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The Gospel Preached Before to Abraham
Paul now reaches backward to Abraham. He quotes Genesis 15:6—Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness—then combines that with the promise that the nations would be blessed through Abraham. Paul makes the connection explicit: Scripture “preached before the gospel unto Abraham.” The family of Abraham is therefore identified by faith, and the blessing promised in Genesis opens outward to the nations.
Genesis promises that all families of the earth will be blessed through Abram; Galatians 3:8 quotes that promise and explicitly says Scripture was preaching the gospel beforehand. Paul therefore gives inspired interpretation of the nations-blessing promise rather than merely noticing a similar theme.
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