Bg – Those Who Have Faith are Children of Abraham 3: 6-7

Those Who Have Faith
are Children of Abraham
3: 6-7

Those who have faith are children of Abraham DIG: Why did the Judaizers think they had the upper hand in their debate with Paul? How did Paul use Abraham in his argument for his salvation equals faith-plus-nothing gospel? What does “credited” mean? Why do we have different Dispensations? What did James mean when he said, “Faith without deeds is dead?” Do Gentiles who exercise faith become spiritual Jews? Why? Why not?

REFLECT: What is significant to you in Abraham’s story? How would you explain the promised “righteousness” in verse 6 to a seeker? What do good “deeds” mean to you? What is (are) your spiritual gifts? Does good “deeds” mean using your spiritual gift(s)? How can you do good “deeds” apart from using your spiritual gift(s)? If you were accused of being a believer, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

To combat the different gospel of the Judaizers, Paul explains how Abraham was justified by faith, not deeds. Therefore, the true children of Abraham are justified in the same way.

The Judaizers (to see link click Ag – Who Were the Judaizers) claimed to have the TaNaKh on their side, especially looking to Moshe as their teacher. But Paul went centuries farther back and said, “Consider Abraham.” How was the father of the Jewish people justified? The answer was simple and direct. He was blessed because of his faith, not because of his deeds (see the commentary on Genesis Ef – Abram Believed the LORD and He Credited It to Him as Righteousness). Abraham simply believed. Period. And because he exercised faith, God declared him justified. What did Abraham believe? God promised Abraham a son and because Abraham believed the promises of God that faith is what justified him. That is why we call the Dispensation in which Abraham lived, the Dispensation of Promise (see the commentary on Genesis Ds – The Dispensation of Promise).

It is not complete truth to say that the righteous of the TaNaKh were justified by looking forward to the death of Messiah, and we are saved by looking back to the death of Messiah. That sounds spiritual, but it is not completely biblical. While it is true that it is our faith in the death and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua that saves us (Romans 10-9-10), not all whom God saves were aware of that glorious fact when they were saved. The Prophets, who spoke about the grace that was to be yours, searched for this salvation and investigated carefully. They were trying to find out the time and circumstances the Ruach of Messiah within them was indicating, when predicting the sufferings in store for Messiah and the glories to follow. (First Peter 1:10-11). While in every Dispensation, mankind is always saved by faith, the content of faith does vary, that is why we have different Dispensations. And the content of Abraham’s faith was not the death of Messiah. The fact that the Messiah would die for the sins of Isra’el was not revealed until Isaiah’s day. Then, how was Abraham saved? He believed the promises of ADONAI, specifically, the promise of a son (also see Romans 4:1-25 and Hebrews 11:8-19). So, Abraham was the example Paul holds up to the Galatian believers.⁶⁸

Striking a tremendous blow to the Judaizers, Paul linked the past with the present and declared that just as Abraham was saved by faith so were those who now claimed to be his children. Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” know then that those who have faith are children of Abraham (3:6-7).

The words credited (Greek: logzomai) in Galatians 3:6, Genesis 15:6, and Romans 4:11, 22-24 all mean transferred to one’s account. When John says the Spirit gives life (John 6:63a), he means that all the righteousness of Messiah is transferred to our spiritual account at the moment of faith. The theological name for this is imputation. The Bible teaches us that we have all inherited Adam’s sin nature. Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 5:12 and 3:23). In the TaNaKh, there had to be a sacrifice. Blood had to be shed, and a death had to occur; therefore, because of the death of Yeshua on the cross we have a perfect, absolute, righteousness that God the Father imputes to us through His Son. Because of our faith, we have passed God’s final exam of the universe with a hundred percent. When ADONAI sees us, He doesn’t see our sin, He sees the righteousness of His Son (Romans 1:17). We are in the Holy One, and He is in us. The only way we get to heaven is a result of the perfect righteousness of Yeshua Messiah. Therefore, what is true of Messiah is true of you.

The children of Abraham are declared righteous the same way Abraham was declared righteous – by faith. Therefore, both Jews and Gentiles who exercise faith, and only faith, as the means of salvation, become the real sons and daughters of Abraham.

Later, James (Ya’akov) the half-brother of the Master, declared that faith without deeds is dead. He insisted that faith must be accompanied by good deeds. In other words, good deeds are the evidence, the good spiritual fruit, that a person is truly saved. He said: Wasn’t Abraham our father proved righteous by deeds when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see faith worked together with his deeds, and by the deeds of his faith was made complete. The Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness – and he was called God’s friend. You see that people are also proved righteous by deeds and not by faith alone. And likewise, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also proved righteous by deeds when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without deeds is dead (James 2:21-26). The conclusion is most clear. Faith and deeds are essential to each other as the body and the spirit. Apart from the spirit, or the breath of life, the body is dead. Likewise, apart from the evidence of good deeds, faith may be said to be dead. True faith continually contributes to spiritual growth and development.⁶⁹

It is also important to understand that this does not mean that Gentiles who exercise faith become spiritual Jews. The word Jew is never applied in this context whatsoever. Even in the physical sense, not every descendant of Abraham physically are Jews because the Arabs are descendents of Abraham just as much as Jews are. Try calling one of them a Jew! So, in the physical realm, not all descendants of Abraham are Jews, and the same holds in the spiritual realm. While Gentile believers become followers of Abraham and receive the spiritual benefits of the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:3), they are never mentioned as “spiritual Jews” either in the TaNaKh or in the B’rit Chadashah.⁷⁰

The Jewish people were very proud of their relationship with Abraham. The trouble was they thought that this relationship guaranteed them eternal life. John the Immerser warned them that their physical descent did not guarantee spiritual life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bf – You Brood of Vipers, Who Warned You to Flee the Coming Wrath). Yeshua made a clear distinction between Abraham’s seed and Abraham’s children (John 8:33-47). Some people today still think that salvation is inherited. Because their mother or father were godly people, the children are automatically saved. But this is not true. It has been said, “ADONAI has no grandchildren.”⁷¹