Today’s sermon audio can be found on Castbox at 175 “Abraham Believed God” Galatians 3:6-9. This post contains my sermon notes but it is not a manuscript.

Our first reading for September 13th was Genesis 12:1-3 and 15:1-6. Our text for September 13th was Galatians 3:6-9. We read the verses from Genesis because Paul quoted from them in our text. Last week we had treated verse 5 as a complete question. Today we read verse 6 as an assertion that starts the next paragraph. The ESV translation of verse 6 seems awkward if it is read as a free-standing sentence so I have substituted ‘So also’ for ‘Just as’.

Today's Text

6Just asSo also Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”. 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.

Galatians 3:6-9, ESV

Sermon Outline

"Abraham Believed God" Galatians 3:6-9

  1. The Flow of Paul’s Argument
  2. So also Abraham (3:6)
  3. Sons and Daughters of Abraham (3:7)
  4. God Preached the Gospel Beforehand to Abraham (3:8)
  5. Believers Are Blessed along with Abraham (3:9)
  6. What We Believe

Scripture References: Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 15:1-6; Galatians 3:6-9;

1. The Flow of Paul's Argument

1After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:1-6, ESV

1Now 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. 2And 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. 3I 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, ESV

1.1 The Historical Argument

Paul ends Galatians 2 with his theological confrontation of Peter. Paul started to shift to a greater theological emphasis at the end of the historical section of the letter (Galatians 2:11-21). His confrontation with Peter required a theological emphasis because Peter and the others ‘acted hypocritically’ (2:13). ‘Their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel’ (2:14). Crucially, both Peter and Paul and every other truly saved believer is ‘justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law’ (2:16). Paul had to confront Peter with the gospel. We must admit that the gospel is doctrine; the gospel is theology.

1.2 The Experiential Aspect of the Theological Argument

Paul then begins Galatians 3 by appealing to the experiences of the Galatian believers. As we said last week we need to be careful about experience. The Bible must control our understanding of our experiences instead of vice versa. In 3:1-5 Paul reminds the Galatians of their conversions and subsequent lives in Christ by means of questions.

Paul had preached the gospel in the Galatian cities. The Galatians had heard [the gospel] with faith (3:2, 5). And they had received the Spirit which confirmed that they were saved by God (3:2, 3, 5).

1.3 The Scriptural Aspect of the Theological Argument

Now in today’s text Paul appeals to Scripture. This appeal to Scripture is what we expect from Paul’s theological argument because the Bible ought to be the basis of our theological reasoning. Of course, we also expect that our experiences will align with what Scripture teaches. In Galatians 3:6-9 Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 first (in Galatians 3:6) and then and he quotes Genesis 12:3 in Galatians 3:8.

1.4 Why Abraham?

Paul probably resorts to Genesis and Abraham because his opponents had done so. The opponents may have emphasized the circumcision of Abraham which comes later in Genesis (see 17:9-14). They may also have emphasized Abraham’s behavior and faith together as the means of salvation unlike Paul who forcefully asserts that faith is the only means of salvation. Of course, we acknowledge that Abraham is inherently a valuable witness to salvation through faith alone.

1.5 Why Genesis 15:6 First?

Paul chooses to begin with a quotation of Genesis 15:6 even though Genesis 12:3 is also pertinent to his argument. Paul does so because the former verse contains the very assertion that he is proving. There are some scholars who don’t think Moses was writing about salvation1. But the word ‘righteousness’ in Genesis 15:6 assuredly refers to salvation. And of course Paul is telling us that the verse is about Abraham’s salvation.

By what means was Abraham reckoned as righteous? Through his faith. ‘Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”’.

1.6 The Flow of Galatians 3:6-9

In verse 6 Paul begins this part of his argument (3:6-9) by quoting Moses on Abraham’s faith at Genesis 15:6. God had just promised Abraham his ‘very own son’ (15:4) and descendants uncountable (15:5). That is what Abraham believed according to the immediate context in Genesis 15:1-6. In verse 7 Paul reminds his Gentile readers that as true believers they are true sons and daughters of Abraham. In verse 8 Paul gets to his second quotation from Genesis (12:3). God had already (back in Genesis 12) ‘preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham’. God had done so by saying to Abraham ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed’. The Scripture had predicted that ‘God would justify the Gentiles by faith’. In verse 9 Paul reasons from verses 6-8 that all believing people (those who are of faith) ‘are blessed along with’ believing Abraham.

