ガラテヤの信徒への手紙3:7-9 Galatians 3:7-9,
聖書は、神が異邦人を信仰によって義となさることを見越して、『あなたのゆえに異邦人は皆祝福される』という福音をアブラハムに予告しました。（ガラテヤ3:8）
「神が異邦人を信仰によって義となさること」という言葉で、パウロはガラテヤの諸教会の信徒たちが、割礼という儀式を受けなくても、キリストを信じることによって神様に義と認められたことを指しています。そして、そのことは、「割礼の儀式を受けなければ完全な救いは得られない」と教えている人たちが引き合いに出しているアブラハム自身に示されていたことだ、とパウロは主張しているのです。すなわち、パウロは、アブラハムは割礼を受ける前に「あなたのゆえに異邦人は皆祝福される」という福音を神様から与えられていました、と聖書に基づいて主張しているのです。
「あなたのゆえに異邦人は皆祝福される」という言葉は、創世記の二つの箇所の言葉を組み合わせて引用されています。一つは、アブラハムが神様からの召しを受けてハランの町から旅に出た時に、神様から与えられた言葉です。創世記12章の2節と3節です。「わたしはあなたを大いなる国民にし／あなたを祝福し、あなたの名を高める／祝福の源となるように。あなたを祝福する人をわたしは祝福し／あなたを呪う者をわたしは呪う。地上の氏族はすべて／あなたによって祝福に入る。」もう一つは、罪深いソドムとゴモラの町の滅亡を告げる神の使いをアブラハムがもてなした後に、神様から与えられた言葉です。すなわち、創世記の18章18節です。そこに、「アブラハムは大きな強い国民になり、世界のすべての国民は彼によって祝福に入る」とあります。まず、「祝福する」という言葉が創世記で最初に出てくるのが、今お読みした12章の2節と3節です。そして、「異邦人」という言葉は、新約聖書のギリシア語でエスノスと言います。創世記18章18節の「すべての国民」という言葉は、ギリシア語版の旧約聖書で「すべてのエスノス」と書かれています。
つまり、パウロはガラテヤの信徒への手紙3章8節において、この二つの箇所を組み合わせることによって、異邦人は割礼の儀式を受けなくても「信仰によって義とされる」ということが、アブラハムの受けた祝福の約束によってあらかじめ示されていた、と言おうとしているのです。「福音」という言葉は、普通はキリストの救いの知らせのことを指します。ところが、パウロはアブラハムに与えられた約束を「福音」と呼ぶことによって、キリストの救いの知らせと同じことがアブラハムにも予告されていたことを明らかにしているのです。（10月8日の説教より）
The word “jiko-koteikan” (self-affirmation) in Japanese is one that we hear a lot these days. This word seems to be difficult to define academically based on psychology, but it is generally said to mean “a sense of affirming oneself as one is.” If you have a high sense of “self-affirmation,” you are able to express your opinions clearly and tackle things positively, which is why many books have been published on how to increase “self-affirmation” in Japan. However, there is a danger that simply having a high “self-affirmation” will make you an arrogant person who is assertive and does not listen to other people’s opinions. Therefore, it is important to have both “self-affirmation” and the humility to listen to other people’s opinions. However, this is not always easy. Many people may be overconfident because they have a high sense of “self-affirmation,” or they may be too humble because they are down on themselves. What does the Bible teach about this “self-affirmation”? Of course, the word “self-affirmation” itself does not exist in the Bible, but words related to it do. These are the words “justify” and “bless” in today’s passages.
The meaning of the biblical words “justify” and “bless” must be understood according to the biblical context in which they are used. Therefore, I would like to consider the context of today’s biblical passages in which these words appear. As we have discussed in the past, Paul, the writer of this letter, was a Jewish teacher who, before he believed in Christ, lived a life that strictly adhered to the teachings of the Old Testament law. However, while travelling towards the city of Damascus to persecute Christians, he encountered the risen Christ in heaven. He was then rebuked by Christ, “Why do you persecute me?” and made aware of his sin. He was then converted to a life believing in Jesus Christ and led by the Holy Spirit.
