Galatians 3:1-14: Inheriting Abraham’s Blessing

Galatians 3:1-14: Inheriting Abraham’s Blessing

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and today the next passage we come to is Galatians 3:1-14. It says,

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 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.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, what a privilege it is to open and study your word. We understand that these words come from your very mouth. They’re God-breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. So help us, by your Holy Spirit, to be thoroughly equipped for each of those things and ultimately to come to a deeper knowledge, a deeper love, and a deeper relationship with you. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Imagine that you received a letter one day from a reputable law firm informing you that a distant relative of yours had passed away and left you a sizable seven-figure inheritance. Even though you had never even met this relative, he had heard about you and decided that—for whatever reason—he wanted to give you a generous portion of his estate. Now, of course, if you received a letter like that, you’d probably want to poke around online in order to check out the reputation of the law firm that sent it and would perhaps also call them just to confirm the legitimacy of the letter. But, assuming everything checked out, I assume you’d be quite happy at the prospect of receiving such an inheritance and would waste no time doing whatever they told you was necessary in order to have those funds transferred to your bank account. 

The law firm would probably want you to show up in person somewhere and verify your identity. And that would be a very reasonable requirement—because it would be imperative for the inheritance money to be distributed not just to some random person who wanted it but to the person named in the will. Other people would have no rightful claim to that money but only those who were named in the will. So, receiving a letter like that and discovering that you were the beneficiary of such an inheritance would be really nice—to say the least. 

Yet here in Galatians 3, we actually have something similar to that kind of letter. In this passage, the Bible tells us about a man named Abraham and says that we can be the beneficiaries of the incredible blessing God pronounced on Abraham thousands of years ago. This blessing is infinitely greater than any amount of earthly wealth someone could leave us in their will. In fact, it’s an eternal blessing that determines our eternal future. And this blessing can be ours. However, in order to inherit this eternal blessing, we have to be counted as one of Abraham’s children. Only Abraham’s offspring are legitimate heirs of Abraham’s blessing. And even though that’s a very strict requirement, the good news is that anyone in the world can become one of Abraham’s offspring even if they aren’t biologically related to Abraham. And this passage in Galatians 3 tells us exactly how we can obtain that status. 

Before we go any further, though, let me give you some background information about this passage. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians in order to deal with some false teachers—known as “Judaizers”—who had infiltrated the Galatian churches. These Judaizers were teaching that people had to observe the Old Testament law in order to be right with God and go to heaven. This included keeping the various food laws of the Old Testament as well as the religious ritual of circumcision that was commanded in the Old Testament. 

So, Paul writes Galatians in order to make it clear that these teachings of the Judaizers are a departure from the true gospel. He tells them in no uncertain terms that people are justified—or made right with God—not by observing the Old Testament law but rather simply through faith in Jesus. And the same goes for us today. A lot of people today think that we can make ourselves right with God essentially by being good people or perhaps through this or that religious observance. Yet Paul’s adamant that all of our own efforts to make ourselves right with God in these ways are utterly insufficient and that the only way we as sinful people can be reconciled with God and obtain eternal life is through faith in Jesus—and not faith plus something that we contribute but rather though faith alone.  

And having stated that argument in chapter 2, Paul now defends it here in chapter 3. He begins by asking a series of rhetorical questions that are designed to help his readers see that we are indeed justified simply through faith in Jesus. Look what he says in verse 1: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.”

So, right out of the gate, Paul calls the Galatians “foolish” and asks them, “Who has bewitched you?” Now, it’s unlikely that Paul thought someone had actually employed occultic power or some kind of incantation against the Galatians. Yet he asks this question in order to communicate that their departure from the gospel is so disappointing and perplexing and contrary to all sound judgment that it’s as if someone has cast a spell on them. 

Paul then states that “It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” Although few, if any, of the Galatian Christians were actual eyewitnesses of Jesus’s crucifixion, it’s still as if they were eyewitnesses because of the power and clarity with which Paul had preached that gospel message to them. Paul had clearly told them about Jesus dying on the cross and explained to them how his death functioned as full and sufficient payment for their sins. Instead of them having to suffer the penalty for their sins forever in hell, Jesus suffered that penalty on the cross. Jesus was then raised from the dead so that everyone who puts their trust in him can be cleansed of their sins and enter into a relationship with God and receive the free gift of eternal life. 

Then, in verse 2, as evidence that his teaching of justification through faith alone is accurate, Paul says to the Galatians, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” Now, the reason Paul asks them about what led to them receiving the Holy Spirit is that receiving the Spirit is an indisputable sign that someone’s a true Christian. 

