To summarize this section: Abraham is the example of faith in all the Bible, and Paul explains that it is by faith that a person – Jew or Gentile – is redeemed, is righteous, receives the Holy Spirit, becomes a true child of Abraham, and steps into all the Abrahamic blessings God promised. These are all true for anyone who has faith whether Jew or Gentile.
Paul writes this because he is teaching the Galatians that it is not based on race and it is not based on the Law that any of these things are given to anyone. Being a Jew, being a physical descendent of Abraham, having the Law, attempting to follow the Law – none of that is the basis for God doing any of these things. Anyone who has the law or doesn’t, anyone who is Jewish or isn’t, anyone who is circumcised or isn’t, that has faith in Jesus Christ like Abraham had faith in God – THEY receive all these. So STOP turning back to the Law and STOP separating from each other based on the law or based on race.
Today we will go through verses 7-9 under 3 headings: 1) The Family of Faith, 2) The Ancient Announcement, and 3) Co-Blessed.
THE FAMILY OF FAITH (7)
First we see the family of faith, verse 7 says, “Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” In other parts of the Bible we are called children of God because we believe in Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13; Romans 8:14-17). But here we are told that because of our faith in Jesus Christ we are children to someone else too: Abraham. He is our father in the faith and we are his children in the faith.
What is a child of Abraham? What is not a child of Abraham?
First, what IS a child of Abraham? A child of Abraham is anyone who has faith like Abraham. Paul is declarative in verse 7. He says it again in verse 29, “If you belong to Christ then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” If you are a Christian then you are a child of Abraham. You trust God like Abraham trusted God. Turn to Romans 4 with me and watch how Paul teaches Abraham’s fatherhood to all of us who have faith. In verse 11-12 Paul says Abraham is the father of all who believe but aren’t circumcised (Gentiles) and all those who believe and are circumcised (Jew). Then follow verse 16 with me, “Therefore the promise comes by faithm so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the alw but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.” He is the father of both Jew and Gentile. Look then at verse 17 which speaks of his fatherhood again, “As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’” – God was speaking to Abraham – “He [Abraham] is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed…” The repeated teaching is that Abraham is the father of everyone in history who has responded to God in faith. He is the man of faith and the man who famously believed God, and so God has blessed him by making him the father of all who would ever believe like him.
APPLICATION: Become a child of Abraham by believing God like he did. If you already believe, then learn the joy and the peace that comes from being part of the family of faith and having the king of faith, Abraham as your father.
We also then have to explain is NOT a child of Abraham – or WHO is not a child. Anyone who does not have faith like Abraham is not a child of his. That includes Gentiles for sure, but it also includes Jews who do not believe as well. So when Paul declares “It is those who have faith who are the children of Abraham” he strikes down the Jewish misconception that being a Jew physically is all that was required for someone to be a child of Abraham.
Turn with me to Romans 9:7, “Nor because they are his descendents are they all Abraham’s children.” Last week I explained the difference between being a descendent of Abraham and a child of Abraham. A descendent is simply someone who is part of the physical offspring of Abraham. A child, however, is someone who believes like Abraham – they have faith like him and they act out of that faith like him. Romans 9:7 says even though all the Israelites are physical descendents of Abraham they are NOT all children. Why? Because they don’t all believe like he did.
APPLICATION: You are not right with God because your parents were Christians. You are not right with God because of any human or worldly or material thing you’ve got going for you. You are not even right with God simply for following some of the things God says to do: baptism, attending church, living a decent life, avoiding “big” sins, etc. You are only right with God when you believe what God commands you to believe: believe in the name of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.
THE ANCIENT ANNOUNCEMENT (8)
This is a fascinating point: the ancient announcement. Verse 8 says, “Scriptures foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’” This is a big, big point. It simply means that God told Abraham the Gospel long before the Gospel ever came to be. Lets break down some points:
First, notice that the Scriptures are treated as God speaking. Look carefully, “Scriptures foresaw…and announced the Gospel….” Now here’s a very important point: it was God who told this to Abraham long ago – long before the Scriptures were written. In other words, what God told Abraham wasn’t recorded until much later after Abraham by Moses. The written scriptures did not yet exist when God told the Gospel to Abraham. What is the point? The point is that the written Scriptures are considered the very words of God, the word of God. Look again at how Paul says it, he does NOT say “God announced it to Abraham,” Paul says “the Scriptures foresaw … and announced to Abraham…” He is equating the Scriptures with telling Abraham the Gospel meaning he is treating them as one and the same as God speaking.
APPLICATION: Treat the Bible for what it is – the very Word of God. Believe it and obey it.
