Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham.
Parallel Translations
-
Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham.
-
Vnderstonde therfore that they which are of fayth the same are the chyldren of Abraham.
-
Knowe ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Galatians 3:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 3:9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.
- Romans 9:7-8 Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.
- Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
- Psalms 100:3 Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
- Romans 4:24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,
- John 8:39 They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
- Luke 19:9 Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.
- Romans 4:11-16 He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision. For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect. For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience. For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Martin Luther 1535 · Public Domain VERSE 7. Know ye therefore that they which are…
VERSE 7. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
This is the main point of Paul’s argument against the Jews: The children of Abraham are those who believe and not those who are born of Abraham’s flesh and blood. This point Paul drives home with all his might because the Jews attached saving value to the genealogical fact: "We are the seed and children of Abraham."
Read full note →
Let us begin with Abraham and learn how this friend of God was justified and saved. Not because he left his country, his relatives, his father’s house; not because he was circumcised; not because he stood ready to sacrifice his own son Isaac in whom he had the promise of posterity. Abraham was justified because he believed. Paul’s argumentation runs like this: "Since this is the unmistakable testimony of Holy Writ, why do you take your stand upon circumcision and the Law? Was not Abraham, your father, of whom you make so much, justified and saved without circumcision and the Law by faith alone?" Paul therefore concludes: "They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham."
Abraham was the father of the faithful. In order to be a child of the believing Abraham you must believe as he did. Otherwise you are merely the physical offspring of the procreating Abraham, i.e., you were conceived and born in sin unto wrath and condemnation.
Ishmael and Isaac were both the natural children of Abraham. By rights Ishmael should have enjoyed the prerogatives of the firstborn, if physical generation had any special value. Nevertheless he was left out in the cold while Isaac was called. This goes to prove that the children of faith are the real children of Abraham.
Some find fault with Paul for applying the term "faith" in Gen 15:6 to Christ. They think Paul’s use of the term too wide and general. They think its meaning should be restricted to the context. They claim Abraham’s faith had no more in it than a belief in the promise of God that he should have seed.
We reply: Faith presupposes the assurance of God’s mercy. This assurance takes in the confidence that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Never will the conscience trust in God unless it can be sure of God’s mercy and promises in Christ. Now all the promises of God lead back to the first promise concerning Christ: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The faith of the fathers in the Old Testament era, and our faith in the New Testament are one and the same faith in Christ Jesus, although times and conditions may differ. Peter acknowledged this in the words: "Which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." (Act 10:1-11.) And Paul writes: "And did all drink the spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." (1Co 10:4.) And Christ Himself declared: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad." (Joh 8:56.) The faith of the fathers was directed at the Christ who was to come, while ours rests in the Christ who has come. Time does not change the object of true faith, or the Holy Spirit. There has always been and always will be one mind, one impression, one faith concerning Christ among true believers whether they live in times past, now, or in times to come. We too believe in the Christ to come as the fathers did in the Old Testament, for we look for Christ to come again on the last day to judge the quick and the dead.
VERSE 7. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Paul is saying: "You know from the example of Abraham and from the plain testimony of the Scriptures that they are the children of Abraham, who have faith in Christ, regardless of their nationality, regardless of the Law, regardless of works, regardless of their parentage. The promise was made unto Abraham, ’Thou shalt be a father of many nations’; again, ’And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."’ To prevent the Jews from misinterpreting the word "nations," the Scriptures are careful to say "many nations." The true children of Abraham are the believers in Christ from all nations.
Martin Luther — Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), English translation by Theodore Graebner (Zondervan, 1939) — public domain (U.S. copyright not renewed). Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7. Know ye therefore, or, ye know; for both…
7. Know ye therefore, or, ye know; for both readings are equally agreeable to the Greek termination γινώσκετε. But it matters little which is preferred, for the meaning is the same, only that the old translation, (know ye,) which I have followed, is more energetic. He says that those “are of faith,” who have relinquished all confidence in works, and rely on the promise of God alone. It is on the authority of Paul himself that we give this interpretation; for in the Epistle to the Romans he thus writes:
“To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:4,5.)
