Sons Of Abraham
© 11.15.23 By David Eric Williams
Have you suffered so many things for nothing? - if indeed it was for nothing. Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard? Just as Abraham believedGod, and it was credited to him as righteousness, so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:4-7).
Having established the fact the gospel he preaches is a direct revelation from Jesus, Paul turns his attention one again to the plight of the Galatians.
Like many Christians of the first century, the Galatian Believers had suffered for their faith. Apparently, this was before they became enamored with the Mosaic dispensation. Paul draws their attention to the fact with a rhetorical question. Was the suffering they endured a waste of time? In other words, they suffered for their faith in Jesus the Christ – but now they seem to be throwing away any benefit they might have garnered from those experiences. They had suffered because they placed faith in Jesus Christ alone but now their actions deny that faith. Indeed, the value of their faith was verified by the works of the Holy Spirit in their midst.
Then, Paul gets to the heart of the matter. He says; just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:6-7). In these few words, Paul upends the entire argument of the Judaizers. He develops this truth throughout the rest of the letter but it is really just a matter of fleshing out this profound reality; Abraham’s descendants are reckoned by faith not physical succession.
Paul stays with this theme the rest of the letter. At no point does he say there are two sets of descendants for Abraham. At no point does he say the blessings accorded to Abraham divide into spiritual and material. To do so would nullify his entire argument. He would be saying, Jesus is not the only way to salvation and that the blessings promised to Abraham can be realized apart from Jesus. He does nothing of the sort. Nor should we.
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