Heirs according to what?

I have been blessed in the last week by a fresh reading of Galatians. When I read the Scriptures, I really do not aim to find controversial “prooftexts,” but sometimes I encounter passages which seem true while I recognize that some fairly large number of my brothers in Christ would disagree with my assessment. For instance, I was struck in Galatians 3 (a relatively small chapter) by the use of “faith,” “Abraham,” and “promise.” With a pretty even split, those three words appear for a total of 31 times in the chapter. And I ask myself simple questions like, “Does ‘heirs according to the promise’ apply to the Church today, or only to the people of Israel in the Old Testament?…surely it applies to all who are in Christ.”

And I remember my arguments from former days when I would say that the promises to Abraham were only for the Jews.

Then I read that the promises were made to “Abraham and his Seed” and then “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” and then “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” And I ponder quietly, “What was I thinking in the days that I ignored passages like these or explained them away?” May God be quick to remove my remaining blinders.