WE ARE BLESSED WITH ABRAHAM
GALATIANS 3:6-9 NKJV
6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
A taunt that could be heard on American playgrounds years ago was, my daddy can whip your daddy. Because my dad was 6'4", I did not hear that very often.
But this was a favorite fallback for the Jewish people. They were the descendants of Abraham. They would claim Abraham as their father.
And they would throw that in the faces of the Gentile converts. So this is where Paul stepped in with a revelation that would burst their pride-filled bubble.
Paul recounted that Abraham believed God, and it was essentially credited to him for righteousness. Being circumcised did not make Abraham right with God. Circumcision was a sign of the fact that he was already in right standing.
The Jews, who knew all about Abraham, were reminded that in Abraham, all the nations would be blessed.
Abraham was the first man to be made right with God because he believed God. He was not made right by works because God had not given the people the law. That would come later through Moses. The law was given to help curb sin and to show that no man could be made righteous by the law.
Paul then said something that had to infuriate the Jewish world. Only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
In reality, pretty much everything Paul preached countered the religious world of the Jews. That's why they were so mad. That's why they wanted to kill him.
By declaring that the blessed ones were those who had faith in Christ. By declaring that even the Gentiles were blessed with believing Abraham. Grace took away the Jewish pride that isolated them from the rest of the world.
APPLICATION:
Abraham is considered father of the faith. Long before there were laws and regulations, Abraham believed God.
And today, we are Abraham's spiritual descendants. By putting our faith in Jesus, we are made right in God's sight. And we are blessed with believing Abraham.
PRAYER:
Thank You, Lord, that I am blessed through faith in Jesus. Thank You. I am right in Your sight.