Notes on Galatians by: Mrs. Esther W.

Ndambuki

GALATIANS

(Christian liberty)

Paul is expressing the fact that the saints in Galatia were deserting the truth and turning to a
different gospel which was no gospel at all.
Characteristics/Elements of the true gospel (1:1-5)
1. The grace of God as a means to salvation (1:3)
This grace is free and can only be given by God. Grace is the unmerited favour of God. It
is the cause of salvation.
2. Peace from God as a consequence of salvation(1:3)
Peace is the result that one gets from acquiring salvation.
3. Jesus Christ; Christ-centered (1:3-4; 7)
Christ is the heart and the center of the message of salvation.
4. Christs death for the sin of man (1:4)
Christs death and resurrection are the means by which man obtains salvation.
5. Gods deliverance-liberation! (1:4 cf. Col.1:13)
Deliverance is the hall mark of salvation.
6. The will of God (1:4 cf. Eph. 1:11)
The will of God is the source of salvation.
7. The glory of God (1:5)
The glory of God is the purpose of salvation.
The redemptive process has only one object and that is God who is to be glorified in
everything.
Characteristics of the recipients of Paul (1:6-9)
1. Called in the grace of Christ (1:6)
Gods grace is based upon the work of Christ extended to us in the person of Christ and
made effective in us by the Holy Spirit.
Paul calls them believers and not apostates.
2. Quickly deserting Christ (1:6)
They were in danger of deserting the true gospel (apostasy) and embracing the perverted
gospel; which is no gospel at all.
3. Turning to a different gospel (1:6)
There is no other gospel apart from that which is described above.
The idea was not that they were bringing in another gospel but that they were distorting
the true gospel and he says that such is no gospel at all (1:7) because there is only one
gospel of the grace of God, it is impossible to modify or amend it without destroying
it.
4. Some among them who were teaching a different gospel (1:7)
Pauls anger is against the people who were leading others astray.
These people were troubling the church.
They were also distorting the gospel of Christ.
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Notes on Galatians by: Mrs. Esther W. Ndambuki

They were doomed to death (accursed-rejected by both God and man) for distorting the
truth (cf. Jer. 23:16; Deut. 13:5; 18:20).
5. Had received the true gospel (1:9)
They had been preached to by Paul.
Paul defends his apostleship (1:10-2:14)

Judaizing teachers had persuaded the Galatians that:

o Paul had taught them the new religion imperfectly.
o Paul- the founder of their church himself-possessed only a deputed commission,
the seal of truth and authority being in the apostles at Jerusalem.
To refute this, Paul appeals to the history of his conversion, and to the manner of his
conferring with the apostles when he met them at Jerusalem. This he does using the
ancient form of arguments.
In the ancient times, speeches often included a long narrative section in chronological
order for arguments. Themes in such would include:
o Divine attestation
o Examination of character and behaviour
o Comparisons between figures personifying different values or sides of the dispute.
In deliberative speeches, the speaker first had to demonstrate the integrity of his character
and conduct if they were in question.

Divine Attestation
Pleasing God rather than man (1:10 cf. 1:1)
Paul discredits the Judaizers as people pleasers (cf. 6:12-13). People pleasers were not popular at
the time and were commonly denounced publicly.
Pauls purpose for preaching the true gospel is so that he may please his master Jesus Christ
(1:1).
Pleasing man could be a hindrance to serving Christ.
False gospels are designed to please men; they have their origin in human reasoning and driven
by human desires.

The gospel received from God (1:12; 1:1)

Notes on Galatians by: Mrs. Esther W. Ndambuki

The gospel that Paul was preached to was Gods and not mans.
The gospel was received from God through the revelation of Jesus Christ; no man taught Paul
(cf. Acts 9) and therefore it is Gods message and not mans.
This pararreled the Jewish customs of teaching the torah using the rabbis.
Examination of character and behaviour/ Comparisons between figures personifying
different values or sides of the dispute
Pauls knowledge of Judaism

Talks of and confronts what he knows too well; he is well versed with knowledge of
Judaism for he was in it!
His former life in Judaism was marked with:
1. Persecution of the church violently with an attempt to destroy it. (1:13)
2. He had extreme zeal in propagating and advancing Judaism which he did more
than many of his contemporaries(1:14)
3. He was very zealous for the traditions of his fathers. (1:14)

