Here Paul concluded the opening historical section of his letter by stating clearly that justification was not secured by human works of any kind but only through faith in Jesus Christ (2:16). This was the central thesis Paul was defending against certain Jewish-Christian missionaries who had come into Galatia insisting that Paul’s converts there submit to circumcision and other observances of the Jewish law in order to achieve a right standing before God.

The Judaizers pointed to the Law of Moses as the means to salvation. Paul demonstrates that Abraham, who preceded Moses by 430 years, was saved by faith and not self-effort. To further discredit the Judaizers’ emphasis on circumcision, Paul noted that Abraham was justified prior to his circumcision (Gen. 17:24). Therefore, the Judaizers could not argue that the law and circumcision were necessary for salvation because Abraham was saved apart from both of them.

Abraham’s real children are not his physical descendants but his spiritual descendants. His real children are those who believe God and are therefore justified by faith and not the law.