Abramo ripudia Agar e Ismaele by Guercino in 1657. Source. More info on artist.

by Brian Shilhavy

The answer to the question, “Who are the children of Abraham?”, is one that has been largely misunderstood and corrupted by religious dogma for thousands of years now.

And yet, the answer to this question is very clearly, and very exhaustively, explained in the New Testament portion of the Bible, primarily in the writings of the apostle (ambassador, or emissary) Paul.

One of the best explanations of who are the children of Abraham is in Paul’s letter to the believers in Galatia in the First Century. Galatia was a province in the Roman Empire at the time, in what is today central Turkey.

Paul and his companions traveled through the region bringing the “Good News” (gospel) about Jesus Christ to the people, and as a result, congregations of believers in Christ were formed in some of the cities.

From the Jewish perspective, these people would be considered “Greeks” or “Gentiles”, because they were not ethnic Jews, and they had no physical genealogy back to Abraham.

The setting for Paul’s letter to the believers congregating in Galatia, was a controversy that had arisen in the First Century between the ethnic and religious Jews and the non-Jews (Gentiles) who had become disciples of Jesus Christ.

The controversy had started in Antioch, just north of Damascus, and apparently spread to Galatia as well.

This controversy started with the Jews who had accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah, but believed that Gentile believers had to basically become part of Judaism, the Jewish religion based on the teachings of Moses, often referred to as “The Law”, because it encompassed the Ten Commandments and all the other laws delivered to Moses, which are recorded in the first 5 books of the Old Testament section of the Bible.

These “Jewish believers” insisted that the “Gentile believers” had to obey all the laws of Moses, including becoming circumcised.

The issue came to a head and was dealt with in Jerusalem, where most of the original apostles who spent time with Jesus before he was resurrected from the dead and then returned to heaven were living, in Acts chapter 15.

James, who was the half-brother of Jesus, was a key person at this meeting. Paul was there as well, and they all agreed that the Gentile believers were not obligated to keep the Mosaic law as a requirement to be part of the congregations of disciples of Jesus, and especially that they did not need to be circumcised.

But some of the Jewish believers continued to insist that the Gentile believers be circumcised and become religious Jewish converts, and apparently some of them had made their way into Galatia causing great controversy, and prompting Paul to pen his letter to the believers meeting there.

Paul, himself being both an ethnic Jew as well as a religious Jew of the Pharisee sect, but also a Roman citizen, does not hold back his anger in his criticism of these Jews, and the local believers who started to follow them.

I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different “good news”; and there isn’t another “good news.”

Only there are some who trouble you, and want to pervert the Good News of Christ.

But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.

As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any “good news” other than that which you received, let him be cursed.

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-10)

The “Seed” of Abraham

So this letter to the believers in Galatia deals head on with this controversy between the Jews and the non-Jews, and we are very fortunate to have it included in the Bible. Paul clearly articulates his credentials as an “apostle” and how he received the “good news” directly by revelation from Jesus Christ himself in this letter. (Read Galatians 1 & 2)

In Galatians 3, he clearly defines who “the children of Abraham” are:

Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the “good news” in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:6-9)

Paul is quoting passages here written in the book of Genesis, the first of the 5 books that Moses wrote.

The first quote, “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.“, comes from Genesis 15:6.

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”

And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.”

Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:1-6)

The second quote Paul used in Galatians 3, “All nations will be blessed through you.”, is taken from Genesis chapter 12:

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

While Genesis was written in Hebrew, Paul’s letters were written in the Greek language, and the word that he used in Galatians 3:8 to quote Genesis 12:3, which most English translations translate as “nations”, is ethnos in the Greek.

“Nations” today mostly means geopolitical “nations” in modern English, but the word in the Greek, ethnos, has a much wider meaning of “race,” or “ethnic group.” Our English words such as “ethnic” and “ethnicity” come from this Greek word.

So Paul is very clearly stating here that the covenant blessings of Abraham, which were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, were based NOT on Abraham’s ethnicity, but on Abraham’s faith, as stated in Genesis 15:6, and that through Abraham, God was going to bless ALL ETHNIC GROUPS, including those who did not have a physical genealogy back to him.