Pauls life after meeting Christ

God knew him before time (1:15-16)

God called him by His grace (1:15)
God was pleased to reveal Christ to Paul for the sake of preaching Him to the Gentiles.
(1:15-16)
Pauls calling was not consulted with man (cf. 1:10) or with councils made of men
(Jerusalem Council) but he went on to ministry! (1:16-24; cf. 2:2, 6)

Pauls ministry and calling

1. His ministry glorified God (1:24)
2. His ministry was met with opposition (2:3-14) from false brothers-FALSE TEACHERS
(2:3-5)
Slipped in and spied on the believers liberty or freedom in Christ (no
circumcision for Gentiles) (cf. 2 Cor. 4:2).
They also wanted to bring Paul and the rest of the believers to slavery bearing
false teaching (mixing faith with works) cf. Acts 15:1, 5.
Taught that faith in Christ is essential but not sufficient to bring man to salvation;
one must keep the Mosaic laws and be circumcised (cf. Rom. 3:28).
The New covenant verses the Old covenant!
3. His ministry was with the blessings of the Influential people (2:6)
Gave them the hand of fellowship (read Acts15:22-29; 16:4). This means that they
approved of the ministry of Paul and Barnabas (2:9)
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They asked them to remember the poor (2:10 cf. Acts 11:27-30)
4. His ministry was met with challenge from fellow apostles-HYPOCRISY (2:11-14)
The conduct of Peter which also led Barnabas away was of hypocrisy (2:13-14)
Peter had come from Antioch-a Gentile church (2:11)
Their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel.
Characteristics of the servants of Christ
1. Their calling (1:1; 1:11-12)
Is from Christ
2. Their motive and purpose (1:10-11)
Is to please Christ and seek His approval in all they do (1:10) and not religious pride and
pleasing men.
3. Their message (1:1-5)
Is Gods free grace to all people.
4. Their lives (1:15ff)
Transformed by the power of Christ.

Lessons for ministry today

1.
2.
3.
4.

It is the Lord who commits and entrusts the gospel to men through grace (1:15)
We are to preach the true gospel at all times which is always about Christ (1:16)
To those who oppose the true gospel, we should not yield submission at all (2:5)
The proof of our ministry lays in the work of the Holy Spirit bringing souls to
repentance and faith in Christ (2:8)
5. For one to be effective in ministry, understand your calling and work towards it (2:79)
6. Our fellowships with one another should center around the gospel that we preach
(2:9)
7. It is important to seek the support of the church leaders so that the ministry might be
effective (2:2, 9).

CHAPTER 2:15- JUSTIFICATION

Justification is by faith in Christ Jesus.

A man is not justified by the works of the lawThe basis of justification cannot be the
law, since the only thing obedience to the law can do is to fulfill the requirements of the
law. Again, no one could be justified by keeping the law, since everyone would break
some part of it. And the moral law was even more demanding than the ceremonial
law (vs. 15).
A man is justified by the faith of [in] Jesus ChristIn coupling the name of Jesus to
the title of Christ, Paul was affirming the Messiahship of Jesus, since Christ is Greek
for Messiah. made righteous by faith in Christ (vs. 16).
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Notes on Galatians by: Mrs. Esther W. Ndambuki

