Spiritual Israel – Galatians 3:6-9

Topic: Spiritual Israel

Reading: Galatians 3:6-9

6 Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 7 So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And 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.” 9 So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.

Introduction and Overview

In the Old Testament we saw that all of the promises of God were made to the people of Israel. These promises cascaded down to the people from the promises made to their fathers. That is, Abraham to whom the promises were initially made. Then to Isaac, and finally to Jacob, who was renamed Israel by God and of whom the twelve tribes of Israel were named after the sons of Jacob.

But the promises of God to Abraham expanded beyond just the twelve tribes of Israel. Those promises enabled all nations to receive the blessings of God by faith. And through faith, everyone who believed God as Abraham did, became children of God and through faith became children of Abraham.

Through the promises to Abraham all nations could come to God by faith. When they exhibited the same faith in God as Abraham had, God declared them His children and children of Abraham, and thus spiritual Israel is formed.

To be part of spiritual Israel is based upon faith. Believing what God has done is the key to entering into spiritual Israel and becoming a child of Abraham. These scriptures today in Galatians 3:6-9 give us a brief insight into the formation of spiritual Israel through faith. Later in Galatians we see even more details will emerge.

Key points from reading:

1. Entry into spiritual Israel and becoming children of Abraham is achieved through faith and believing God.
2. This promise is to all nations so that it is not only the Jews who can receive the promises of God, but the Gentiles also.
3. The offer of entering into spiritual Israel and becoming God’s people was prophesied long before it happened as it is available to all people now in Christ Jesus.

Discussion:

1. Scripture: Galatians 3:6
   • In this verse we see the original statement of faith that set Abraham apart from other people in his time. Abraham believed God. God came ot Abraham and told him that he would become the father of many nations. He was told that his descendants would be as the sand of the sea: Innumerable.
   • But this promise to Abraham was to come through his wife Sarah. She would bear a child through whom the generations of Abraham’s children would be born. And that presented a problem. Sarah was barren, unable to conceive due to some physical issue, and she was about ninety years old and well past the time of menopause. It was physically impossible for many reasons that she could fall pregnant and have a child. And Abraham was given this impossible thing to believe.
   • Despite the impossibilities in this situation, the scripture tells us that Abraham believed God. And because he believed what God had spoken, despite the impossible nature of the promise, God reckoned Abraham to be righteous. It was his faith in God through which he was declared righteous.
   • This same promise of righteousness by faith is made to us today. We too are given something that seems impossible to believe. We are instructed to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, which is impossible for any man to do. But when we believe that Jesus was resurrected by God, then we too are reckoned righteous by God. It is through our faith, believing in the power of God to bring life to the dead, that we become His children, children of Abraham, and sons and daughters of spiritual Israel.
2. Scripture: Galatians 3:7
   • This verse states it quite clearly. It is the people of faith who are the sons and daughters of Abraham. When we believe in God as Abraham did, then we become his children and are part of spiritual Israel.
   • Physical descent is of no consequence to God. He is not interested in the flesh of mankind and He has consigned the flesh to decay, sin, and death. But the spirits of people are what God seeks to be made righteous. As the scripture says:
     
     It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63)
     
   • God is interested in our spirits. The work of the New Covenant is to transform our spirits to be like Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit in us is to bring this change into effect so that our spirits are aligned with the will of God. This begins with faith in the power of God to be made righteous as He is righteous. And when we exhibit the same unshakeable faith as Abraham held, we are declared righteous, we become His children and are part of spiritual Israel.
3. Scripture: Galatians 3:8
   • True Israel was never about the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was always intended to include all nations because we are all part of God’s Creation. He favoured the nation of Israel for a time and for the sake of His promises to Abraham, but even before Isaac was conceived it was told that in Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3).
   • Then again when Isaac was born and Abraham was told by the Lord to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, this blessing to all nations was reiterated, as these words tell us.
     
     “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:16-18 ESV)
     
   • And it is important that we note the word “offspring” in verse 18 above. Paul makes the point later in Galatians 3:16 that this was a reference to one offspring. It was not to all of Abraham’s descendants, but this promise meant that through one offspring would all the nations be blessed. And Paul make it clear that this one offspring was Jesus Christ, who in a physical sense was descended from Abraham, but spiritually was also a son of Abraham through His faith.
   • We are those people who are blessed in the one offspring of Abraham, Jesus Christ. When we hold to the faith in God like Abraham did, then we too receive the blessings of God. We are declared righteous by faith and we become part of spiritual Israel with all of the blessings God promised to Abraham and His people.
4. Scripture: Galatians 3:9
   • In this last verse today we see that that Paul summarises this whole situation. It is people of faith who are the true descendants of Abraham, and therefore children of spiritual Israel.
   • Faith is the key to ALL of the promises of God. It is by faith that we receive God’s promises of salvation and eternal life. It is only by faith that we can come into His presence and become children of spiritual Israel. There is no other way to come to God except by faith.
   • And the faith we are called to receive is faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the offspring of Abraham to whom all of the promises were made. And it is through faith in Jesus Christ that we too receive these same promises. When we enter into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through baptism, we receive His life in us. We receive the power to become the children of God, and by so doing we enter into the nation of spiritual Israel. And it is the children of spiritual Israel, regardless of their physical and fleshly genealogy, who will be saved into the eternal kingdom that God has promised through faith.

Prayer Points

1. Pray for faith like Abraham that is powerful and unshakeable.
2. Seek the fulness of the truth that your faith may be strong and grow stronger, as the scripture tells us that faith grows through knowledge.
3. Thank the Lord God that He has given yo the opportunity to enter into spiritual Israel through faith in Jesus Christ, so that you can receive all of His promises.