The Heritage of Faith. Galatians 3:7-9.
Dear People Belonging to God,
Having dispensed with the folly of regressing to the discredited path of works, Paul now illustrates the antiquity of faith. Faith is not something that came into being with the resurrection of Christ or the events of the day of Pentecost. It goes back to Abraham.
The Faith of Abraham (v. 6).The simple statement that “Abraham believed God” is loaded. Abraham had no precedent to look back to as an example. God made him a promise and he believed that God would make it good, just like that. That is the basis upon which Abraham was justified – not because of his works, in any case, some of his works were no help, his lying for one, his tryst with Hagar for the other – no, it was faith. The unspoken retort here is that the father of Israel was justified by faith, so who do those legalistic Jewish hecklers think they are?
The Family of Abraham (v. 7). Not only does Paul state that Abraham was justified by faith, he now asserts that faith is the only way to be a true child of Abraham. Those who are advocating the law for justification are not even true children of Abraham! In this statement, Paul is also affirming the Galatians as true children of Abraham, because they are of faith.
The Forecast About Abraham (vv. 8-9). The scripture “foresaw” the coming of the gospel through Christ, on the basis of which God would justify the gentiles. Abraham got a foretaste of this with the promise that “In you, all the nations shall be blessed.”
God’s blessing comes through Abraham. Not on the basis of ethnic or legal attachment, but through faith. When we understand this, we will quit trying to prove that we are capable of pleasing God through works. The core of the gospel is “grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). If we miss that, we are lost.
So where do you stand? Are you still trying to be good enough and ignoring the grace of God that you can access by putting your life in the hands of Jesus by faith?
Your Loving Pastor Chris.