GALATIANS 3:6-9
Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Paul's answer to what he asks the Galatians in 3:2 (also 3:5) is obvious, because it is a rhetorical question, which is tantamount to an implicit assertion. Thus Paul asserts that the Galatians received the Spirit by believing what they heard, and not by observing the law. Now he offers an extended biblical and theological argument to show that "the promise of the Spirit" (3:14) is received by faith.

Boice suggests that the argument proceeds in an alternating fashion from 3:6 to as far as 4:7. The current passage (3:6-9) shows that Abraham was justified by faith, and that all who would be justified before God would follow the same pattern. The next passage (3:10-14) is a negative counterpart to this, showing that it is impossible for a person to be justified by observing the law. The other sections are 3:15-18, 3:19-22, 3:23-29, and 4:1-7, but we will not follow these divisions in our exposition.

There is much that we can derive from this passage, but the main point is simple and obvious, especially given our discussions on the previous passages. So that there is no need to repeat what I have said elsewhere, I assume that the reader already understands the idea of imputed righteousness, and the reference to Abraham illustrates it is in this sense that a person is justified before God through faith in Christ. Some of the points that Paul mentions here are presented in expanded form, or with more detailed explanations, in his letter to the Romans.

The Jews equated the descendants of Abraham with the children of God (John 8:31-47). It is likely the Judaizers had asserted that it was necessary for the Gentiles to become children of Abraham in order to be saved, and that in order to become the children of Abraham, it was necessary for them to receive circumcision, the physical seal of the covenant that God made with Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14). So it is possible that Paul now refers to the case of Abraham not only to construct a positive exposition of justification by faith, but also to counter the Judaizer's misuse of covenant history.

He first clarifies how Abraham was justified by appealing to Genesis 15:6, which says, "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." He does not use this to press his point at length in this letter, although he might have already expounded on it when he previously taught the Galatians, so that this serves as a reminder of something more extensive. In any case, it is sufficient to make his point – Scripture says that Abraham was righteous because of faith and not works.

When he appeals to the verse again in his letter to the Romans, he does expand on this point and reveals some of the reasoning behind his use of it. In light of our discussion, the main ideas in the following verses are obvious:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about – but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. (Romans 4:1-11a)

Here the appeal to Genesis 15:6 appears in verse 3, in answer to the question of "What does the Scripture say?" about the matter of what Abraham "discovered in this matter" of justification by law versus faith. He was not justified by his works (v. 2), but by faith (v. 3). Notice that this already parallels his use of Genesis 15:6 in the letter to the Galatians, for the bare text of the latter does not go further than this, although he does go further here in Romans.

The nature of this "faith" is clarified when the principle is expressed thus: "the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness" (v. 5). And the reason why God could justify the wicked in accord with his own justice is stated in verse 25: "[Christ] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

Verses 6-8 cite David's testimony concerning "the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works." Verse 9 asks, "Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?" – a question that is also considered in the letter to the Galatians. To answer this question, he reminds the readers of his earlier appeal to Genesis 15:6, and says, "We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness." And then he relates this verse from Genesis to the question of circumcision: "Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before?" (v. 10). The answer is, "It was not after, but before!"

This could explain Paul's reasoning behind his use of Genesis in Galatians 3:6. The rite of circumcision is instituted in Genesis 17:9-14, but by that time Abraham was already justified before God. And this justification, Scripture says, occurred through his faith in God's promise, that is, "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).

Therefore, Paul writes in verse 11, circumcision was for Abraham "a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised." He was righteous "by faith" and "while he was still uncircumcised." The circumcision was a sign and seal of it.

This deflates the Judaizers' argument, since Abraham himself was not justified according to the manner that they now impose upon the Galatians. The true children of Abraham are not his natural descendants, but those who follow the faith of Abraham, and in this manner of receiving justification, that is, by faith. As Jesus says, "If you were Abraham's children, then you would do the things Abraham did" (John 8:39). In accordance with this reasoning, Paul writes in verse 7, "Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham."

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