Man of Faith

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

MAN OF FAITH

Gal 3:6-9

6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."   7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 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."   9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

NIV

Paul continues to argue against being justified through some form of works, as in the case needed to be circumcised in order to become a believer in Jesus. He uses Abraham as the prime example of being righteous through faith in God. All Abraham did was believe God. The situation over which Abraham was declared righteous because he believed God was regarding having a son from his own loins. He was already old and his wife was old beyond childbearing age. But although in the physical this could not happen, Abraham believed God. We know that it got a little messy because Abraham and Sarah tried to take in into their own hands with Hagar, but ultimately Abraham and Sarah had a son through a miraculous way. Because he believed God, it was accounted to him as righteousness. So then why would we think we need to do anything other than believing God? Paul makes it clear that we who would be considered Gentiles are children of Abraham simply because we believe God. We think it would be good to remember that God or as he is referred to by the Jews JHWH, changed Abram’s name Abraham and Sari’s name to Sarah. From our research, we have found one of the steps in making a covenant between people of the Old Testament times was taking on the name of the other person. This would have significance as a blood covenant so that anyone would know a person has a covenant brother who would avenge any harm to his blood covenant brother. With this covenant-making, each would cut his hand and hold the wounds together with bound hands. The wound would remain in the palm of the hand. So in meeting a stranger along the road a holding up of the hand or what we would now call a wave, or hail, revealed the wound in the palm and thus letting the stranger know they have a blood covenant brother. In addition, the name also was a part of each. This is one of the ways in which God added to Abram the Ha from the Middle H of God’s name, and the aH to Sari, again from the H from the middle of God's name, thus Both Abraham and Sarah now had a part of God’s name. Of course, the Hebrew letters have no vowels but we add them in the English translations. How interesting is that Jesus referred to himself as the Son of man and we have been given the right to be called children of God, or sons of God. This is again a blood covenant as we are rightfully sons of God by the blood of Jesus. All this is an act of the one true God and he has done it all. He did what he said to Abraham, and he has done what he said to us. We are saved by faith in Jesus, period, end of the story. The final result of what Paul is clearly making is because Abraham was blessed because he believed God, we too will be blessed because we have faith in Jesus. We will be known as a man of faith.