What Is The Blessing Of Abraham?
Question : Beloved apostle of God, may I ask what exactly is the Blessing of Abraham that apostle Paul speaks about in Galatians and also which God promises to Abraham in Genesis 12. Is it Christ?
Answer : Greetings to you in Jesus name! This is a question that we need to dig in to the Word of God to find it. Yes, apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:13-14, "13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
In the above verse 13 we see how all human have a tendency and inclination to sin because of the fallen nature of sin within, and therefore cannot keep the law of God perfectly without ever breaking one of the commandment to get blessed by God continually (James 2:10), and the nation of Israel was the perfect example of how they have tried to keep the law of God for nearly 1500 years and finally were cursed by the very law which they kept and boasted of as the route to live a worthy spiritual lives of blessing when they were not even able to keep it perfectly in the sight of God (John 5:39, 45; Matt 23:2, 23, 27; Luke 16:14). The curse of the law makes a person to be a religious worker of external works of righteousness before men, without ever giving them the true internal righteousness which God demands from all men, and that which only comes by believing in Jesus (Psa 51:6, 11-12, 16-17). Abraham believed the coming Messiah Jesus in those days itself who will come and save him from his sin, and therefore by faith he accepted the promise of God to receive righteousness of faith through the Holy Spirit in those days itself (John 8:56; Gal 3:5-6). Now all humans in the world who believe just like Abraham the father of our faith, believing that Jesus had already come and have died for their sin and believe that all the promises of God in the Bible will come to pass in their lives through their personal relationship with God, will come to receive the righteousness of faith which will work within them by the Holy Spirit from within to make them work for God with God's strength to please God in all things (Gal 3:8-9; 1 Cor 15:1-4). God sees from the beginning of time, the people of faith who believed in His Messiah to be those who are accepted as righteous before Him, and therefore justified them in Christ (Gal 2:16).
Knowing the above facts, now we can see in the above verse 14 of Galatians Chapter 3, Paul says this as "the blessing of Abraham", What is it?, Justified before God by faith in Christ, so that the particular "promise of the Spirit" can be received through faith. In other words, only the Spirit working through us can really bring God's blessing upon our lives on earth to make us a blessing to many just as Abraham our father of faith was blessed. The "promise of the Spirit" is a phrase that was used in many other ways like "...give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:13), "Promise of My Father" (Luke 24:49), "The Promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4), "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8), "...come to Me and drink" (John 7:37-38), "they will speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17) by Jesus to denote the out working of the Holy Spirit to be a witness and then he has also spoken of the Baptism by the Holy Spirit which is New Testament's salvation work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life in many other places (John 14:15-18, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15).
First God promised this promise of the Spirit by saying, "And I will put my spirit within you." (Ezekiel 36:27). This was the outworking of God's salvation through His Spirit. But the word "upon" denotes the Baptism with the Holy Spirit or Baptism in the Holy Spirit that God gives to all believers with the external evidence of speaking in other tongues as He has promised right from the days of John the Baptist to the apostles who wrote the whole of the New Testament and also to us in our days (Luke 3:16; 11:13; John 7:39; Acts 2:1-4; 38-39; 10:45; 11:16-14). The study of the Bible tells us clearly that the terms "baptism of the Spirit," "drinking of the Spirit," "pouring out of the Spirit," "Spirit coming upon you," "clothed with power" and "filling of the Spirit" are all synonyms -- they describe the same experience of getting Baptized in the Holy Spirit with the initial external evidence of speaking in tongues and the blessing of a continuing prayer language which makes all believers to pray mysteries to God.
So when apostle Paul says, "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:14), we know that according to the phraseology he is speaking about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit or the gift of the Holy Spirit with the New Testament's external evidence of speaking in tongues which will continue with the believer as a prayer language towards God forever on earth (1 Cor 14:2, 4). In other words, I believe that Abraham must have lived in the New Testament style of intimacy with God by speaking mysteries to God in prayer through tongues like a New Testament believer in the Old Testament time itself. GLORY TO GOD!