Paul then goes on in his letter to the Galatians to explain that the “Good News” and the blessings of Abraham are based on Abraham’s faith and the promise that God (Yahweh) made to Abraham, and are NOT based on the Mosaic Law, which came 430 years later.

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”

The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:10-14)

And now we come to the heart of the matter in this next section in Galatians 3 that Paul wrote.

This was the heart of the controversy in the First Century between the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers, and it is the heart of the controversy of so many issues facing us today, especially among the three religions that all look to Abraham as their founder: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The heart of this controversy is the “Seed of Abraham.”

Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.

What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

What, then, was the purpose of the law?

It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.

The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not!

For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:15-29)

This truth, which is so eloquently explained by Paul in Galatians 3, and elsewhere such as in his letters to the Romans and Ephesians, is the GOOD NEWS, the “gospel,” which applies to every single human being, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, or any other way of classifying human beings, because it is based on FAITH, the same faith that Abraham had.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:4-9)

The one physical descendant of Abraham that truly mattered, was Jesus Christ, Isa Al-Mesih, Yeshua ha-Mashiach, or whatever other language you want to use to refer to the Seed of Abraham, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was executed as the perfect lamb of God as a sacrifice for our sins, and then walked out of the grave in triumph 3 days later, defeating Satan and death.

Now, the English word “seed” here is sperma in the original Greek language that Paul used.

It can mean a literal seed that is planted into the ground to grow into a plant, and it is also used for a male “sperm” which is the human “seed.”

But in Galatians 3, he writes this:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

This is a spiritual “seed.” He just conclusively proved that the children of Abraham are by faith, and not ethnic genealogy.

Not understanding that there is also a spiritual seed has caused many controversies throughout the history of the human race.

I cover this more thoroughly in my article: Identifying the Luciferian Globalists Implementing the New World Order – Who are the “Jews”?, but the truth of this spiritual seed goes all the way back to the earliest pages of the first book in the Bible, and one of the first things that Moses wrote as dictated by angels, in Genesis chapter 3.

And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

And Jehovah God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. (Genesis 3:13-15)

I purposely chose an English version of this passage, which was originally written in Hebrew, that used the English word “seed,” as some translations use “offspring” or “descendants” here.

But the “seed” of the serpent here does not refer to baby snakes, but is a spiritual “seed” that infected the human race.

We see it manifested immediately in the next chapter of Genesis, in the story of Cain and his brother Abel, where this spiritual “seed” of Satan enters into Cain who then murders his brother Abel.

It is clearly not a physical “seed,” because genetically they were brothers born from the same parents, Adam and Eve.

The physical seed of Eve passed down through her physical descendants to Abraham, and then to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ understood about “spiritual seeds,” as he explained to one of the Jewish religious leaders of his day that to enter the Kingdom of God, one had to be “born again” spiritually. (See John Chapter 3.)

The “Good News” Applies to Everyone!

In a world filled with lies, disinformation, and fake news, this truth that EVERYONE can be a descendant of Abraham through faith is truly “Good News”!

This truth has been perverted by religions that teach the opposite, that one must join their religion and believe their “doctrines” in order to be accepted by God and take advantage of the blessings of Abraham.

Many Jews and Zionist Christians believe that the blessings of Abraham only come through the physical descendants (seed) of  Abraham, and most Muslims get tripped up over the term “Son of God” because they only see that term as a physical “son.”

But as Paul wrote in Galatians 3:26: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Paul even wrote in Galatians 3:20: “God is one,” which is the basic tenant of the Islamic faith.)

This is a spiritual relationship through faith, just as the true descendants of Abraham are those who are the disciples of Jesus through faith.

There are very many other problems with these three religions, but the purpose of this article is not a critique of the Abrahamic religions.

The purpose of this article is to clearly define “the Good News” and define the “Children of Abraham,” showing that this Good News applies to every single human being, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, or any other way of classifying human beings.

Those who believe in Jesus enter into the spiritual Kingdom of God, and become part of, not a church, not a synagogue, nor a mosque, but a universal “brotherhood” of believers consisting of people of all ethnic races.

And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:4)

And that is truly GOOD NEWS!