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Satan and bring about salvation. The grammar and word usage require that we look for one special
offspring. “These passages employ the word ‘seed,’ a collective noun in the singular…- never any plural
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noun, such as ‘sons’, for example.“ “In Hebrew, the word is never used in the plural in the sense of
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posterity.” This is how the writer Moses understood the words. This is how Abraham, the hearer and
recipient, understood the words. “

Abraham seized the promise of God and acted on it. He “believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as
righteousness” (15:6). It is important to underscore clearly the content of Abraham’s faith and the spiritual
effect of his faith. He did not just believe in a faithful God or a powerful God or a merciful God who would
give him a child named Isaac. He believed in a coming Messiah. His faith was not generic but specific.
Because of his specific faith in a coming Messiah, God declared him righteous.

Several NT writers similarly interpret the life of Abraham. In Romans 4, the promise of God is highlighted
with an emphasis on the dynamics of faith in contrast to works. The faith of Abraham was “credited” to him
as righteousness (4:2), implying a gift. He did nothing to earn righteousness. So too, we who believe simply
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in Jesus Christ receive “credit,” making us righteous (4:23-24). The main point of Romans is this spiritual
transaction. The word “promise” is singular, not plural, referring to the chief promise of a Messiah (4:13,
16, 20). The faith of Abraham is a pattern for all who would follow. Believe in Jesus and receive
righteousness as a gift. It is unearned.

In Galatians, the content of faith is highlighted more than the faith connection. “The promises were spoken
to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your
seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ” (3:16). The promises to Abraham include more than just a
coming Messiah, of course, but the core and most important part is the Messiah. God’s words to Abraham,
“All nations will be blessed through you,” are called “the gospel” (3:8). We are invited to ponder with
Abraham the experience of hearing these words, “How can all nations be blessed through me?” With the
previous words of God in the Garden of Eden ringing in our ears, only one answer is possible: “the Messiah
will come through me.” Abraham, as a model of faith in this coming Messiah, is a secondary point.
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In Hebrews, the results of Abraham’s faith, not the content as in Galatians or the dynamics as in Romans,
are the issue. Citing a long string of events, the writer links them to faith. “By faith Abraham…obeyed and
went” (11:8). “By faith Abraham…offered Isaac as a sacrifice” (11:17). True faith moves the believer to act
in certain ways. The general context of Hebrews makes clear the content of faith. The book begins with
Jesus Christ, “the radiance of God’s glory” (1:3), and ends with Jesus Christ, “that great Shepherd of the
sheep” (13:20). The entire book is about Jesus Christ. We may accurately read by implication, “by faith in
Christ, Abraham did this or that.”
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All of this becomes theologically important when we come to the next Faith in Christ =
reference to the same passages in Genesis. James forges an unbreakable Righteousness
link between faith and works. Quoting Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed

26 Willis J. Beecher, The Prophets and the Promise (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1905), p. 205.
27 Ibid, p. 205, note 1.
28 Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Erdmann, 1996), p. 286.
29 It is surprising to read many excellent commentators stumble at the word “gospel” in Galatians 3:8. F.F. Bruce, for
example, in his Commentary on Galatians (Grand Rapids: Erdmann, 1982), refers to Paul’s thinking as a
“reinterpretation” or typological application of the Genesis passage (p. 156). In other words, Paul gave a new meaning
to the Genesis passage, one that Moses or Abraham would not have understood. This approach cuts the heart out of
Bible truth, severing the connection between the Old and New Testaments.

30 J. Oliver Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973), p. 185.
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