Gal 3:6-9 - Abraham heard the gospel

This post has been a long time coming. but I did get other posts up including my short, medium, and long definitions of the gospel. I'm sure these definitions will be altered by the time this blog covers the use of the 'gospel' noun and verb in the New Testament, but they will work for now. I've decided to leave some assessments of the texts I look at open for additions from you. This text is a good example.

I've skipped over a large section of Galatians since the last time we delved in because there is no use of the 'gospel' verb or noun and the main concept of that section was covered in the post, "Galatians and gospel logic."

There are plenty of passages that directly speak about how the gospel was promised beforehand and this is one of them. Here's the interesting part: It has to do with being descendents of Abraham and fulfilling that promise of God to make a people for himself. Here's the text, Gal 3:6-9 (NRSV):

6 Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’,⁷so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham.⁸And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.’⁹For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.

 The verb, 'gospelled before' is in verse 8 and is the single occurrence of the modified 'gospelled' verb (essentially adding a prefix making it past-tense).  It refers to the gospel having been told to Abraham. The gospel that was declared was that all nations would be blessed in him. All who believe (Jews and Gentiles alike) are descendents of Abraham and therefore blessed with him. It seems to me that the text is saying that when we have faith in the gospel we are blessed because we are brought into Abraham's family.

As this is the 2nd last occurrence of the word in Galatians, I should also touch on how its seems that Paul is saying the 'promise' or 'blessing' or 'inheritance'  is the Holy Spirit himself (3:14) who we live by leading to eternal life (6:8-9). Paul again reiterates, after his long explanation about how it is only through faith in Jesus and what he has done, that we are Abraham's descendents (3:29).

Why do you think this is such an important point for Paul?
How does it change how we view the gospel?
Do you think I need to integrate this more into my definitions? How?

Leave a comment. Please share below. Thanks for reading.

Galatians and gospel logic

Since I put up the page from my book on the gospel yesterday, which starts by looking at Paul's letter to the Galatians, I will start going through that book's use of the word 'gospel' first.

In the meantime, I mentioned in an earlier post that the number of people holding to a group 'C' view of the gospel (neither Justification by faith or Justice of the the Kingdom, but the saving story of Jesus himself). Well, I'm finding even more examples of this! Peter Enns' post alerted me to something David Williams wrote on gospel logic in Galatians. While he also touches on what I wrote in Group 'C' and the 3rd 'J' his main point is that Paul is not telling the Galatian church what the gospel is, but how they have misapplied it and misunderstood its logical effects in relation to ethnic Israel, the law, and circumcision.

The primary point Williams drives home is that their actions are denying the change the gospel brings regarding the rituals of the Law (Torah/Law of Moses) having lost their governing function over God's people.

This is the logic of the gospel:

If the Messiah was crucified, then the Torah is no longer binding for the Messiah’s people.

The Messiah was crucified (the gospel).

Therefore, the Torah is no longer binding for the Messiah’s people.

 But the Galatians' actions say they believe this:

 If the Messiah was crucified, then the Torah is no longer binding for the Messiah’s people.

It is not the case that the Torah is no longer binding for the Messiah’s people (hence, that is why we’re being circumcised).

Therefore, the Messiah was not crucified (perversion of the gospel).

The thrust of this argument from Paul can be found in 2:21b-3:1.

The more I read Galatians the more I see the interesting parallel to Romans, which has convinced me that Romans is also about Jew and Gentile being one people in the Messiah.

Any thoughts on this?