Through the lawThe law was Pauls teacher and guide, leading him to Christ (3:24). It
did this in two ways (vs. 17-19).
1. The law as contained in Scripture pointed out the way that Paul failed to keep the
law, as well as the punishment for that failure (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:13). This drove
him to Christ as the refuge from Gods anger, since the law itself taught that it was
not permanent, but would give place to Christ (Rom. 10:4).
2. The OT Scriptures drew him to Christ through the promises in the prophets of a
better righteousness, and of Gods law written on the hearts of men (Deut. 18:1519; Jer. 31:33; Acts 10:43).
Am dead to the lawlit., died to the law. Paul became dead to the law and thereby
passed from being under its power with respect to its demands (Rom. 6:14; 7:4-6; Col.
2:20).
I am crucified with ChristIn the Greek, the verb is in the perfect tense, indicating the
present effect of a past action: I was crucified with Christ [at the time he was crucified]
with the present result that I am now still crucified. nevertheless I live; yet not Ilit.,
and I live no more. The I here is the old man, Pauls old ego; such had been crucified
with Christ (vs. 20).
But Christ liveth in mein the place of Pauls old life, Christ livesand that in Paul.
Thus Paul was saying, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (RSV). the
life which I now livethe Christian life, now lived by the new I, the new regenerated
man. in the fleshreferring to his human existence or to his body. I live by the faith of
the Son of Godi.e., I live by faith in the Son of God or I live by the faith the Son of
God gives me. Paul lived by Christs life and by the faith Christ gave him.
The phrase Son of God is a reminder that his divine Sonship is the source of life-giving
power.
loved me, and gave himself [over to death] for me [on my behalf]referring to Christs
death on the cross. The love which motivated that giving is the link which united Paul
with Christ. Paul carefully notes that the death of Jesus was not merely an act of violence,
or an accident which took place in history, but rather a self-giving on behalf of sinners
(3:13; cf. Mark 10:45; Rom. 5:6; 1 John 4:10).
I do not frustrate [set aside] the grace of GodPaul did not annul Gods grace, as Peter
did, by turning to the law. Christ is dead in vainChrist died for nothing (see NIV).
Paul argues strongly against the practices of the Judaizers, saying that Christs death
shows that the law had no power to justify anyone. If it could have justified men, then the
death of Christ would have been useless.

CHAPTER 3

1 O foolish [lit., unthinking] Galatians, who hath bewitched youThe Galatians were
not thinking straight. How could they have been so easily misled? They had become
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bewitched or charmed by the Judaizers. evidently set forthactually, portrayed or

