What if the key to being right with God was not about your family background, your religious heritage, or your good deeds, but simply about trusting God’s promise? That is the revolutionary message Paul delivers in Galatians chapter 3. He takes his readers back to the father of faith, Abraham, to show that justification by faith is not a new idea. It echoes Abraham’s example, and believers today, whether Jew or Gentile, become his true heirs through the same kind of faith.
Paul starts this section with a direct appeal in Galatians 3:6: “just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” This quotes Genesis 15:6, where God promised Abraham a son and descendants as numerous as the stars, even though Abraham and Sarah were old and childless. Abraham did not earn this promise through works. He simply believed God would do what He said. God credited that faith as righteousness. Abraham was declared right with God because he trusted God’s word.
Paul builds on this in Galatians 3:7: “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” True spiritual descent from Abraham is not about physical bloodline or circumcision. It is about sharing the same faith that Abraham had. Anyone who believes God justifies them by faith becomes a son or daughter of Abraham in the spiritual sense.
In Galatians 3:8, Paul explains further: “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.’” Her,e Paul refers to Genesis 12:3, where God promised Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Scripture foresaw that the blessing would extend to Gentiles through faith, not through law-keeping. The gospel itself was announced to Abraham long before the law came. It is the good news that God would justify people from every nation by faith.
Galatians 3:9 ties it together: “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” Believers share in the same blessing Abraham received: justification, acceptance by God, and the promise of blessing for all nations. This blessing is not earned; it is received by faith.
Paul contrasts this with reliance on the law. Those who depend on works of the law fall under the curse, as he explained earlier in the chapter. But faith brings blessing, just as it did for Abraham.
The climax comes in Galatians 3:29: “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” If you belong to Christ through faith, you are Abraham’s offspring. You inherit the promise God made to him. The promise includes justification by faith, the indwelling Spirit (Galatians 3:14), and all the spiritual blessings that flow from being in Christ. It is not limited to ethnic Israel; it is open to everyone who trusts in Jesus.
This truth demolishes the arguments of the false teachers in Galatia. They claimed Gentiles needed to become like Jews through circumcision and law observance to be full heirs. Paul says no. The true heirs are those united to Christ by faith. In Christ, the distinctions that once divided people fade away. As Galatians 3:28 puts it, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Abraham’s story shows that God’s plan has always been by faith. The law, which came 430 years later, did not annul the promise (Galatians 3:17). The promise stands firm, fulfilled in Christ, the ultimate Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). Through Him, the blessing reaches the nations.
This has profound implications for us today. Your worth before God does not depend on your ancestry, your achievements, or your adherence to rules. It depends on whether you are “of faith” like Abraham. Do you trust that God justifies the ungodly through faith in Jesus? Then you are Abraham’s child, an heir of the promise.
This identity brings security and joy. You do not have to prove yourself. You are already accepted because Christ has made you part of the family. The Holy Spirit testifies to this sonship, enabling you to cry out “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).
It also unites believers across every divide. In a world full of division, the church becomes a preview of the promise fulfilled: people from every nation blessed together in Christ.
If you have never placed your faith in Christ, consider Abraham’s example. He believed in God against all odds, and it was credited to him as righteousness. The same offer stands for you. Trust in Jesus, who died and rose to make the promise real, and you will become an heir.
For those who believe, live in the reality of this truth. Rejoice that you are Abraham’s seed. Let gratitude for this grace fuel your love for God and others. Share the blessing with the nations, just as God intended from the beginning.
May we, like Abraham, walk by faith and not by sight. May we rest in the promise fulfilled in Christ and live as joyful heirs of God’s eternal blessing. To Him be glory forever.