quam promisit Abrahe, firma Dixit enim: Respice sursum oculis, et vide a loco hoc ubi nunc tu es, ad Aquilonem, et Africum, et Orientem, et Mare, quoniam omnem terram, quam tu vides, tibi dabo et semini tuo usque in sempiternum. Et iterum ait: Surgens ingredere terram in longitudinem gus, et in latitudinem, quoniam tibi dabo eam: non accepit in illa heereditatem, nec vestigium pedis, sed semper peregrinus et advena in ea fuit. Et quando mortua est Sara uxor ejus, volentibus Etheis gratuito locum dare ei, ut sepeliret eam, noluit accipere, sed emit monumentum, quadringentas dans didrachmas argenti, ab Effron filio Seor Ethzeo, sustinens promissionem Dei, et nolens videri accipere ab hominibus, quod ei promiserat dare Deus, dicens ei iterum sic: Semini tuo dabo terram hanc, a flumine Agypti, usque ad flumen magnum Euphratem. Si ergo huic promisit Deus hereditatem terre, non accepit autem in omni suo incolatu, oportet eum accipere cum suo, hoc est, qui timent Deum et credunt in eum, in resurrectione justorum. Semen autem ejus Ecclesia per Dominum adoptionem quz est ad Deum accipiens, sicut dicebat Johannes Baptista: Quoniam potens est Deus de lapidibus suscitare filios Abrake, Sed et Apostolus ait in ea quee est ad Galatas: Vos autem, fratres, secundum Isaac repromissionis Jilii estis. Et iterum manifeste in eadem ait, eos qui in Christo crediderunt percipere Christum, Abrahz promissionem, sic dicens: Abrahw dictw promissiones, et semini ejus. Et non dicit, et seminibus, quasi de multis, sed quasi de uno, et semini tuo, quod est Christus. Et iterum confirmans que dicta sunt, ait: Quemadmodum Abraham credidit Deo, et deputatum est ei ad justitiam. Cognoscitis ergo, quoniam quidem qui ex fide sunt, ti sunt filii Abrahe. Providens autem Scriptura, quia ex fide justificat gentes Deus, preenuntiavit Abrahe, quia benedicentur in te omnes gentes. Itaque qui ew fide sunt, benedicentur cum fideli Abraham. Sic ergo qui sunt ex fide, benedicentur cum fideli Abraham, et hi sunt filii Abraham. Repromisit autem Deus heereditatem terree Abrahz et semini ejus: neque Abraham neque semen ejus, hoe est qui ex fide justificantur, nunc sumunt in ea heereditatem: accipient autem eam in resurrectione justorum. Verus enim et firmus Deus: et propter hoe beatos dicebat mites, quoniam ipsi hareditabunt terram.