placarded (as in a public display or poster). The vivid picture Paul had painted
depicting the death of Christ before their eyes should have been enough to counteract all
fascination.
2 Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?The
impartation of the Spirit is a divine act (see John 20:22), not based on any human effort
aside from faithand this faith is given by God when one hears the gospel (Rom.
10:16, 17). From here on in Paul will speak of the Spirit (or, spirit) seventeen times.
3 begun in the Spirit . . . now made perfect by the flesh?The Galatians probably
thought they were becoming better Christians by trying to keep the law. But the works of
the law can be misunderstood easily as evidence of spirituality, when in truth they are
nothing but ceremonial acts. A life begun in the Spirit must continue in the Spirit; there is
nothing higher, no other way to advance in the spiritual life.
4 Have ye suffered so many thingsThe Christians in many of the Galatian cities had
been persecuted by the Jews as well as by unbelieving fellow countrymen who had been
incited by the Jews. in vainfruitlessly, needlessly. By adopting the legalism of the
Judaizers, the Galatians might lose the reward they had been promised for their sufferings
(4:11; cf. 1 Cor. 15:2, 17-19, 29-32; 2 Thess. 1:5-7; 2 John 8). if it be yet in vainPaul
hoped that the Galatians would turn from legalism to the grace of God and receive the
reward they had coming to them for their sufferings.
5 He . . . that ministerethsupplies. God is the supplier of the Spirit, and worketh
miracles among youGod was the one doing the miracles which the Galatians saw all
around them. The fact that Paul did not have to defend the authenticity of such miracles
indicates that the Galatians considered them genuine. by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?See comments on 3:2.
6 Even as Abraham believed GodGod gave the Holy Spirit to the Galatians as a result
of their faith, not because of their works, much as he had justified Abraham by his faith
(Gen. 15:4-5; Rom. 4:3), and not by his works. If justification comes by faith, the gift of
the Holy Spirit must come by faith as well.
7 they which are of faithThis is a reference to all of the people whose faith has served
as the starting point and continuing source of their spiritual lives. childrensons. of
AbrahamAll believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, are the sons of Abraham, the father
of faith (see Rom. 4).
8 the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached . . .
the gospelThe Scripture is here personified and functions in unity with God to preach
the gospel unto Abraham. Paul spoke of Scripture in the same way in Romans 9:17. Of
these two passages J. I. Packer said, Paul refers to Gods promise to Abraham and his
threat to Pharaoh, both spoken long before the biblical record of them was written, as
words which Scripture spoke to these two men (Gal. 3:8; Rom. 9:17); which shows how
completely he equated the statements of Scripture with the utterance of God. The gospel
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preached by Scripture is contained in these words: In thee shall all nations be blessed
(Gen. 22:18). Thus, the gospel in its most basic form is older than the law, although the
law was fully developed before the gospel.
9 they which be of faith are blessed with faithful [believing] AbrahamAbraham was
saved because of his faith in the promise which God had given to him, and all who follow
in his footsteps have faith. All who have this same characteristic of faith will receive the
same blessing of salvation.
10 under the curseThis verse confirms what Paul had just said. Those who depend on
the law for their salvation cannot share the blessings of God because they are under a
curse (Deut. 27:26, LXX). Perfect obedience to every part of the law is required, and no
one is able to carry this out (Rom. 3:19-20).
11 no man is justified by the lawThe law only condemns and judges the guilty sinner;
it does not acquit him. The promise, if accepted by faith, leads to salvation. Thus the
contrast is evident between living by faith and living by works. The just shall live by faith
a quotation of Habakkuk 2:4 (also cited in Rom. 1:17).
12 the law is not of faithMany of the people depended on the law for their salvation,
but they did not keep all of it. Paul pointed out that unless it is kept fully and without
violation it is worthless (cf. Rom. 2:13, 17, 23; 10:5).
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the lawAlthough Paul was probably
referring mainly to the Jews as being under the curse of the law, he was also including the
Gentiles. The law which was given to the Jews represents a universal standard which God
demands of all men. Since the Jews, who understood the law and its requirements, were
unable to keep it, and stood thus condemned before God, the Gentiles, who would be
equally unable to keep the law, were also condemned by it, even though they did not
realize it. They were responsible for what they did understand through their consciences,
so that their curse had to be removed by the work of Christ as well. redeemed us . . .
made a curse for usBy putting himself under the curse which lay upon all who trusted
in the law for salvation, Christ bought freedom for all who would believe in him. The
ransom price he paid was his own blood (1 Pet. 1:18, 19, cf. Matt. 20:28; Acts 20:28; 1
Cor. 6:20; 7:23; 1 Tim. 2:6; 2 Pet. 2:1; Rev. 5:9). The Galatians, by putting themselves
back under the law, were taking upon themselves the curse which Christ had lifted from
them. for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a treeThe quotation is
from Deuteronomy 21:23. Christ bore the specific curse of being hung on the cross, or
tree (Acts 5:30; 10:39), as a symbol of the general curse of sin he bore for all mankind.
The Jews did not actually put anyone to death by hanging or crucifixion, but in order to
brand them with a certain display they would hang the corpse on a tree after the person
had been put to death in some other way as a lesson to others who might be tempted to
follow his evil ways. The providence of God allowed Jesus to be crucified so that this
prophecy could be fulfilled completely. The Jews, in contempt, called Jesus the hanged
one and referred to Christians as the worshipers of the hanged one. Their greatest
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objection to him came because he died in a way that was accursed (1 Pet. 2:24), hung
between heaven and earth as though unworthy of either.
14 This verse expresses the two purposes that Christ had in becoming a curse for our sake
and accomplishing redemption (3:13). Each purpose is introduced with the word that
(Gk., hina), and is distinctly dependent on 3:13. That the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus ChristThe blessing of Abraham was that of being
justified by faith; that blessing is now available to the Gentiles through their faith in
Christ Jesus. that we might receive the promise of the Spiritlit., the Spirit of promise
or the promised Spirit (see Eph. 1:13). The Holy Spirit did not come as a result of
receiving the blessing promised to Abraham, but because of Christs redemption.
Redemption opens the way for regeneration by the Spirit. through faithThe Spirit,
working from outside of the believer, kindles some spark of faith within the individual
that allows him to lay hold of Christ, so that the Spirit can live within him (Flacius).
15 I speak after the manner of menPaul here regards the promise God made to
Abraham as being more important than the law which he gave to Moses. The promise
was given first, and the law was understood as being both exceptional and temporary
(3:17-24). After a contract is ratified, none of the terms can be abrogated and no new
terms can be added to it, or the original terms would be broken. In this same way,
legalistic Judaism could make no change in the terms of the promise as God gave it to
Abraham, which had at its foundation the idea of justification through faith. They could
not add the condition of observance of the law, for this would mean that Gods promise