In Romans 8:9, Paul writes, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” Moreover, in Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul states, 13 In him [Jesus] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. 

So, to use the words Paul uses in these verses, the Holy Spirit is both a “seal” and a “guarantee.” We’ve, first of all, been “sealed” with the Holy Spirit just as a letter back in ancient times might bear an official seal to indicate its legitimacy. One commentator writes, “The sealing of which Paul speaks here refers to an official mark of identification that was placed on a letter, contract, or other important document. The seal usually was made from hot wax, which was placed on the document and then impressed with a signet ring. The document was thereby officially identified with and under the authority of the person to whom the signet belonged.” So, the Holy Spirit is like God’s seal upon us, indicating that we’re officially identified with him and one of his people. 

In addition, Paul says, not only does the Holy Spirit function as God’s seal upon us, he also functions as “the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.” The word translated as “guarantee” literally referred to a down payment that someone would make toward the purchase of something as an indication of their commitment to follow through with that purchase and eventually pay the full amount. And we employ that same practice today, don’t we? In order to purchase a house, let’s say, the bank will require some kind of down payment in order to loan us the money we need to purchase that house. And that’s how the Holy Spirit functions as well. He’s God’s down payment on our eternal inheritance. We can be confident that God will give us our full heavenly inheritance one day because he’s already given us the Holy Spirit. 

So, back in verse 2 of our main passage, this is why Paul asks the Galatians, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” The implied answer—which would have been obvious to the Galatians—is that they received the Holy Spirit not by “works of the law” or any religious ritual but rather “by hearing with faith”—that is, by hearing the gospel and responding with faith. And that proves that faith was enough to save them. Their reception of the Holy Spirit was tied to their faith in Jesus rather than to any observance of the Old Testament law. 

So, that’s the beginning of Paul’s defense of his teaching of justification through faith alone. Yet the climax of his defense actually comes a few verses after that when Paul shifts his focus to Abraham, the great father of the Jewish nation. We see this shift in focus in verses 5-6. Paul writes, 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 

And as you read this, you have to appreciate just how much of a stroke of genius it is for Paul to use Abraham in support of his argument. The Judaizers were undoubtedly advocating for their heretical teachings by telling Jewish Christians that the gospel, as Paul taught it, amounted to a rejection of their Jewish heritage. You can imagine just how much the Judaizers must have been appealing to the sense of pride and loyalty Jewish Christians must have had to their ethnic and religious heritage. Yet, by shifting the focus of his argument to Abraham, Paul essentially outflanks the Judaizers. He’s basically putting down a trump card and saying, “Okay, if you want to talk about the importance of our Jewish heritage, let’s talk about it. In fact, let’s go all the way back to Abraham, the father of our nation. How was it exactly that Abraham was justified and made right with God?” 

And as we see, Paul tells us in verse 6 that Abraham simply “believed God,” and that belief “was counted to him as righteousness.” This is a quote from Genesis 15, where God makes an astounding promise to Abraham. At the time, Abraham was childless. Yet we read this in Genesis 15:5-6: 5 And he [God] brought him [Abraham] outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. 

Now, notice that God isn’t saying that Abraham’s faith is a righteous thing, which therefore makes Abraham a righteous person. Instead, God’s counting Abraham’s faith as if it were righteousness and as if it were sufficient to confer upon Abraham the status of being a righteous person. So, the text doesn’t say that Abraham’s faith was righteous but rather that God “counted it to him as righteousness.” Other translations say that God “reckoned it to him as righteousness” or “credited it to him as righteousness.” 

You might compare it to a credit card company trying to attract new customers by advertising a $500 credit to your first bill when you sign up for their credit card. That $500 credit wouldn’t be the result of you actually paying them $500 toward your first bill but would rather simply be something they credit to your bill apart from you paying it. They’re essentially telling you that they’ll act as if you paid that $500 toward your bill even though you didn’t. Similarly, according to this verse, God saw Abraham’s faith and therefore credited a righteous status to Abraham even though Abraham hadn’t lived in a way that actually deserved that status. 

It's also important to note that God did this before Abraham was circumcised, not after. I mentioned earlier that the Judaizers were saying that people had to observe the Old Testament law—including the requirement of circumcision—in order to be saved. Yet God counted Abraham as righteous before he was circumcised, which tells us that circumcision wasn’t necessary for Abraham’s salvation. Paul develops that line of argumentation a lot more in Romans 4:7-12. 