After his conversion, Paul became a preacher of Jesus Christ. On his first missionary journey, he evangelised the Galatian region, which is now the south-eastern part of Turkey, and led people to faith in Christ. Several Christian churches were established in the region. At that time, Paul taught that a person can be saved by believing in Christ. Paul was a man who had been transformed from a strict adherence to the teachings of the law to a life of faith in Christ and guidance by the Holy Spirit, so it was natural that he taught that “one is saved by believing in Christ.” However, after Paul left Galatia, other evangelists from the church of Jerusalem came to the churches of Galatia. These evangelists took Paul’s authority lightly and taught differently from him. The later evangelists taught that “one must not only believe in Christ, but also undergo the ritual of circumcision as required by the Old Testament law, in order to attain full salvation.” This greatly upset the religious life of the believers in the churches of Galatia.
When later evangelists taught that one cannot attain full salvation without undergoing the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law, the supposed basis for their teaching was the life of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham. Abraham was a man who was an ancestor of the Jewish people. At the time of Abraham, the law of circumcision was given. We will read Genesis 17:9-11in the Old Testament, which describes this.
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.”
The foreskin is the skin that surrounds the male penis. The practice of circumcision, in which the foreskin of the male penis is cut off, was often practised in the ancient world to strengthen fertility. God commanded it to Abraham and his descendants as a ritual to signify that they were God’s people. It was usually performed on the eighth day after birth, according to Leviticus 12:3. It was also done for non-Jews converting to Judaism, even if they were adults. And since Abraham, the ancestor of God’s people, underwent the ritual of circumcision, the evangelists who came after Paul would have argued that non-Jews, or Gentiles, who believed in Christ and became God’s people, would naturally have to undergo the same ritual.
In contrast, Paul draws on the same Abraham, based on the Old Testament, but teaches something more fundamental about Abraham’s relationship with God. Namely, in verse 6 before today’s passages, “Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’” This is a quote from the Old Testament book of Genesis 15:6. Abraham lived in a city called Ur in southern Mesopotamia, which is said to be one of the oldest cradles of civilisation in the world. In today’s country, this would be Iraq. Abraham moved with his family from there to a city called Haran in northern Mesopotamia. In Haran, he heard God’s call and set out on a further journey with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot. From then on, Abraham’s life became that of a traveller who lived in one place for a period of time and then followed God’s voice to travel to another place. He lived a nomadic life, moving with his livestock.
Then Abraham and his wife Sarah grew old. To Abraham, who had lived according to God’s voice, God said, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. (Gen. 15:1)” But Abraham said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me?” and he replied, “For I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. (Gen. 15:2)” He then said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. (Gen. 15:3)” Abraham was already old and childless, so he probably wanted to say that no matter how great a reward God gave him, it would only be inherited by “a member of his household,” a man called “Eliezer of Damascus.” In other words, the words of Abraham are: “No matter what reward you give me now, my descendants will not inherit that reward.” It sounds like he was grumbling, complaining, angry and frustrated because God did not give him descendants.
