Know
therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:7
Galatians 3 [1.] Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified? I just want to learn this from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain?
Galatians 3 [5.] He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you, and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.
Galatians 3 [10.] For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.” Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.”
Meaning:
Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia because teachers had arrived insisting that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to belong fully to God’s people. Paul answers by going back to Abraham. Just before this verse he quotes Genesis: Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Galatians 3:7 draws the conclusion.
- “Know therefore”
The word “therefore” ties this verse to Abraham’s example. Abraham was counted righteous because he believed God’s promise, long before he was circumcised and centuries before the law was given at Sinai. If God accepted Abraham on the basis of faith, then faith, not ancestry or law-keeping, is what marks his true family.
- “Those who are of faith”
Paul describes believers by what defines them: they are “of faith.” Their standing before God rests on trusting his promise in Christ, not on their own performance.
- “The same are children of Abraham”
Being a child of Abraham meant sharing in the promises God made to him. Many of Paul’s opponents assumed that only physical descendants, or those who became Jews, could claim this. Paul says the real family likeness is faith. God had promised Abraham, “All the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3), and Paul sees that promise fulfilled as Gentiles believe the gospel. Later in the chapter he writes that in Christ “There is neither Jew nor Greek” (Galatians 3:28).
- Jesus and the children of Abraham
Jesus taught the same truth. When the despised tax collector Zacchaeus welcomed him and turned from his old life, Jesus said, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9). John the Baptist had warned the crowds not to rely on having Abraham as their father (Luke 3:8). Jesus also said that many would come from east and west and sit down with Abraham in the Kingdom (Matthew 8:11).
The Significance of Galatians 3:7
- Belonging by faith
No one needs a particular family background to belong to God. Everyone who trusts Christ is welcomed into Abraham’s family and shares the promise of blessing.
- Living like Abraham
Abraham’s faith was active. He left his home, waited for God’s promise and obeyed. Children of Abraham show the family resemblance by trusting God’s word and walking in it.
Cross-References:
Genesis 15:6: "He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness." The foundation of Paul’s argument.
Genesis 12:3: "All the families of the earth will be blessed through you." The promise to Abraham that included the nations.
Luke 19:9: "Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham." Jesus restores a lost son of Abraham.
Conclusion: Paul concludes from Abraham’s example that those who are of faith are his true children. God’s family is not defined by birth or by keeping the law but by trusting God’s promise, now fulfilled in Christ, so that people of every nation can share the blessing promised to Abraham.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible