Charles Ellicott Commentary Galatians 3:6

"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness." — Galatians 3:6 (ASV)

Even as.—The argument here is very condensed. Ideas that lie close together in the Apostle’s mind are some distance apart in ours. He asks whether, in bestowing the gifts of the Spirit upon the Christian Church, God used the medium of the Law or of faith. He assumes the answer is faith, and his thoughts fly at once to that crucial instance of faith—the faith of Abraham.

Abraham believed God . . .—This is quoted from the Septuagint (LXX) version of Genesis 15:6. The same quotation is made in the same words and for the same purpose in Romans 4:3 (see the note there). Compare also the Excursus E to that Epistle, on “Imputed Righteousness.”

On verses 6-14:

These prolific results are due to faith and not to the Law, just as it was faith that won imputed righteousness for Abraham. Faith was the cause, and blessing was the consequence, which extends to all the spiritual descendants of Abraham.

The Scripture distinctly foresaw this when it declared that the heathen too (i.e., those who believe from among the heathen) should be blessed in Abraham.

The effects of the Law are just the opposite of this. Where faith brings a blessing, the Law brought a curse. The Law never made any person accepted as righteous. This is a privilege reserved for faith. The Law demands a literal fulfilment, which is impossible.

Hence, the Law entailed a curse, which Christ has removed by taking it upon Himself. Thus, the blessing promised to Abraham, and the outpouring of the Spirit included in it, have been extended to Gentiles as well as Jews, and indeed to all who give their adherence to Christ by faith.