Monday, June 30th
Read: Galatians 3:7-9
Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Discuss questions you have about this passage. Here are a few to get started with:
Who is Abraham?
Why does it matter who his children are?
As Paul continues his discourse to the Galatians regarding justification by faith, he uses the example of Abraham. In verse seven, Paul says that those who have faith are spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham, even if they are not Jews. Paul’s argument is, no doubt, disputing the claim of the Judaizers. The Judaizer’s claim was that one became a genuine child of Abraham by circumcision and subsequent obedience to the law. The idea of Gentiles being saved by faith, without circumcision was still hotly debated among Christians of the time. Peter’s vision and the conversion of Cornelius (cf. Acts 10) was most likely not yet well-known, and Paul’s letter to the Galatians was likely written approximately two years prior to the Jerusalem Council, when the Christian church decided that Gentiles could be saved by faith alone and could receive the same Holy Spirit as the Jews. So, Paul’s example of Abraham is linking the Old and New Testament covenants, while stressing that Abraham’s faith was the same as that of the Christian faith.
In verse eight, Paul continues to use Scripture as evidence for the conclusion that he made in verse seven. He quotes Genesis 12:3, which makes two points: 1. The blessing promised to Abraham was, from the beginning, intended to include the Gentiles as well as the Jews, and 2. The Gospel promise preceded everything else in God’s dealings with His people—even including the giving of the law (i.e. circumcision). It is interesting to note here that Paul personifies the Scriptures, in that they ‘foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham,’ this shows that Paul views the Scriptures as if they were God speaking. This is noteworthy because it shows that the New Testament writers viewed Scripture as the words of God, and gives biblical support for the historical Christian belief in the total inspiration of the Bible (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16).
Verse nine wraps up Paul’s discussion and answers the question from verse five: ‘What allows us to enter spiritual blessing?’ The answer is: those who are characterized by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who had faith. Since the blessing of Abraham is declared to have been intended for the Gentiles as well as the Jews, how then could the Gentiles be blessed except by faith? Therefore, Paul concludes that those who have faith, as Abraham did, join his blessed status.
Process:
– What are Christians justified by? What is Paul’s argument regarding Abraham? What does this argument mean for us?
– Where have you relied upon works instead of faith in your life?