Read full note →
To be of faith, therefore, is to rest their righteousness and hope of salvation on the mercy of God. That such are the children of God he concludes from the preceding statement; for if Abraham was justified by faith those who wish to be his children must likewise abide firmly by faith. He has omitted one remark, which will be readily supplied, that there is no place in the church for any man who is not a son of Abraham.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The second, that the sons of Abraham must be…
The second, that the sons of Abraham must be esteemed and accounted of by faith.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of…
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Ver. 7. The same are children, &c.] And heirs together with him of the world, Rom 4:14, which is theirs in right, though detained a while from them by the Amorites, till their sins be full.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain They which are of faith; those who are believers,…
They which are of faith; those who are believers, and receive Jesus Christ, as exhibited and tendered to them in the gospel, trusting not to any righteousness of their own, arising from their obedience to the works of the law; they
are the children of Abraham, considered as the father of the faithful, that is, they are justified as Abraham was justified; who was justified, not by his circumcision, but upon his believing in Christ exhibited to him in the promise; not by working, but by imputation. This argument came very close to the Jews, whose great glorying was in having Abraham to their father; for it is in effect a saying, that they were no true children of Abraham, none of that seed to whom the promise was made, if they expected justification from the works of the law, which Abraham never had nor expected.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Know ye therefore,.... Or "ye know"; this is a…
Know ye therefore,.... Or "ye know"; this is a thing known by you, at least may, or should be; it ought not to be contradicted or disputed, it is so plain a case, and so clear a point:
that they which are of faith; of the faith of Abraham, as in Rom 4:16 have the same faith as he had, for nature and kind; though it may not be to the same degree, yet exercised on the same object, Jehovah the Word, the Lord our righteousness, and wrought by the same Spirit; or who are of the faith of Christ, believers in him with all their hearts, and for themselves; who look to him for righteousness and life, who seek for justification by his righteousness, and trust in him alone for it, and not in the works of the law:
Read full note →
the same are the children of Abraham; his spiritual seed, though they may not be his natural offspring; for he is the father of all that believe, whether of the circumcision or the uncircumcision, and of none else in a spiritual sense: in this the apostle strikes at the false teachers, who boasted of their being the seed of Abraham, his natural descendants, which they might be, and yet not his spiritual children; for none are such, but they that are of faith, or seek for righteousness by faith; not they that are of the law, or seek for justification by the works of it, and so not heirs of the blessing; were they, faith would be made void, and the promise of none effect, Rom 5:14 and his view herein is to prove, that the Gentiles, who believe, are the true seed of Abraham, the children of the promise, those in many nations, he was promised to be the father of; and his further view is to observe, that as the father of the faithful was justified, so are all his children; and that as he was justified by faith, so are they.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Know then that they who are partakers of his…
Know then that they who are partakers of his faith, these, and these only, are the sons of Abraham, and therefore heirs of the promises made to him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Know ye therefore ... - Learn from this case.…
Know ye therefore ... - Learn from this case. It is an inference which follows, that all they who believe are the children of Abraham.
They which are of faith - Who believe, and who are justified in this manner.
Read full note →
Are the children of Abraham - Abraham was the “father of the faithful.” The most remarkable trait in his character was his unwavering confidence in God. They who evinced the same trait, therefore were worthy to be called his children. They would be justified in the same way, and in the same manner meet the approbation of God. It is implied here, that it was sufficient for salvation to have a character which would render it proper to say that we are the children of Abraham. If we are like him, if we evince the same spirit and character, we may be sure of salvation.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain they which are of faith--as the source and starting-point…
they which are of faith--as the source and starting-point of their spiritual life. The same phrase is in the Greek of Rom 3:26.
the same--these, and these alone, to the exclusion of all the other descendants of Abraham.
Read full note →
children--Greek, "sons" (Gal 3:29).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. Know ye—The Greek verb may be either the…
7. Know ye—The Greek verb may be either the imperative or the indicative, but the former suits more the imperative style of the whole passage. Be ye well assured that faith makes you truer sons of Abraham than birth or circumcision.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. Know ye] Better indic. ‘Ye know then’. So…
7. Know ye] Better indic. ‘Ye know then’. So in Php_4:15, where the punctuation in some copies of A.V. perverts the sense.
they which are of faith] This form of expression is common in Classical Greek. It means, ‘they who come from, and so belong to’; especially of persons who range themselves as members of a party or adherents of a cause. The antithesis to ‘those who are of faith’ is ‘those who are of the Law’, Rom_2:8, or ‘of the works of the Law’, Gal_3:10.
Read full note →
the same] Rather, these, and none others.
the children of Abraham] This was the boast of the Jews, “We have Abraham to our father”, Joh_8:39 : comp. Mat_3:9. St Paul here adopts the same argument which our Lord used, “If ye were the children of Abraham, ye would do the works of Abraham’. He exercised faith in the word and promise of God. They alone ‘who have obtained like precious faith’ are the true sons of Abraham.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) The main point of the Apostle’s argument in…
(7) The main point of the Apostle’s argument in the present passage is the superiority of faith over the Law. He has, however, also in view the ulterior consequences of that superiority. Unlike the Law, faith is open to all Gentiles as well as Jews. The promise, therefore, being annexed to faith, contained the death-blow of all those exclusive privileges which the Judaising party in Galatia claimed for themselves, and of all those burdensome regulations which they were for imposing upon the Galatian Christians. This, too, the Apostle brings out by showing that the believers in Christ, whatever their nationality, are the true spiritual descendants of Abraham.
