Galatians 3:29
29 And [de] if [ei] ye [humeis] be Christ's [Christos], then [ara] are ye [este] Abraham's [Abraam] seed [sperma], and [kai] heirs [kleronomos] according [kata] to the
promise [epaggelia]. KJV-Interlinear
29 And if you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. NASB
If you belong to Christ? And how do you know that you belong to
Christ?
Well, when you were born into this world, you were
born into a system of slavery, out of which you could not escape.
Bound to this world, you were bound to a task
master, a guardian, of whom you had to live a life of perfection or else suffer
the severe consequences for any, repeat, for any infraction.
Given that we are all human, none of us could or
can live a perfect life. None of us can meet
the severe requirements of the Law of Moses which spells out the stringent
requirements for living a perfect life.
In order to comply with the Law, we would have to
work at our life with intense perfection, and from the source of our own
efforts.
In this no one is capable of working carefully
enough or thoroughly enough, or perfectly enough, thus everyone fails.
And when you fail, even for a single moment, then
you have not lived the perfect life and thus have failed. One single slip means less than
perfection. And you cannot undo an
imperfection or go back and do it over.
Adam slipped and took one single bite. He could not go back and unbite that fruit
and then claim that it never happened.
Done is done.
So, without works to back you up, then you have
nothing, unless someone else provides you with a means of obtaining perfection.
Enter faith.
God made a promise to Abraham for an
inheritance. Abraham believed in that promise
and for that belief then Gods righteousness was credited to Abraham.
Abraham did nothing except believe, and that was
the pattern for obtaining the promise of God. The pattern which applied to
Abraham back then, and likewise applies to everyone throughout history.
That promise was made, dependent on one individual,
the Messiah.
Abrahams promise of an inheritance was contingent
on the Messiah, and thus the promise looked forward to the Cross and the actual
fulfillment of the promise in principle, in order to free all of humanity from the
burden and sentence of eternal condemnation.
Continue in trying to gain Gods promise through
your own works and you become the fool for trying to perpetuate a dead method.
Believe in Gods promise, and you gain Gods promise
both of salvation and the eternal inheritance of life and much more, through
that faith in the Messiah, who is Christ.
Faith means that you identify with Christ in His
work, and not in your own work. You are
thus baptized in Christ by means of faith, not by water or any other human example.
In order to receive an inheritance from God you
have to be a member of Gods family and become a qualified heir for that
inheritance.
In order to be a member of Gods family you have to receive
Gods promise, and you receive Gods promise through believing in Gods promise. He gives it to you freely without any effort
on your part.
Once you have become a member of Gods family, have
identified yourself in Christ’s work, then you belong to Christ. After all, it was He who did the work of
salvation, purchasing your freedom from the slave market of sin and eternal
condemnation.
Chirst paid the price, but He does not drag you off
as a slave of His own, He offers you the choice to belong to Him, or to remain
with the world and be forever in oblivion.
So, you make that choice of your own free will,
through faith.
And not only through your faith do you belong to
Christ, but also you become an offspring, as it were, of Abraham, by means of
the pattern of faith which he demonstrated a very long time ago.
So, faith is not genetic. Faith is not cultural. Faith is not bound by color. Faith is not identified with any social rank
or privilege. Faith is not dependent on one’s
mental or physical ability. Faith is not diminished by any type of handicap.
Faith has nothing to do with any sort of human attribute.
Faith is your ticket and admission to eternal life,
and once you believe, you cannot unbelieve.
Faith is permanent and no one can take it from you.
