From the Time of Abraham, We are Justified by Faith
6 just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness? 7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons. 8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. 9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith. (Galatians 3:6-9)
Continuing Paul’s debate against the Judaizers and their claim that one must uphold the Law of Moses in order to earn salvation, Paul uses the life of Abraham, a revered patriarch. In verse 6, Paul states that Abraham was able to be saved by faith and not by works, “Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness,” which is also quoted from Genesis 15:6. To go even further, Abraham, who preceded Moses by 400+ years, wasn’t circumcised until he was ninety-nine years old (see Genesis 17), an act which the Judaizers were claiming were necessary for Gentiles to be saved.
In verse 7, Paul states that “those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons,” meaning that those that had faith in God are his true spiritual descendants, being justified by faith, not by the law. In verse 8, because of this, the Gentiles were included in God’s plan of salvation all along. Paul quotes from Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Closing this argument about Abraham, in verse 9, as Anders states, “While provision is made for all to be blessed, only those who have faith are justified.” Salvation is made available to everyone, but each person must make the decision individually to accept Christ as Lord and Savior or not.
Summarizing with Max Anders, “Abraham, who lived before the law, was saved by faith. The blessings of Abraham (inheritance, sonship, and eternal life) were received by faith. Therefore, grace is superior to the law.” It is by grace alone that we are saved, from all the way in the past with Abraham to now.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