Second, the Gospel was announced in advance. This is such an interesting point. Paul says that the Gospel was announced to Abraham in these words, “All nations will be blessed through you.” Now that is interesting, because we are told all throughout the NT what the Gospel is. Take 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for instance, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raided on the third day according to the Scriptures…” It is not just 1 Corinthians 15 – the whole NT drives this message home from Matthew to Revelation: that the Gospel is the message that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, was buried, and then rose again and that by accepting that message in faith we become right with God and are given eternal life.
But here’s the thing: none of that is what was told Abraham. Those details are not the specific content God gave to Abraham. Notice again verse 8 says, “The Scriptures….announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham” – and what was the Gospel message to Abraham? “All nations will be blessed through you.” That doesn’t have anything in it about someone named Jesus Christ who is the Son of God who took on human flesh and died on a cross for our sin and was raised 3 days later and that by faith in him a person may be right before God. It doesn’t mention any of that! How can THAT be the Gospel?
The answer is simple: When God told Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him, God knew what He meant by “blessed” even though He did not give all the details to Abraham. In other words, God spoke very generally to Abraham by saying the nations would be “blessed,” but then later God would disclose the details of what He means by “blessed.” In the same way an oak is in a seed, and in time the entirety of the oak will be seen, God told Abraham the Gospel in its seed form while the entirety of the Gospel came later with the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Let me give you an illustration: It’s like a dad saying to his son, “I’m going to give you a car.” Then later he comes back and says, “I’m going to give you a Ford Mustang.” Then later he comes back and says, “I’m going to give you a Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500.” The dad isn’t giving his son a different message, he’s giving more details about the message that he didn’t disclose earlier. He started very generally with “a car” and progressively moved to be very specific: a Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500.
What are the Gospel details? What are the Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 details of the Gospel? The Gospel is that God intended through Abraham to bless all nations and that blessing was multi-faceted as seen right there in Galatians. Turn back there with me:
- From every nation there will be people who believe and are therefore blessed as children of Abraham (v7). This means God identifies anyone with faith with Abraham and therefore everything God would give Abraham would be given to them too as verse 9 says, “So those who rely on faith [like Abraham!] are BLESSED ALONG WITH Abraham, the man of faith.”
- The blessing to all nations also included justification, as verse 8 teaches, “God would JUSTIFY the Gentiles by faith” is said in this verse to be the Gospel God preached to Abraham (in seed form).
- Redemption is another blessing as seen in verse 14.
- Verse 14 specifically names the giving of the Holy Spirit as part of that Gospel blessing through Abraham to all nations
- The Gospel blessing to all nations through Abraham also means that people of faith from all nations will be co-Heirs along with Abraham according to verse 29… READ. But heirs of what? The world! Turn to Romans 4:13…READ!
- Lastly, related to being an heir, is that we are children of God. Look at 4:6-7….
The Gospel blessings promised through Abraham for all nations meant that people from all nations who have faith would have the Holy Spirit (14), be justified (8), be righteous (6), be co-heirs of the world with Abraham (29; Rom :13), and children of God (4:6-7).
Paul is helping his readers understand that justifying the Gentiles by faith has always been God’s plan. But here’s a question: Why would Paul need to teach that to someone? Why would someone need to know that GENTILES specifically were always part of God’s plan? That God has always planned to save them by faith? The answer is because of the specific racial context in the day Paul wrote Galatians. Many Jews thought that simply being a descendent of Abraham meant that they had all of Abraham’s promised blessings – that it was being in his bloodline that secured all those blessings. Therefore anyone who was not in that bloodline (Gentiles) was not part of those blessings. All those who were not descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not participate in the blessings promised to Abraham and his descendents.
But they were wrong. Long before any of those confused Jews lived God announced that Gentiles would be justified by faith. APPLICATION: So it is with you – fulfill the ancient announcement today by believing in Jesus and become justified in God’s sight.
CO-BLESSED (9)
Finally we see those who are co-blessed in verse 9, “So those who rely on faith are blessed ALONG WITH Abraham, the man of faith.”
The plan of God has always been from the beginning that His blessings would be given to those who have faith. The Galatians needed to understand that faith is the basis of their community and their living for God – not the law of Moses. The Galatians needed to understand that they were accepted by God on the basis of their faith, just like Abraham. The formula is very simple: Believe like Abraham and be blessed like Abraham.
Do you rely on faith to be right with God? Or are you someone who is relying on your own good works and your own efforts at morality and spirituality to be right with God? Get away from all that and instead be like Abraham: rely on faith. Hear the ancient announcement today for yourself: Put your faith in Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, so that you too can be blessed along with Abraham.