YOU ARE ABRAHAM’S SEED

"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3:29)

THE JUSTIFIED ONES BELONG TO JESUS! God has given them to His Son, and they belong to Him. Jesus spoke of this transaction. He said the Father's will was that He lose no one that was given to Him (John 6:39). Jesus prayed for the ones who had been given to Him (John 17:9,24). The Son refers to the saved as "the children God has given Me" (Heb 2:13).

THE FATHER HAS GIVEN US to Christ that He might "bring us to God," and ultimately to glory (1 Pet 3:18; Heb 2:10). In this sense, He is the "Good Shepherd" (John 10:11,14). He not only blazed the trail to glory for us, He accompanies us on our journey. We belong to Christ. His leadership is not limited to stimulating proper conduct. Rather, it is the divinely appointed means of getting us to glory. God put us into Christ (1 Cor 1:30), and Christ is bringing us to God!

KNOWING "IF YOU BELONG TO CHRIST," then, is everything! It is a New Covenant way of thinking ("they shall all know Me")! Moral advance depends upon our awareness of this truth – upon our confidence in Christ and assurance of salvation. No person will work well until this is grasped! In the last analysis, everything depends on whether or not we belong to Christ. Do not guess at this! Throw yourself into the appropriation of this knowledge, and it will impact upon everything you do. A fruitful discovery, indeed!

HERE IS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING challenging expressions of Scripture. Previously, the Spirit has identified the Lord Jesus Himself as Abraham's Seed. "Now to Abraham and HIS SEED were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, WHICH IS CHRIST" (v 16). The text certainly seems clear enough. When it comes to the promises, multiple seeds are strictly forbidden. The covenantal commitment centers in Christ, and Christ alone.

HOWEVER, OUR TEXT PLAINLY STATES, if we belong to Christ, WE are Abraham's seed! That means an effective unity has been accomplished in salvation. We have been joined to the Lord, thereby becoming "one spirit" with Him (1 Cor 6:17). There is a sense in which we cannot be distinguished from Christ! We are, so to speak, "members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones" (Eph 5:30, KJV). To put it another way, the redeemed are Christ's "body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way" (Eph 1:23). The union is so precise that even our bodies "are the members of Christ" (1 Cor 6:15). Just as the head and body are a single unit, so Christ and His people form a single entity (Col 2:19).

BELIEVERS ARE SAID TO HAVE "died with Christ" (Rom 6:8). They were "buried with Him" (Rom 6:4), and "raised with Him" (Eph 2:6). How glorious the fusion of Jesus with His people! Paul used more than oratory when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20). The child of God can say truthfully, "For to me, living is Christ" (Phil 1:21, NRSV).

THIS TRUTH – that we are Abraham's seed – is so startling that men have created theological walls to block it out of their minds. Some choose to deny the indwelling of the Christ and the Spirit (Eph 3:16-17). Others resist the affirmation that "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16).

THE PERSON ADDICTED TO LAW simply cannot abide the thought of oneness with Christ. They cannot conceive of the promises belonging to people upon the basis of Christ. This does not mesh with their view of works. They have contrived a salvation that depends solely upon men – which is no salvation at all! Salvation assumes helplessness! It requires a new identity – a new creation. The law-principle is one of reformation, not transformation. It does not require Jesus Christ. However, God has nothing for those who are not THE seed of Abraham!

WHEN THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROMISE bursts upon the heart, the glory of being heirs registers upon us. Those who prefer the Law do not speak of heirship – it is not even in their vocabulary. Theirs is an economy of works, not of promise. They have no confidence, because Law cannot produce it. They glory in the commandments, but their conscience condemns them because they have not perfectly kept them. Their objectives are all earth-centered because they have no assurance of participation in the world to come.

THE VERY CONCEPT of "heirs" assumes we are given something by God – a gift. The heirs have not earned their inheritance. It belongs to Another, who now gives it to them. It is based upon their new birth, not their achievement. Their identity with the Owner precludes their involvement in the inheritance. How glorious the situation!

THE ABRAHAMIC PROMISE involved blessing – blessing that far transcended what Abraham saw. It remained to be stated in later times that it involved being "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom 8:17), a staggering consideration! Aspire to inherit God, be a joint heir with Christ, and inherit the kingdom of God itself. It is there for you to possess. If you are in Christ, it is attainable because you are in Him.

– Given O. Blakely