would depend on something which men could not do. God, by his grace, made Abraham
righteous through the faith which Abraham had. These are the only conditions which are
carried into the gospel and the only conditions which any believer must meet.
16 This verse was inserted by Paul to give an interpretation of the relationship between
God and Abraham and Christ. Since Christ had not come by the time the law was given,
the promise to Abraham could not have been fulfilled by the law. The promise waited for
fulfillment until the coming of Christ, who was the seed promised to Abraham. Paul
carefully noted that the seed does not refer to offspring, or children, but to one
seed, namely Christ. promisesPaul used the plural because the same promise was
repeated several times (Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:1-5, 18; 17:1-8; 22:16-18), and because the
promise had several parts to it. God promised both temporal and spiritual blessings for
the descendants of Abraham. In the spiritual seed, there is no difference between Jew or
Gentile, but in the temporal seed, there are still some parts of the promise which have not
yet been fulfilled. That part of the promise which says, all the families of the earth shall
be blessed (Gen. 12:3) points to Christ. The promise was not that some would be blessed
through the law while others would be blessed by faith, but that all would be blessed by
the seed of Abraham (Rom. 4:16), which was Christ. Thus the promise did not make any
distinction between Jew and Gentile, while the law did. He saith not, And to seeds, as of
many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is ChristGod did not make his covenant of
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promise with many seeds, only with oneChrist. As Christ, the one seed, is the sole
recipient (or, heir) of Gods promise, the only way for anyone to participate in the
covenant of promise is to be joined to Christ. According to 3:27-29, when we believe in
Christ and are baptized into him, we become united to him and are therefore also
Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise.
17 the covenantcontinues the thought of 3:15. confirmed . . . of Godratified by
God. in ChristThis phrase is not present in the earliest manuscripts. four hundred and
thirty years afteri.e., the time when God gave the Ten Commandments. The length of
time that Israel was in Egypt is here given by Paul as the period which existed between
the giving of the promise and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Since the law came
so much later, it cannot replace the promise by which God justifies Abraham. It was his
faith that God took into account in pronouncing him righteous, not any fulfilling of the
ceremonial laws. cannot disannulThe promise God made to Abraham would have been
invalidated if the law had been able to take its place. Paul is here arguing that this
promise could not have been replaced by the law (see Rom. 4:14).
18 the inheritanceGod had promised to Abraham certain blessings which were going to
be inherited by his actual (physical) and spiritual children. This inheritance includes
justification, sanctification, and glorification (Rom. 8:17, 28-30).
19 Wherefore then serveth the law?since it is of no use in justifying a man. Is it
contrary to the promise which God had given to Abraham? it was added because of
transgressionsThis would not make a change in the original promise, since that would
have made the promise invalid (3:15). This was an addition that brought into clearer
focus the fact that men constantly broke the conditions of the promise (Rom. 7:7-9) when
they were more conscious of their sins. In fact, it sometimes stimulates men to sin more
(Rom. 5:20; 7:13). till the seed should comei.e., until Christ should come. The period
of time when the law was in force lasted from the giving of the law until the fulfillment
of the promise in Christ. It was intended as a means of preparing the Jews for the coming
of Christ. ordained by angelsor, handed down by angels (TEV). God had the angels
give his laws, because such laws were severe and alien to his character (Ps. 68:17; Acts
7:53; Heb. 2:2, 3). a mediatorMoses. In the giving of the law, the angels were the
representatives of God and the people were represented by Moses (Deut. 5:5).
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of [between] onea mediator acts between two
parties. but God is onenot two, owing to his essential unity. God is his own
representative, giving the blessing directly to Abraham, and, in its fulfillment, to Christ
(the seed) without a mediator. God normally dealt directly with men, as he did when he
gave the promise to Abraham. Thus the law, with its mediators (Moses and the angels)
was not Gods normal pattern (Exod. 19:12, 13, 17, 21-24; Heb. 12:19-24). The law,
which interposed conditions and a mediatorial priesthood between God and man, was an
exceptional condition limited to the Jews. (See John 1:17 for a contrast between Moses,
the severing mediator of legal conditions, and Christ, the uniting mediator of grace.)
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21 Is the law then against the promises of God?The law, which required a mediator,
and the promise, which did not require a mediator, but only the action of God, seem at
first to be completely at odds with each other, but Paul rejects this. a law . . . which could
have given lifeThe law, since it is an externally imposed rule, can never affect the
internal spiritual life of men, who are naturally dead in their sins. Since the law never
claims to give men spiritual life, there is no opposition between law and promise.
Righteousness and life can come only through the promise which was given to Abraham,
and fulfilled in Christ.
22 the scripture hath concluded [shut up] all under sinthe Scripture declares that the
whole world is a prisoner of sin (NIV, see also TLB). The Scriptures began to be written
about the time the law was given and are a means of permanently convicting men that
they are disobedient to the commands of God. The fact that men are all prisoners to sin
contrasts with the fact that Christ has made all men free (5:1; cf. Isa. 61:1). the promise
See 3:18. by faith of [in] Jesus ChristThis is the only way men can escape their
imprisonment.
23 before faith camelit., before the faith came (i.e., the faith in Christ Jesus
mentioned in 3:22). keptguarded, kept in ward, held prisoner. shut uplocked up. The
thought of this verse is well stated in the NIV: Before this faith came, we were held
prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.
24 the law was our schoolmasterlit., child-conductor or pedagogue. The word
means a child-custodian or child-attendant (Boice). The Greeks gave a faithful
servant the responsibility of taking care of a boy from childhood to puberty. The servant
kept him from both physical and moral evil, and went with him to his amusements and to
school, but he did not teach him. to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faithUntil Christ was able to come as the object of faith, the law had to act as a childcustodian. The law acted as an outward check on desires, thus making the consciousness
of sin more acute. It further emphasized that man is himself unable to deal with sin, thus
guiding him to Christ. The moral law shows what man ought to do, and thus he learns his
inability to do it. The ceremonial law tried, by the use of animal sacrifices, to compensate
for this inability. Dead animals, however, did not satisfy the needs of living men for
forgiveness. They thus pointed to a perfect sacrifice, the fulfillment of all sacrifices which
had been offered. The judicial law shows the doom man deserves, and leads him to
righteousness and peace in Christ. The message of the OT, that men are doomed for their
sin, is important because without it the NT message of grace and salvation would have no
meaning.
25 after that faith is comeWhen Christ came, faith came (cf. John 1:17). In the Greek,
it is called the faith (see comments on 3:23). no longer under a schoolmasterchildattendant (see comments on 3:24).

