Galatians 3:9

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. THEY - and they alone. OF FAITH - (note, .) WITH - together with. As "IN" regards Abraham as the spiritual father in whom, so "with" regards him as one with whom all believers shall be blessed (). FAITHFUL - the point in which they are 'blessed together with him'-namely, faith, his prominent characteristic, of which the result is justification....

9._Faithful Abraham_. This expression is very emphatic. They _are blessed_, not with Abraham as circumcised, nor as entitled to boast of the works of the law, nor as a Hebrew, nor as relying on his own excellence, but with Abraham, who by faith alone obtained the blessing; for no personal quality is here taken into the account, but faith alone. The word Blessing is variously employed in Scripture: but here it signifies Adoption into the inheritance of eternal life....

6-14 The apostle proves the doctrine he had blamed the Galatians for rejecting; namely, that of justification by faith without the works of the law. This he does from the example of Abraham, whose faith fastened upon the word and promise of God, and upon his believing he was owned and accepted of God as a righteous man. The Scripture is said to foresee, because the Holy Spirit that indited the Scripture did foresee. Through faith in the promise of God he was blessed; and it is only in the same way that others obtain this privilege. Let us then study the object, nature, and effects of Abraham's faith; for who can in any other way escape the curse of the holy law? The curse is against all sinners, therefore against all men; for all have sinned, and are become guilty before God: and if, as transgressors of the law, we are under its curse, it must be vain to look for justification by it. Th...

Verse 9. _THEY WHICH BE OF FAITH_] All who believe, as Abraham has believed, are made partakers of Abraham's blessings....

SO THEN THEY WHICH BE OF FAITH - They whose leading characteristic it is that they believe. This was the leading trait in the character of Abraham, and this is the leading thing required of those who embrace the gospel, and in the character of a true Christian. ARE BLESSED WITH FAITHFUL ABRAHAM - In the same manner they are interested in the promises made to him, and they will be treated as he was. They are justified in the same manner, and admitted to the same privileges on earth and in heaven....

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

SO THEN THEY WHICH BE OF FAITH,.... This is the apostle's conclusion upon the whole, from the instance of Abraham, and, the promise made to him; and is an explanation of the preceding clause, and shows that it must be taken in a limited sense, and understood not of every individual; only of those who are of the same faith with Abraham, are believers in Christ, and seek for justification by faith in him, and not by the works of the law: THESE ARE BLESSED WITH FAITHFUL ABRAHAM; in his seed Christ; they are blessed with a justifying righteousness in Christ as he was, and will be blessed with eternal life as he is; they shall sit with him, and with Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. The character of "faithful" given to him, respects not his uprightness and integrity among men, but his faith in God; and does not suppose that he was blessed for his faith, but that it was through faith...

Paul, writing, to those changeable Galatians, who had so soon deserted the faith, says to them in this chapter Galatians 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._ Paul does not compliment them on being a very «thoughtful,» «educated» «cultured» people; he does not care an atom about that matter, but because they had forsaken the simple truth of the gospel, he says, «O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?» Those are hard words, Paul! Why did he not say, «Who has led you forward into more advanced views?» Not he; he calls it witchery, the work of the devil, and it is nothing better; and the wisdom of it is no better than the trickery of some old witch. If you take your eyes off Christ, it must be witchcraft that makes you do it. There is

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, ...

GALATIANS 3:1 TO GALATIANS 5:12. DOCTRINAL SECTION. PAUL SETS THE CHOICE BEFORE THEM CHRIST OR THE LAW AND ARGUES FOR ITS URGENCY. Galatians 3:1. It was a strange folly which could lead them to forget the picture, so plainly shown them, of the suffering Saviour. (1) Their own experience had been of the Spirit, as (_a)_ the source of ecstatic prayer (Galatians 4:6), in which the sacred scrap of Aramaic speech (Mark 14:36) once used by Jesus was employed throughout the early Christian world (_cf._...