Know ye.—The verb here may either be in the indicative or in the imperative: “know ye,” or “ye know.” Perhaps, on the whole, the imperative, as in the Authorised version, is best.
Read full note →
They which are of faith.—Those whose principles of action are derived from faith; those whose master-motive is faith.
Children of Abraham.—This idea of a spiritual descent from Abraham is found also in Rom_4:11-12; Rom_4:16; Rom_9:6-8.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Know ye therefore (ginwskete ara); or, ye perceive then.
Know ye therefore (ginwskete ara); or, ye perceive then.
Critics are divided between the two renderings, the imperative and the indicative, both here and Mat_24:43; 1Jn_2:29. In Luk_10:11 and skete Heb_13:23 ginw is certainly imperative. The categorical imperative seems of the two the more suited to the apostle"s impetuous temperament. The verb ginwskw, like the Latin nosco, properly denotes "to come to know," "learn," "perceive," "get apprised;" egnwka or egnwn, like now, having more properly the sense of "knowing." But this distinction does not always hold, as e.g. Rom_7:1. That they which are of faith (oti oiJ ejk pistewv); that the men of faith; that is, who derive their position from faith, belong to faith, are above all things characterized by faith. Compare the expressions, toiv ejx ejriqeiav, "the men of factiousness, i.e. "factions men"; (Rom_2:8) tostewv jIhsou, "the man of faith in Jesus," taking his stand thereupon. (Rom_3:26) Closely affine to this usage of the preposition, if not quite the same, is, oJ w ejk thv ajlhqeiav, "that is of the truth"; (Joh_18:37) oiJ ejk nomou, "they which are of the Law"; (Rom_4:14) osoi ejx ergwn nomou eijsin, (ver. 10 of this chapter). The same are the children of Abraham (outoi eijsin uiJoim); these are sons of Abraham. The form of expression is precisely the same as in Rom_8:14, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God (outoi) eijsin uiJoi) these are sons of God." In both cases the absence of the article before viol suggests the feeling that the apostle is simply stating a predicate of the class before defined, but not now affirming that this predicate is confined to that class, although, again in each case, he knew that it was so confined. Just here, what he is concerned to affirm is that the possession of faith is a complete and sufficient qualification for sonship to Abraham. There is, perhaps, a polemical reference to the teaching of certain in Galatia, that, to be sons of Abraham or interested in God"s covenant with his people, it behoved men to be circumcised and to observe the ceremonial Law. This error would be satisfactorily met by the affirmation of the present verse, that the being believers, simply this, constitutes men sons of Abraham. In the tenth verse the apostle goes further, aggressively denying to those who "were of the works of the Law" the possession at all of Abrahamic privilege. The class, "men of faith," did in fact include Jewish believers as well as Gentile; but just hero, as seems probable from what is said in the next verse, the apostle has in view Gentile believers only. The writer"s thoughts are hovering round that promise of God ("So shall thy seed be") which had been on that particular occasion the object of Abraham"s faith. That this was the case we may infer from his citation of the words in Rom_4:18, the explanation of which had been prepared for by him in what he has said before in ver. 16, "To the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed: not to that only which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." It was this that led him to speak of being sons of Abraham. This train of thought is pursued further in the next two verses.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain They which are of faith, the same are the…
Gal_3:7
They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Read full note →
The children of Abraham
By grace all believers are such.
I. By imitation: in that Abraham is set forth as a pattern in the steps of whose faith believers walk.
II. By succession: in that they succeed him in the same blessing.
III. By a kind of spiritual generation: in that Abraham by believing the promise of a seed did after a sort beget them and receive them as his children (Rom_9:8). Here then is the true mark of a child of Abraham: to be of his faith.
1. The Jews are not his children though descended of Isaac, because they follow not the faith of Abraham.
2. Nor the Papists, in spite of their antiquity and numbers, unless they are of his faith.
3. Nor the mere professors of that faith (Mat_7:22). To be children of Abraham we must--
(1) Have knowledge of the promises touching the blessing of God in Christ.
(2) Believe the power and truth of God to accomplish those promises.
(3) Faithfully follow God in all things. (W. Perkins.)