Yet, in our main passage, after Paul quotes from Genesis 15 about Abraham’s faith being counted as righteousness, Paul draws a conclusion from that in verse 7. He states, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” The word “then” indicates that this is a logical conclusion based on the data from Genesis 15 that Paul just cited. And this conclusion is that “it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” In other words, the true children of Abraham aren’t those who are merely his biological descendants but rather those who share his faith. This means that a Gentile who has faith in Jesus is more a child of Abraham than someone who’s ethnically Jewish but relying on their observance of the law to save them. 

By the way, let me say something briefly to the children who are with us this morning. You may be tempted to think that you’re a Christian because of your biological descent—or because your parents are Christians. Yet this passage makes it clear that nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that your parents are Christians doesn’t mean that you’re a Christian or that you’ll go to heaven. Instead, the only way for you to be a Christian is for you to put your faith in Jesus. 

So, Paul says that only those who share Abraham’s faith are properly considered to be Abraham’s children. And as we move into verses 8-9, we see that these are the people who inherit Abraham’s blessing. Paul says, 8 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.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 

So, God made a promise to Abraham that, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” In other words, from the very beginning, God intended to bless not just Abraham’s biological descendants but “all the nations.” And what might this blessing be? Well, it could conceivably include a lot of things, but Paul identifies one of those things for us at the beginning of verse 8. He says that this promise of worldwide blessing through Abraham was made “foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith.” So, this blessing includes justification. For us to share Abraham’s blessing means that God declares us to be righteous in his sight just as he declared Abraham to be righteous. It also means that we share in all of the other blessings and benefits of being in a right relationship with God as well, which we now think of today as being the blessings and benefits that come to us through the gospel. So, when God promised Abraham that through him all the nations would be blessed, God was talking about all the blessings and benefits of the gospel. 

Paul even goes so far as to say in verse 8 that, when God made this promise to Abraham, he was essentially “preaching the gospel” to Abraham—even though Jesus wouldn’t actually come for another 2,000 years. Paul then concludes in verse 9, “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” And that brings us to the main idea of this passage, which is that only those who share Abraham’s faith are truly his children and heirs of his blessing. Again, only those who share Abraham’s faith are truly his children and heirs of his blessing.

You know, at the beginning, I talked about who typically is and isn’t eligible to receive an earthly inheritance from someone. And usually, it’s the children of the deceased person who can expect to inherit that person’s wealth. People don’t usually leave their money to their friends but rather to their family—and specifically to their children. Likewise, it’s only those who are Abraham’s children who can expect to inherit Abraham’s blessing. And the way we can be counted as Abraham’s children is by sharing Abraham’s faith.

Now, if sharing Abraham’s faith really is that important and that essential for inheriting his blessing, we should probably make sure we understand what it means to have the faith of Abraham. Of course, it would be entirely accurate to say that, for us, having the faith of Abraham means putting our faith in Jesus to save us. Yet what exactly does that mean? What are some of the qualities or characteristics of the kind of faith that saves? 

Well, I believe we actually see the answer to that as we look at Abraham and observe the kind of faith Abraham had. So, let me briefly give you five characteristics of Abraham’s faith. And each of these characteristics shows us what needs to be true of the faith we have. 

First, Abraham’s faith was a grounded faith. That is, it was grounded in the things God told him and the promises God made to him. God made a series of specific promises to Abraham, and Abraham simply believed what God promised. Similarly, it’s not enough for us to simply have a generic faith in some sort of “higher power.” Instead, we need to have a very specific faith that’s rooted in the Bible and directed toward Jesus and aligned with all of the truths of the gospel. 

Then, second, Abraham’s faith was a devoted faith. At the beginning of Abraham’s spiritual pilgrimage, God called him to leave his home city—the city of Ur—and go to the land God said he would show to Abraham. So, that’s what Abraham did. In obedience to God’s call, Abraham left everything that was familiar to him and more or less started walking in the direction God told him to walk. Hebrews 11:8 tells us, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” That’s what you call faith. Abraham’s faith was inextricably connected to his devotion to God and surrender to God’s will for his life. Likewise, saving faith for us involves a decisive breaking away from our old way of life—just as Abraham left the city of Ur. And it means following God’s call and walking in God’s ways and being set apart for God’s purposes. 

In addition, a third and closely related characteristic of Abraham’s faith is that it was an obedient faith. A little later in Abraham’s life, when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac in Genesis 22, Abraham demonstrated a willingness to obey. Of course, we know that God was just testing Abraham and stopped Abraham from actually going through with it. But Abraham demonstrated in that whole ordeal a willingness to obey God even if he couldn’t understand what God was up to or why God would ever ask him to do such a terrible thing. Likewise, any supposed faith within us that doesn’t produce a life of obedience to God isn’t saving faith. 

