The Promise
Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary
Scripture Text: Galatians 3:7 and Genesis 15:1–6
Series: Comments on Galatians
Abraham believed the impossible of God. God said he would do it, and I believe it! Now just imagine that Abraham, somehow, had not been given Isaac but that he still believed the promised until the day he died. His faith in God would be counted as righteousness. Further imagine that you too, these thousands of years later, believe that promise given to Abraham. Your faith in the promised child makes you righteous before God. You are a child of Abraham though surely not of his physical lineage. You are now, by faith, in the spiritual lineage of Abraham. You are his seed and offspring merely by faith in the promised child.
And who is this promised child? Is it Isaac or any of the countless other physical offspring of Abraham? No. The blessed offspring promised is none other than the Anointed, the Messiah, Christ Jesus the Lord. He is the promise we believe and so, though Gentile or Jew, are accounted righteous through our faith in him. The children of the promise are not Jews but those who believe in the Promise.
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Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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