What did God promise Abraham? Paul says that Abraham and his seed were promised an inheritance (Galatians 3:18, 29), and that inheritance includes the blessing of the nations (Galatians 3:8), the gift of the Spirit (Galatians 3:14), and righteousness (Galatians 3:6).
These are not discrete gifts in Paul’s mind. The transition from Galatians 3:5 to 3:6 makes this clear. 3:5 says that the Galatians received the Spirit by hearing with faith, and Paul compares this ( kathos , “just as”) to Abram being reckoned righteous by faith. The analogy is: Galatians:Abraham; faith:faith; reception of Spirit:righteousness.
Likewise, the inheritance of righteousness is linked to the Abrahamic blessing of the nations in verse 8: Scripture foresees that the nations will be justified by faith when it promises that Abram will be a blessing to the nations. Blessing is eulogeo , etymologically, “good-word.” The blessing that Yahweh pronounces over the nations is evidently the blessing of being counted righteous; “you are just” is the good word that God speaks to those who believe in Christ.
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