Fourth, Abraham’s faith was an enduring faith. Even though God promised Abraham a son, Abraham had to wait 25 years before Isaac was finally born. 25 years! And especially when you consider that most of the rest of God’s promises hinged on the fulfillment of that particular promise, those 25 years must have felt like an eternity. Yet Romans 4:20 tells us that Abraham didn’t waver in his faith but believed that God would do as he had promised. Likewise, the faith we have in Jesus needs to be an enduring faith. If our faith doesn’t stand the test of time, it’s not the kind of faith that saves. 

And lastly, Abraham’s faith was a future-oriented faith. Even though Abraham was basically forced to live in tents throughout his life and to be a nomad in a land he didn’t own, Abraham didn’t mind because he was looking to the future. Hebrews 11:10 states, “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” Likewise, someone who has saving faith today isn’t looking for their best life now but instead has their heart set on the eternal inheritance God’s promised us in the future. As Hebrews 13:14 tells us, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” We live as citizens of heaven even though our temporary residence is here on earth.

So, all of these things are not only characteristics of Abraham’s faith but are essential components of what saving faith looks like for us. Faith that saves consists of a lot more than mere intellectual assent or lip-service. Instead, it’s a grounded faith, a devoted faith, an obedient faith, an enduring faith, and a future-oriented faith. 

Then, back in our main passage in Galatians 3, Paul continues making his point about the necessary of us sharing Abraham’s faith by contrasting those who share Abraham’s faith with those who rely on their observance of the Old Testament law to save them. Paul writes in verse 10, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’” If you try to go the route of following the Old Testament law as a means to salvation, then you’re obligated to keep the law perfectly. Anything short of absolute perfection in keeping the law will send you straight to hell. 

James 2:10 tells us, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” You might compare it to a chain. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Likewise, if you, in your weakest moment, fail to keep the law perfectly, you’ve just become a lawbreaker and are therefore—in the words of Paul in Galatians 3:10—under the “curse” of divine punishment for all eternity. 

Paul then drives home his point in verses 11-14. He writes, 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

So, essentially, Jesus endured the curse so we could enjoy the blessing. Again, in the words of verse 13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” So, on the cross, Jesus was treated as if he were a sinner so that we could be treated as though we’re righteous. He endured the curse of our sins on the cross so we could enjoy the blessing of eternal life in heaven. 

And, just to emphasize once again, the way we obtain this blessing is through faith—the same faith that Abraham had all those years ago. Yet there is one thing I’d like add about Abraham’s faith. Even though it was commendable in many ways—as we’ve already discussed—it wasn’t perfect. In fact, if you read through the story of Abraham’s life in Genesis, you can see quite clearly that there were numerous instances in Abraham’s life in which his faith wasn’t what it should have been. But even though Abraham’s faith wasn’t perfect, it was nevertheless genuine and, most importantly, was directed toward a faithful God. Likewise, to employ a phrase used by Jesus, we might only have the faith of a mustard seed, but our salvation depends not on the size or strength of our faith but rather on the God toward whom our faith is directed.  

I once heard the presumably fictional story of two men who wanted to get across a raging river that was at the bottom a 100-foot-deep gorge. The first guy was a man of great faith. So, he looked around and saw an old rickety bridge—you know, one of those narrow Indiana Jones style bridges comprised of half-rotten planks of wood that look like they could break at any time. And this rickety bridge was swaying in the wind a hundred feet above the raging river. But, remember, this was a man of great faith. So, he confidently strutted out across that bridge. However, when he was about halfway across, the wood broke, and he plunged to his death into the river. 

That left the second man who still wanted to get across the river. However, unlike the first man, who had great faith, this man only had a very weak faith. And seeing the first man fall made this man even more terrified. But he walked a little way to another part of the river and discovered another bridge—a massive interstate highway bridge that looked like it had been built very recently. However, this man’s faith was so weak that he was still scared out of his mind. So, he couldn’t even walk across that bridge. He had to crawl the whole way across. But guess what? He made it to the other side. It took him a while, but he eventually made it to the other side safely. 

And that shows us that it’s not the greatness of our faith but rather the object of our faith that saves us. So, it’s okay if you don’t have great faith—as long as you have genuine faith and as long as your faith is directed toward Jesus. That’s the critical thing. Is your faith directed toward yourself and your own efforts to be worthy of God or to gain God’s favor, or is your faith directed toward Jesus?  Can you say with the nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon that “My faith rests not in what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is doing for me”?