Galatians 3:6-9 Justification and the Blessing of Abraham (January 4, 2025 AM, Dr. Michael Grasso)

"What does Abraham have to do with justification by faith—and with the salvation of the nations?

In Galatians 3:6–9, Paul turns from the Galatians’ experience of the Spirit to an even more foundational authority: the testimony of Scripture itself. After showing that the Triune God bore witness to justification by faith (Christ crucified, the Father giving the Spirit, the Spirit working powerfully), Paul demonstrates that this gospel is not new. It is the consistent message of God from the beginning—already preached in the Abrahamic promises.

Paul begins where Moses begins: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Abraham was not justified by works, lineage, or law-keeping. He received righteousness as a gift—counted to him by faith. And from that truth Paul draws a decisive conclusion: those who are “of faith” are the true sons of Abraham.

That would have landed with force in Galatia. The Judaizers boasted in physical descent and circumcision, but Paul says sonship is determined by faith, not flesh. Believing Gentiles are not second-class citizens in God’s kingdom; they are the very fulfillment of what Scripture promised all along.

Paul then goes further: Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham—“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” This promise is not an obscure detail. It is the backbone of the Abrahamic narrative and God’s answer to the curse that fell upon the nations. The blessing promised to the nations is inseparable from justification, because blessing and curse correspond to justification and condemnation.

The result is Paul’s climactic statement: “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” We are living in the days Moses longed to see—the worldwide blessing promised to Abraham, fulfilled in Christ, and received by faith alone.

The question for every hearer is therefore simple and searching: Are you a true son or daughter of Abraham? Are you walking in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith—resting in the righteousness God gives freely in Christ?

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