Galatians 3:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

NIV: So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

NASB: So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

CSB: Consequently those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.

NLT: So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

KJV: So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

NKJV: So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Paul is making the case that we are saved exclusively on the basis of faith, not works. A group known as the Judaizers are trying to convince Christians that they must be circumcised and follow the law in order to be truly saved and included in God's family (Galatians 2:4). Paul has shown that even Abraham was justified—counted as righteous before God—because he believed the Lord, and not because he was circumcised (Galatians 3:6).

Now Paul wraps up this part of his argument about the children of Abraham. He states clearly that the blessing of God comes to those who believe God, including non-Israelites. He calls blessed Abraham the "man of faith."

It's important to notice two elements of Paul's argument: God's blessing and human faith. God's blessing can only be a gift, never earned by human action. In fact, it can be accessed only by faith in Christ.

Paul, sounding like a lawyer making his argument before a courtroom, will go on in the following verses to show why following the rituals contained in the Law can't save anyone. Paul is using his training as a Pharisee, one of the scholarly Jewish religious leaders. He is arguing from Scripture and logic, against the Judaizers, and in favor of the very truths for which he himself once persecuted Christians (Galatians 1:11–24).

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.