The example faithful Abraham
I. The particulars of this example. In his faith in Gods promise, he considered--
1. The terms of the promise.
2. The attributes of Him who made it.
II. The duty of imitating this example.
1. We must, like Abraham, think of--
(1) The object.
(2) The promise.
(3) The promiser.
2. Our faith, like his, must be--
(1) Simple.
(2) Single.
III. The benefit of such an example. (T. Dale, M. A.)
Children of Abraham--Spiritual kinship
To be the children of a person, in a figurative sense, is equivalent to, to resemble him, and to be involved in his fate, good or bad. The idea is, similarity both in character and circumstances. To be the children of God, is to be like God and also, as the apostle states it to be, heirs of God. To be the children of Abraham, is here to resemble Abraham, to imitate his conduct, and to share in his blessedness (Joh_8:39; 1Jn_2:29; 1Jn_3:1; 1Jn_3:8-9). It is as if the apostle had said, These Judaising teachers talk much of the glory and advantage of being children of Abraham, and insist that it is by circumcision that men attain to this dignity and happiness. But how far is this from the truth! Abrahams highest distinction was that he was a justified person, a friend of God; and this distinction he attained not by circumcision, but by faith. It follows, then, that they who believe like Abraham, and are like Abraham justified through believing, they--they alone--are his true spiritual descendants. Though a man should be a Hebrew of the Hebrews, circumcised the eighth day, and touching the righteousness that is in the law, blameless, if he is not a believer, he is not spiritually a child of Abraham. And if a man be but a believer, be he Jew or Gentile, he is spiritually a child of Abraham. And this fact, that all who believe, whether they were descendants of Abraham or not, were to be made partakers of his blessedness, was distinctly enough taught in the ancient oracles given to Abraham. (John Brown, D. D.)
The blessing of the gospel
All the weight and force hereof lies in the words with faithful Abraham. For he puts a plain difference between Abraham and Abraham; of one and the selfsame person making two. As if he said: There is a working and there is a believing Abraham. With the working Abraham we have nothing to do. For if he be justified by works, he hath to rejoice, but not with God. Let the Jews glory as much as they will of that begetting Abraham, which is a worker, is circumcised, and keepeth the law; but we glory of the faithful Abraham, of whom the Scripture saith, that he received the blessing of righteousness through his faith, not only for himself, but also for all those which believe as he did; and so the world was promised to Abraham, because he believed. Therefore all the world is blessed; that is to say, receiveth imputation of righteousness, ii it believe as Abraham did. Wherefore the blessing is nothing else but the promise of the gospel. And that all nations are blessed, is as much as to say, that all nations shall hear the blessing; that is, the promise of God shall be preached and published by the gospel among all nations. To bless signifieth nothing else, but to preach and teach the word of the gospel, to confess Christ, and to spread abroad the knowledge of Him among all the Gentiles. And this is the priestly office, and continual sacrifice of the Church in the New Testament, which distributeth this blessing by preaching and by ministering of the sacraments, by comforting the broken-hearted, by distributing the word of grace which Abraham had, and which was also his blessing; which when he believed, he received the blessing. So we also believing the same are blessed. (Luther.)
Faith obtains salvation
I have seen shrubs and trees grow out of the rocks, and overhang fearful precipices, roaring cataracts, and deep running waters; but they maintained their position, and threw out their foliage and branches as much as if they had been in the midst of a dense forest. It was their hold of the rock that made them secure, and the influences of nature that sustained their life: so believers are oftentimes exposed to the most horrible dangers in their journey to heaven; but, so long as they are rooted and grounded in the Rock of Ages, they are perfectly secure. Their hold of Him is their guaranty; and the blessings of His grace give them life, and sustain them in life. And as the tree must die, or the rock fall, before a dissolution could be effected between them, so either the believer must lose his spiritual life, or the rock must crumble, ere their union can be dissolved. (J. Bate.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 7. Know ye therefore. Paul now states his great…
7. Know ye therefore. Paul now states his great argument. Abraham's faith made him righteous; he is the spiritual father of believers. Those who believe upon Christ, the promised seed of Abraham, are the spiritual children of Abraham and the heirs of the promise.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain Know therefore that they that are of faith, the…
Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham. [For by faith Abraham came into such relations with God that he attained righteousness and justification; and I want you to know that those who follow his spiritual example are his real or spiritual children, to the exclusion even of his fleshly children, made such by birth, or adopted, as ye seek to be, by circumcision.
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:7 Gentile Christians—including the Galatians—are among the real children…
3:7 Gentile Christians—including the Galatians—are among the real children of Abraham, not by keeping the law of Moses, but by faith in God (see Rom 4:9-17, 23-25; cp. Matt 12:48-50).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.