Galatians 3:29

And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. AND HEIRS. So G. But A B C Delta 'Aleph (') f, Vulgate, omit "and." Christ is "Abraham's seed:" ye are "one in Christ" (Galatians 3:28), and one with Christ, as having "put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27); therefore YE [ humeis (G5210): emphatic] are "Abraham's seed," - tantamount to saying (whence the "and" is omitted), ye are "heirs according to (in the way of) the promise" (not 'by the law,' Galatians 3:18); for it was to Abraham's seed that the inheritance was promised ...

29._Then are ye Abraham’s seed_. This is not intended to convey the idea, that to be a child of Abraham is better than to be a member of Christ, — but to repress the pride of the Jews, who gloried in their privilege, as if they alone were the people of God. They reckoned no distinction higher than to belong to the race of Abraham; and this very distinction he makes to be common to all who believe in Christ. The conclusion rests on this argument, that Christ is the blessed seed, in whom, as we have said, all the children of Abraham are united. He proves this by the universal offer of the inheritance to them all, from which it follows, that the promise includes them among the children. It deserves notice, that, wherever faith is mentioned, it is always his relation to the promise....

26-29 Real Christians enjoy great privileges under the gospel; and are no longer accounted servants, but sons; not now kept at such a distance, and under such restraints as the Jews were. Having accepted Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and relying on him alone for justification and salvation, they become the sons of God. But no outward forms or profession can secure these blessings; for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. In baptism we put on Christ; therein we profess to be his disciples. Being baptized into Christ, we are baptized into his death, that as he died and rose again, so we should die unto sin, and walk in newness and holiness of life. The putting on of Christ according to the gospel, consists not in outward imitation, but in a new birth, an entire change. He who makes believers to be heirs, will provide for them. Therefore our care must be t...

Verse Galatians 3:29. _AND IF YE_ BE _CHRIST'S_] Or, as several good MSS. read, _If ye_ be _one in Christ_. If ye have all received justification through his blood, and the mind that was in him, then are ye Abraham's seed; ye are that real, spiritual posterity of Abraham, that _other seed_, to whom the promises were made; and then heirs, according to that promise, being fitted for the rest that remains for the people of God, that heavenly inheritance which was typified by the earthly Canaan, even to the Jews. 1. THE Galatians, it appears, had _begun well_, and for a time _run_ _well_, but they permitted Satan to _hinder_, and they stopped short of the prize. Let us beware of those _teachers_ who would draw us away from trusting in Christ crucified. By listening to such the Galatians lost their religion.

AND IF YE BE CHRIST’S - If you belong to the Messiah, and are interested in his work. THEN ARE YE ABRAHAM’S SEED - The promise made to Abraham related to the Messiah. It was a promise that in him all should be blessed. Abraham believed in that Messiah, and was distinguished for his faith in him who was to come. If they believed in Christ, therefore, they showed that they were the spiritual descendants of Abraham. No matter whether they were Jews or Gentiles; whether they had been circumcised or not, they had the same spirit which he evinced, and were interested in the promises made to him. AND HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE - See Romans 8:17. Are heirs of God. You inherit the blessings promised to Abraham, and partake of the felicity to which he looked forward. You have become t

EXPOSITION GALATIANS 3:1 O FOOLISH GALATIANS (ὦ ἀνόητοι Γαλάται). In thus apostrophizing them, the apostle brands their present behaviour, not any lack of intelligence on their part in general (comp. Luke 24:25). "Foolish"—to allow yourselves to be thus robbed of your happiness. The transporting feeling of elevation and joy with which, in Galatians 2:19, the apostle describes himself as crucified with Christ to the Law, and as living in Christ and through Christ, makes him the more keenly sensible of the senseless folly shown by the Galatians in taking up the observance of the Law. WHO HATH BEWITCHED YOU, THAT YE SHOULD NOT OBEY THE TRUTHS? (τ

FOR IF YE BE CHRIST'S,.... Or seeing ye are his, not by creation only, but by the Father's gift to him, by the purchase of his own blood, by the power of his grace, making them willing to give up themselves to him; not only his by profession, saying they are the Lord's, calling themselves by his name; but by possession, Christ dwelling in their hearts by faith, and they having his Spirit as a spirit of regeneration and adoption: THEN ARE YE ABRAHAM'S SEED; not his natural but his spiritual seed, the seed that should come, and to whom the promises were made, Galatians 3:16 and so were upon an equal foot even with the Jews that believed: AND HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE; being the children of God, they are heirs of God; and being the spiritual children of Abraham, the children of the promise, which are counted for the seed, they are, according to th

3:1. _O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?_ These Galatians thought that they were very philosophical, and very intellectual; but the apostle says, «O foolish Galatians!» They thought that they had been led by reason, and guided by the learning of their teachers; but Paul calls it witchery: «Who hath bewitched you?» he asks, as if anything which led a man to trust in his own works should be as much abhorred as the incantations of a witch, «Who hath bewitched you?» It is a dangerous state, it is a devilish snare to be brought into; to be led to trust to frames, and feelings, and experiences, and doings, and prayings, or to anything else but Christ. It is a strange thing that those who have seen Christ should ever go back to these things. Lord, keep us every day, a...

II. CONTRASTS BETWEEN LAW AND GRACE CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The gift of the Spirit not by the works of the law, but by hearing of faith. (Galatians 3:1)_ 2. Righteousness not bestowed by the law, but by faith. (Galatians 3:6) 3. The law curses; the curse born by Christ. (Galatians 3:10) 4. The law cannot annul the covenant of promise, (Galatians 3:15) 5. Wherefore serveth the law? (Galatians 3:19) 6. Faith having come--no longer under the law, ...

Inferior, temporary, co-operating such is the distinctive nature of the Law. It had held Israel prisoner, till Christ should come. Or it resembled the slave who led a child to (Christ's) school (1 Corinthians 4:15 *). Now that Christ has appeared there is no room for a law-regime. Sonship, faith, a new humanity put on like a garment at baptism (Galatians 3:27; _cf._ Romans 13:14, and in a modified application, 1 Corinthians 15:53 f.), these are the privileges of Christians. Why be circumcised? Why Judaize? The new humanity is international no room now for Jewish superiority! And, while there is a blessing in bein