Galatians 3, 6 to 9 Abraham and his descendants would be saved by faith

Galatians 3:6-9 With Dr. John Gerstner, Abraham & His Descendants Would Be Saved By Faith

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Welcome back to our study of the book of Galatians with the late Dr. John Gerstner, today our focus will be on Chapter 3:6-9. Abraham and his descendants would be saved by faith.

Last week, we discussed how Paul was astounded by the rapidity with which the Galatians had been persuaded to accept the distorted Gospel preached by the traditional Judaizers. He began his condemnation of this false gospel by appealing to the Galatians’ conversion experience. But Paul will not stop there; he is now going to prove through Scripture that man is made right before God by faith alone in Christ’s finished work on the cross. And to back up his point, Paul will use the example of Abraham, the father of faith.

Abraham and his descendants would be saved by faith

The Passage: Galatians 3:6-9 ( Abraham Was Saved By 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[c] 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.

Notes

  • Verse 6

Paul had just asked the Galatians a rhetorical question in verse 5, that is: did God supply them with His Spirit because of their legalistic observance of the law ( Torah) or did He do so because they trusted His word? The answer to this question is very clear, the Galatians received the Spirit by faith. And to make his point clear, Paul brought up the father of faith- Abraham. He was saying to the Galatians that God applied the same principle of faith to Abraham. We need to understand that many religions i.e. Judaism, Islam trace their origin to Abraham. So Paul knew that Abraham was a very well known Old Testament figure that exemplified the model of faith that he was referring to, so he quoted Genesis 15:6

” 6 And he ( Abraham) believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

There was a reason for it. Abraham was not declared righteous because he followed the Law in a legalistic manner. In fact, the Law was not even present at the time. Paull will emphasize this point later in the chapter. But for the time being, all we need to know is that Abraham was made right with God not because of anything he did, but because God made a promise to him and he believed it, and God credited that to him as righteousness.

  • Verse 7

Paul makes his punchline in Verse 7. He is saying to his audience, primarily the Galatians, “Be assured, then, that those who live by faith are truly children of Abraham.” When God made the promise to Abraham, he was to serve as a model for how one could be declared righteous before God. Paul is essentially refuting the traditional Judaizers who claimed that trusting in Christ’s work on the cross was insufficient for salvation and that one needed to be circumcised as well. Abraham’s example demonstrated that righteousness was a God-given gift based on God’s promise, granted to Man through faith.

  • Verse 8

The traditional Judaizers misinterpreted the Scriptures and their error could lead to very serious consequences, falling from grace. And we need to be careful not to tamper with the word of God. In verse 8, Paul does something very interesting. He personifies the Scriptures, and rightfully so. We say that the bible is the Word of God, and we also know that the Word of God is active and alive, sharper than any double-edged sword. Paul says in verse 8 that God through His word , preached the good news to Abraham in the following words-

“In you shall all the nations be blessed

Paul is quoting Genesis 12. And we need to know why this is so important in this passage. We need to remember what Paul’s main focus was : proving that Man is declared just before God by believing in Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross.  God’s original plan was that the nations of the world would come to faith through Israel, they were supposed to be the light of the world. They were supposed to be the salt of the earth, through them the rest of humanity was supposed to know God. And it all started with the call of Abraham. When God called Abraham out of Haran, He said to him in Genesis 12: 3

3 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

The phrase “in you” is so important in this passage. It carries the idea of “through your example” , “By what I’m going to do through you”. So Abraham was exhibit A of how God was going to make Man right before Him. This is why the Scripture says-

8 Also the Tanakh, foreseeing that God would consider the Gentiles righteous when they live by trusting and being faithful, told the Good News to Avraham in advance by saying, “In connection with you, all the Goyim will be blessed.

I like how verse 8 reads in the Complete Jewish Bible, this is why I quoted it. The word in connection is very key in this passage. The Scripture is essentially proving what Paul has been saying all along: the Jews ( starting with Abraham) as well the gentiles ( who were also to receive Abraham’s blessing) would be made right before God by faith.

  • Verse 9

Paul finishes his argument with his conclusion, and it needs no explanation. Basically, those who put their faith in God like Abraham did are the ones declared righteous before God. Basically all are saved by faith alone.

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PS: All the videos series from RC Sproul and Dr John Gerstner added to the website have been thoroughly listened to by myself. And I highly recommend them to anyone looking to deepen his/her faith in Christ. We live in the age of relativism and now more than ever understanding what we believe, and why believe what believe is not optional.