“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham.” Galatians 3:8
Paul reminds us that grace does not begin with the New
Testament. What God gave to Abraham was not the law but the promise of the
gospel.
According to Galatians, today‘s gospel is based upon the
gospel spoken to Abraham: our blessing is founded upon the blessing of Abraham;
the promise we have today is traced back to God’s promise to Abraham; and even
the Christ we receive is the seed of Abraham. Paul demonstrates to us that the
Old Testament and the New form a straight line.
To put it differently: God has not at one time given us
grace and at another time law; neither has he bestowed the promise and then demanded
work for a while. The grace we receive today is not something new, but is the
same grace which Abraham received. Thus the promise at first, the law in
between, and the finished work of Christ afterwards all fall into one straight
line.
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