Galatians 3:6-9 - The Children of Abraham

God made promises to Abraham--important promises--tremendous promises--promises to him and to his descendants. The first time we see this promise is in Genesis 12:

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”--Genesis 12:1-3

A few verses later we find this recorded:

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appearehd to him.--Genesis 3:7

But why does this matter to us? What does any of this have to do with a person sitting in a pew in the year 2017? What did it have to do with the people reading Paul's epistle to the Galatians in the first century? Everything.

Who are the descendants of Abraham? Who are his offspring? This question was answered by first century Judaism in this way: we, Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the offspring or descendants of Abraham and it was to us that the promises were made. Many Christians believe this to this day. But the Apostle Paul disagrees with them. Paul is about to make the argument that Jesus alone is the offspring or descendant of Abraham to whom the promises were made and that only those in Christ are the heirs of the promises made to Abraham.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the 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.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.--Galatians 3:7-9

The true children of Abraham, and the heirs of the promises made to Abraham, are those who are united to Christ through faith--Christ who is the true Israelite, the consummate Jew, the Heir of the promises. This is true of those who are ethically Jewish and of those who are not. We become fellow-heirs through faith in Christ. Just like Abraham! After all, Abraham was a Gentile (there were no Jews yet when he was called) just as were the Galatians.

There is much more to this bible study than just that, so I invite you to listen to the audio recording of it linked below. Just click on the link and it will take you to a page on SoundCloud where you can stream it on your computer or other device. May God richly bless.



Click here: Galatians 3:6-9 - The Children of Abraham


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