Galatians 3:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

NIV: So also Abraham 'believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'

NASB: Just as Abraham BELIEVED God, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

CSB: just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness?

NLT: In the same way, 'Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.'

KJV: Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

NKJV: just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Paul concludes a series of provocative questions for the Christians in Galatians. He is trying to help them to see that they are being led astray. A group known as the Judaizers wants them to think that even Christ-followers need to follow the rules and rituals of the law of Moses in order to be truly saved (Galatians 2:4). Paul indicated that this is a "foolish" idea (Galatians 3:1).

Paul concluded the last verse by asking if they received God's Spirit after doing works of the law or after "hearing with faith?" The answer should be obvious, since they had not yet done any works of the law before the Spirit came. They had simply believed, and God had responded (Galatians 3:5).

Now, Paul begins to show that this is the way God has always worked, even before the law was given. Abraham, the father of all Jewish people, was also declared righteous by God for believing Him. To make the point, Paul quotes Genesis 15:6. Abraham had not yet even been circumcised before God declared him righteous for his faith.

Paul will move on in this chapter to show that the Old Testament and the law were always about faith in God and about looking forward to the coming of Jesus.

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.