GALATIANS (11): The Justification of Abraham (Galatians 3:5-9)

After showing that salvation by works contradicts the finished work of the Cross (v1), as well as the Galatians' own experience (v2-5), Paul then also proves from the life of father Abraham that salvation must be by faith, and not works. Paul points out that God preached the Gospel to Abraham, declaring that through the coming Messiah (Abraham's seed), all the nations (gentiles) would be justified and blessed with salvation by faith (Genesis 12:3). This promise of salvation was based on God's grace through the Messiah, not on works. Moreover, Abraham himself was justified by faith in Genesis 15: “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (v6). So those who are justified by faith are the spiritual sons of Abraham. Thus salvation by works contradicts God's revelation through Abraham. However, Genesis 15 seems to imply that Abraham was justified by faith through believing that God would give him many children, but saving faith involves faith in the Messiah. We consider the amazing possibility, that God put the Gospel (the Message of the Messiah) in the stars, so that when God showed him the stars, He was preaching the Gospel to Abraham, with the conclusion: "So shall your Seed (the Messiah) be" (v5). Thus Abraham was justified through His faith in the Messiah, just as we are. We look at other Scriptures that support this idea, and point out that astrology is the devil's counterfeit of this original Divine Revelation. Once man possessed the written Word of God, the Gospel story in the Heavens was no longer necessary, and so faded out of use.