However, God did not condemn Abraham for his grumbling, complaining, anger and frustration, but told him, “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir. (Gen. 15:4)” He then took Abraham outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them,” declaring, “So shall your offspring be. (Genesis 15:5)” For Abraham, who had no children, the promise that his descendants would increase beyond counting like the stars in the sky was, to common sense, unbelievable. The Lord God quietly presented that incredible promise before Abraham. Abraham’s response to this was that he believed in the Lord God. And God counted Abraham’s simple response of believing “as righteousness. (Gen. 15:6)”
In verse 7 of today’s passages, Paul tells us, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” Before Abraham underwent the ritual of circumcision, he had already been justified by God through faith and was in a right relationship with God. Therefore, it is a mistake to say that one cannot be counted as righteous by God without undergoing the ritual of circumcision. The believers in the churches of Galatia, when they heard the teaching that “one is saved by believing in Christ” and believed in Christ, were counted as righteous by God and had a right relationship with God, just as Abraham was. Paul then connects “justified” with “blessed” in the next verse 8, writing that “the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’”
By “God would justify the Gentiles by faith,” Paul is referring to the Galatian believers being justified by God through faith in Christ, without having to undergo the ritual of circumcision. And this, Paul argues, was demonstrated by Abraham himself, who was cited by those who teach that full salvation cannot be attained without the ritual of circumcision. In other words, Paul is arguing, on the basis of Scripture, that Abraham was given the gospel by God before he was circumcised: “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
The words “In you shall all the nations be blessed,” are taken from a combination of two passages in Genesis. The first is the words given by God to Abraham when he set out on his journey from the city of Haran after receiving a call from God. Genesis 12:2-3, “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.” The second is the words given by God after Abraham entertained God’s messenger announcing the destruction of the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Namely, in Genesis 18:18, it says: “Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” First of all, the word “bless” first appears in Genesis in 12:2-3, which I have just read. Then, the word “Gentile” is ethnos (ἔθνος) in New Testament Greek. The word “nation” in Genesis 18:18 is “ethnos” in the Greek version of the Old Testament.
In other words, by combining these two passages in Galatians 3:8, Paul is trying to say that the promise of the blessing received by Abraham showed beforehand that Gentiles could be “justified by faith” without having to undergo the ritual of circumcision. The word “gospel” usually refers to the saving news of Christ. However, by calling the promise given to Abraham “gospel,” Paul makes it clear that the same news of Christ’s salvation was foretold to Abraham.
In verse 9, Paul notes one conclusion: “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” In other words, the conclusion is that just as Abraham was already justified and blessed by faith before he underwent the ritual of circumcision, so those who believe in Christ are justified and blessed by God even without undergoing the ritual of circumcision. How does this conclusion connect with the issue of “self-affirmation” I spoke about at the beginning of today’s sermon? Immediately after today’s Scripture passage, Paul declares in contrast to being justified and blessed by God through faith, that by works of the law we are not justified but cursed. In other words, by the works of “I have done,” one is not counted as righteous and is cursed and perishes. What is valued in human society in general is performance, which is the result of deeds. In school and in the workplace, the first thing that is usually questioned is how well you have achieved in your studies and in your works. In society, if you do not achieve results, you will be evaluated negatively. Not only that, but even in the home, the foundation of human life, do not couples, parents and children often judge each other on the basis of whether the other has achieved what they expected of them?
In other words, our human reality tends to be that we tend to evaluate and judge each other negatively and lower our “self-affirmation.” In such a harsh reality, how much sense does it make if we read a recent book and try to do what it says in order to increase our “self-affirmation”? The biblical teaching of “self-affirmation” is not such a simple thing. The Bible teaches “self-affirmation” when you have completely denied yourself. In other words, the Bible teaches the consciousness of sin, that we are unable to do any of the things God’s law teaches, by God’s standards. Namely, even if we live like good people on the surface, we are not really doing anything that God requires of us. And to such a sinful person, God says that because of your faith in Christ, God will regard what you have done as the perfect righteousness that Christ has achieved on the cross, and will forgive your sins and count you as righteous, which is the basis of the Christian’s “self-affirmation.” It might be better described as “affirmation by God” rather than “self-affirmation.” It is not that we affirm ourselves, but that we are affirmed by God even when we cannot affirm ourselves.
The word “blessed” usually conjures up images of a life blessed with good health, work, money, family and friends. But how many people on earth are blessed with all of these things? And even those who are blessed with all these things now, there is no guarantee that it will last forever. In the first place, life on earth itself is limited. Therefore, while the word “blessed” does not exclude the various blessings we receive on earth, the greatest blessing of all is to be received into heaven with eternal life and to be resurrected to a body of eternal life on the Last Day. As confessed in the Apostles’ Creed, “the resurrection of the body” and “the life everlasting” are the ultimate blessing, the ultimate “affirmation by God.” We want to believe in this ultimate blessing and walk in faith in the God who makes the impossible possible.