Also God promised to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3 as follows, "Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”" In the above verses we see that a single obedience to the voice of God by Abraham in 'getting out of his native country, from his family and from his father’s house, to the land that God showed him' made God to fulfill His perpetual eternal promise that God gave to Abraham. In the physical level like the sands of the sea, the sons of Abraham who were the Jews got multiplied and were blessed with a land to live with on earth (Gen 13:16-17; 17:7-8). In the spiritual level like the stars of the sky, the sons of Abraham who were Christians in Christ got multiplied and received all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places with a spiritual and eternal promise of a home land to live forever with God in heaven just like Abraham our Father of faith (Gen 15:5-6; Gal 3:9, 29; Eph 1:3; John 14:2-3; Heb 11:8-10, 13-16; 13:14). God said 5 "I will's" after demanding that one obedience from Abraham, "... I will show you. 2 I will make ...; I will bless you ...and ...I will bless those ..., and I will curse him". These five "I will" are God's responsibilities and obligation that He worked through Abraham by the Holy Spirit. But in the process of the great out-working of God through Abraham, the thing that manifested through his life was "you shall be a blessing...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." In other words, because the Spirit of God was the promised blessing that was not only working within Abraham, but upon Abraham, He was made by God to be a continual spiritual blessing to whomever he met and came in to contact through Divine appointment orchestrated by God.
The same capacity of the Spirit of God has been promised to all believers by God who expects them to approach Him by faith in the name of Jesus and receive it from Him without fail by persistence and obedience (Acts 1:8; 5:32; Gal 3:14). So the bottom line is, blessing of Abraham was the capacity of the Spirit of God which was outworking within Abraham and upon Him which has been promised to all humans who seek God through Jesus Christ (John 14:16-17; 7:39). In other words, the blessing of Abraham is the promise of the Spirit, which we will receive from God the Father through believing in Christ's finished work on the Cross. So the blessing of Abraham is not Christ, but the capacity of the Spirit that comes within and upon us through our faith in Christ's sacrifice for us which bring us freely in to justification by God and friendship with God.
Much Blessings....
Answer : Greetings to you in Jesus name! This is a question that we need to dig in to the Word of God to find it. Yes, apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:13-14, "13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
In the above verse 13 we see how all human have a tendency and inclination to sin because of the fallen nature of sin within, and therefore cannot keep the law of God perfectly without ever breaking one of the commandment to get blessed by God continually (James 2:10), and the nation of Israel was the perfect example of how they have tried to keep the law of God for nearly 1500 years and finally were cursed by the very law which they kept and boasted of as the route to live a worthy spiritual lives of blessing when they were not even able to keep it perfectly in the sight of God (John 5:39, 45; Matt 23:2, 23, 27; Luke 16:14). The curse of the law makes a person to be a religious worker of external works of righteousness before men, without ever giving them the true internal righteousness which God demands from all men, and that which only comes by believing in Jesus (Psa 51:6, 11-12, 16-17). Abraham believed the coming Messiah Jesus in those days itself who will come and save him from his sin, and therefore by faith he accepted the promise of God to receive righteousness of faith through the Holy Spirit in those days itself (John 8:56; Gal 3:5-6). Now all humans in the world who believe just like Abraham the father of our faith, believing that Jesus had already come and have died for their sin and believe that all the promises of God in the Bible will come to pass in their lives through their personal relationship with God, will come to receive the righteousness of faith which will work within them by the Holy Spirit from within to make them work for God with God's strength to please God in all things (Gal 3:8-9; 1 Cor 15:1-4). God sees from the beginning of time, the people of faith who believed in His Messiah to be those who are accepted as righteous before Him, and therefore justified them in Christ (Gal 2:16).