2. So also Abraham (3:6)

6Just asSo also Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”. 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.

Galatians 3:6-9, ESV

In verse 6 Paul begins this part of his argument (3:6-9) by quoting Moses on Abraham’s faith at Genesis 15:6. God had just promised Abraham his ‘very own son’ (15:4) and descendants uncountable (15:5). That is what Abraham believed according to the immediate context in Genesis 15:1-6.

Paul starts verse 6 with an adverb that the ESV translates as ‘Just as’. Since we have chosen to regard verse 6 as a separate assertion I have substituted ‘So also’. The adverb modifies Abraham’s action (‘Abraham believed God’). The adverb correlates the action of the Galatians with the action of Abraham in such a way as to convey that Abraham is the examplar of the saving faith God has also given to the Galatians. The Galatians had heard [the gospel] with faith (3:2, 5). Abraham had ‘believed God’ (3:6).

‘Abraham believed God’. Abraham exercised the same kind of faith that we do. We use the acronym KAT to remind ourselves that personal, saving faith includes Knowledge, Agreement, and Trust.

The clause ‘and it was counted to him as righteousness’ speaks to imputation of righteousness by God to us. This righteousness is not earned; it is not inherent; it is not intrinsic. Instead it is a gift; it is an alien righteousness; it is Christ’s righteousness. When God imputes this righteousness to us we are declared to be right with God.

3. Sons and Daughters of Abraham (3:7)

In verse 7 Paul reminds his Gentile readers that as true believers they are true sons and daughters of Abraham. It seems likely that Paul’s opponents in Galatia claimed that only Jewish people were true sons and daughters of Abraham. Based on that false claim the opponents pressured the Gentile Galatians to become Jewish by circumcision and so forth. Paul reasoned from Genesis that it was only by means of faith like Abraham’s that one became a son or daughter of Abraham.

4. God Preached the Gospel Beforehand to Abraham (3:8)

6Just asSo also Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”. 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.

Galatians 3:6-9, ESV

In verse 8 Paul gets to his second quotation from Genesis (12:3). God had already (back in Genesis 12) ‘preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham’. God had done so by saying to Abraham ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed’. The Scripture had predicted that ‘God would justify the Gentiles by faith’. And Paul wrote that the Scripture ‘preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham’. I have substituted God for the Scripture in my heading because Paul uses the two words more or less interchangeably here.

If we consider Genesis 12:3 in isolation without considering Genesis 15:6 we will not necessarily understand it as Paul did. But we must give priority to Genesis 15:6 because Paul did. Genesis 12:3 on its own tells us what God would do; God would bless all of the nations’. Paul elaborates on that by asserting what was meant by this blessing; ‘God would justify the Gentiles by faith’. Paul knows this further assertion by taking Genesis 15:6 as the key principle for his analysis.

So in Genesis 12 God preaches the gospel to Abraham. And in Genesis 15 Abraham believes God. The two passages are intrinsically related because it is Abraham’s very own son Isaac (Genesis 15:4) who represents the Messiah to come. And it is the Messiah through whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

5. Believers Are Blessed along with Abraham (3:9)

In verse 9 Paul reasons from verses 6-8 that all believing people (those who are of faith) ‘are blessed along with’ believing Abraham. We can see by inference that in verse 8 Paul has equated being justified with being blessed. In verse 9 Paul makes that inference explicit for us. Anyone who savingly believes (anyone who is of faith) will be blessed just as Abraham was. The phrase the man of faith translates a single adjective. So the verse could be translated ‘So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with believing Abraham

6. What We Believe

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:15, ESV

We believe God just like Abraham believed God. However, what we believe goes beyond what Abraham knew. Abraham had heard the gospel in Genesis 12:3. There was a blessing coming to all people through his great nation. Then in Genesis 15:4 Abraham learned that he would after all have a son. But Abraham knew very little about this son. Still he believed God and God counted it to him as righteousness.

Our first parents had also heard the proto-gospel in Genesis 3:15. But we have the entire Bible including the New Testament that makes everything we need to know for salvation plain to us. Paul’s summary of the core of the gospel is a good place to start.

The Gospel

3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

1 Corinthians 15:3-10, ESV

Footnotes

© 2026 Christian Life Church.

  1. Douglas Moo, Galatians, BEC, 2013, kp 318, cites Old Testament scholar John Walton to this effect. ↩