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26 children of GodThe Greek text says sons of God, indicating that Christians have
been granted adult status (see comments on 3:24) and no longer need the law to guide
them.
27 baptized into ChristSee Romans 6:3. have put on ChristThis continues the idea of
having reached puberty, referring to the toga virilis, the garment worn by full-grown men
when they ceased to be children (Bengel). A Christian may thus be understood as being
one who wears Christ as an emblem of his sonship. In the early church, believers were
baptized immediately after they professed faith in Christ. Thus baptism, as it is used in
the sense of union with Christ, symbolizes the spiritual transfer from legal condemnation
to divine sonship.
28 neither Jew nor GreekIn this new relationship to Christ, there is no race privileged
above any other, as the Jews had been privileged over the Gentiles under the law (Rom.
10:12; 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 3:11). bond nor freeChrist belongs to both slaves and free
men, and they belong to him. male nor femaleDifferences of sex are not to be regarded
in Christ, while under the law the male had many more privileges. Males alone were
circumcised, while baptism is now applied to both men and women alike. Under the law,
men alone could be kings and priests, while now all believers, no matter what their sex,
are able to be kings and priests unto God (Rev. 1:6). ye are all one in Christ JesusThe
Greek word for one is masculine and therefore designates one man. The one man in
Christ Jesus is the one new man composed of Christ, the head, and the many members
of his body, united into one entity (Eph. 2:15).
29 if ye be Christs, then are ye Abrahams seedChrist is Abrahams seed (3:16) and
the believers have been united to Christ through baptism (3:27, 28); therefore, the
believers are also Abrahams seed, which is tantamount to saying that they are heirs
according to the promise because it was to Abrahams seed that the inheritance was
promised (3:16). The one seed, Christ (Gen. 3:15), called a grain of wheat in John 12:24,
multiplied and so produced many offspring, who are now Gods sons and heirs.

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