Galatians 3:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

NIV: Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.

NASB: Therefore, recognize that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.

CSB: You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons.

NLT: The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

KJV: Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

NKJV: Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

A group known as the Judaizers are attempting to promote a works-based version of Christianity (Galatians 2:4). According to these false teachers, salvation only starts with believing in Jesus, but then one must be circumcised and follow the rituals of the law in order to be truly saved and accepted by God. Paul's reason for writing to the Galatians was to tell them that this teaching was false (Galatians 1:6–9). These false teachers insisted that nobody could be included in the family of God unless they were descendants of Abraham. By that logic, if non-Jews, like Paul's readers in Galatia, wanted to be in God's family, they must do what all Jewish men do. They must be circumcised (Genesis 17:10). Paul, however, has just pointed out that God called Abraham righteous long before he was circumcised. Paul has quoted Genesis 15:6: "And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness."

Now, Paul declares a radical idea: everyone who believes the Lord, referred to as "those of faith," are the sons of Abraham. This includes all people, even the non-Jewish people known as Gentiles. This is a point Paul will make explicitly clear at the end of this passage (Galatians 3:23–29).

In other words, Father Abraham's "many sons" include all who trust in Christ. This category is not limited to those descended from Abraham by birth and through a ritual conversion to Judaism. Resistance to this truth caused much of the persecution of Christians by the Jewish religious leaders in the early years of church.

Galatians 3:1–9 begins with Paul calling the Galatian Christians he loves ''foolish.'' They have begun to believe they must follow the law of Moses in order to be included in the family of God. Paul asks: did God give His Spirit to them with great power after they believed, or after doing works of the law? Clearly, the Spirit arrived in response to their faith. Abraham also was declared righteous by God in response to his own faith. Paul insists God's promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him pointed to this time when Gentiles would be saved by faith in Christ.

Paul indicates the Galatian Christians are foolish for believing they need to follow the law of Moses to be right with God. He offers three specific arguments to support this. First, they received God's Spirit in a powerful way after believing in Jesus, but before doing any works of the law. Second, Scripture itself shows God's blessing coming by faith, and His curse coming by the law. Christ paid the price of that curse on the cross. Third, God's covenant with Abraham is like a legal document, and it cannot be revoked.

In Galatians chapter 2, Paul declared that we can only be justified—''made right with God''—by faith in Christ and not by following the law of Moses. In chapter 3, Paul offers three arguments for why that is true. He argues from the Galatians own experience, from the Scriptures themselves, and from the legal standpoint of a covenant contract. Finally, Paul answers what the law is for if it cannot save us from our sin. In part, it reveals our sinfulness and convinces us of our need to be saved by faith in Christ. The following chapter will expand on what it means to be an ''heir,'' spiritually.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.