Knowing the above facts, now we can see in the above verse 14 of Galatians Chapter 3, Paul says this as "the blessing of Abraham", What is it?, Justified before God by faith in Christ, so that the particular "promise of the Spirit" can be received through faith. In other words, only the Spirit working through us can really bring God's blessing upon our lives on earth to make us a blessing to many just as Abraham our father of faith was blessed. The "promise of the Spirit" is a phrase that was used in many other ways like "...give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:13), "Promise of My Father" (Luke 24:49), "The Promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4), "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8), "...come to Me and drink" (John 7:37-38), "they will speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17) by Jesus to denote the out working of the Holy Spirit to be a witness and then he has also spoken of the Baptism by the Holy Spirit which is New Testament's salvation work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life in many other places (John 14:15-18, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15).
First God promised this promise of the Spirit by saying, "And I will put my spirit within you." (Ezekiel 36:27). This was the outworking of God's salvation through His Spirit. But the word "upon" denotes the Baptism with the Holy Spirit or Baptism in the Holy Spirit that God gives to all believers with the external evidence of speaking in other tongues as He has promised right from the days of John the Baptist to the apostles who wrote the whole of the New Testament and also to us in our days (Luke 3:16; 11:13; John 7:39; Acts 2:1-4; 38-39; 10:45; 11:16-14). The study of the Bible tells us clearly that the terms "baptism of the Spirit," "drinking of the Spirit," "pouring out of the Spirit," "Spirit coming upon you," "clothed with power" and "filling of the Spirit" are all synonyms -- they describe the same experience of getting Baptized in the Holy Spirit with the initial external evidence of speaking in tongues and the blessing of a continuing prayer language which makes all believers to pray mysteries to God.
So when apostle Paul says, "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:14), we know that according to the phraseology he is speaking about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit or the gift of the Holy Spirit with the New Testament's external evidence of speaking in tongues which will continue with the believer as a prayer language towards God forever on earth (1 Cor 14:2, 4). In other words, I believe that Abraham must have lived in the New Testament style of intimacy with God by speaking mysteries to God in prayer through tongues like a New Testament believer in the Old Testament time itself. GLORY TO GOD!
Also God promised to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3 as follows, "Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”" In the above verses we see that a single obedience to the voice of God by Abraham in 'getting out of his native country, from his family and from his father’s house, to the land that God showed him' made God to fulfill His perpetual eternal promise that God gave to Abraham. In the physical level like the sands of the sea, the sons of Abraham who were the Jews got multiplied and were blessed with a land to live with on earth (Gen 13:16-17; 17:7-8). In the spiritual level like the stars of the sky, the sons of Abraham who were Christians in Christ got multiplied and received all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places with a spiritual and eternal promise of a home land to live forever with God in heaven just like Abraham our Father of faith (Gen 15:5-6; Gal 3:9, 29; Eph 1:3; John 14:2-3; Heb 11:8-10, 13-16; 13:14). God said 5 "I will's" after demanding that one obedience from Abraham, "... I will show you. 2 I will make ...; I will bless you ...and ...I will bless those ..., and I will curse him". These five "I will" are God's responsibilities and obligation that He worked through Abraham by the Holy Spirit. But in the process of the great out-working of God through Abraham, the thing that manifested through his life was "you shall be a blessing...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." In other words, because the Spirit of God was the promised blessing that was not only working within Abraham, but upon Abraham, He was made by God to be a continual spiritual blessing to whomever he met and came in to contact through Divine appointment orchestrated by God.
The same capacity of the Spirit of God has been promised to all believers by God who expects them to approach Him by faith in the name of Jesus and receive it from Him without fail by persistence and obedience (Acts 1:8; 5:32; Gal 3:14). So the bottom line is, blessing of Abraham was the capacity of the Spirit of God which was outworking within Abraham and upon Him which has been promised to all humans who seek God through Jesus Christ (John 14:16-17; 7:39). In other words, the blessing of Abraham is the promise of the Spirit, which we will receive from God the Father through believing in Christ's finished work on the Cross. So the blessing of Abraham is not Christ, but the capacity of the Spirit that comes within and upon us through our faith in Christ's sacrifice for us which bring us freely in to justification by God and friendship with God.
Much Blessings....
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