Joel M Bradshaw

7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith…

… 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.–Galatians 3

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

1. The simple way to understand God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 was that he would be given a physical lineage and this promise would pertain to them by genetics.
2. Therefore, according to this, the Jewish people are particularly blessed by God.
3. But remember Paul’s tension in Galatians: flesh vs Spirit.
4. Paul proclaimed a new way to understand God’s promise to Abraham. That the blessing would be based upon a lineage of faith in Christ.
5. According to Paul, a Gentile who believes in Jesus is considered an Abraham’s descendant and an heir to the Genesis 12 blessing.
6. To Paul, the chosen people are not about lineage, but by faith in Christ. Genetic and social categories no longer divide when unity is in Christ.
7. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. The chosen people of the promise are those who belong to Christ. According to Paul, to belong to Jesus is more important than to belong to Abraham.–JMB