Berean Sudbury

THE STORY OF GLORY: HOW GOD MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN IN
THE BIBLE
BOOK VII: THE EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL:
LETTERS TO THE CHURCHES: II PAUL'S LETTERS
D. Galatians: How is a sinner made right with God?
Glossary: Some terms to remember:
-justification: to be declared right by God; no longer guilty (see Romans)
Key Verse: Galatians 6:14: But God forbid that 1 should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and! unto the world.
Key Thought: Justification can only be by faith.
Contents:
Chapters Key Word Description
1-2 Apostolic Gospel Authoritative, Authentic and Approved
3-4 Atoning Cross Spiritual Work; Scriptural Basis; Sonship
as Result
5-6 Applied Christianity Liberty, Love and Life in the Spirit
Week 1: Five Pivotal Passages: Exploring the Themes of Galatians: Monday: Read Galatians 1:1-10
What are the key elements of this Gospel which Paul sets out to defend?
Tuesday: Read Galatians 1:11-2:10
How does Paul's experience demonstrate both his independent witness and the consistent message he has with the other apostles?
Wednesday: Read Galatians 2:1 1-3:5 and 4:8-20
Paul repeatedly uses the term "in vain": what would be "in vain" if the false Gospel was believed by the Galatians? Why?
Thursday: Read Galatians 3:6-18
What is the Gospel? How does it relate to the promises of the Old Testament? (That is, how does Paul demonstrate that his message is Biblical?)
Friday: Read Galatians 3:19-4:7
What are the products and results of the Gospel believed?
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Central Themes:
1. Apostolic Preaching of the Cross — "The Truth of the Gospel" (2:5)
a) Its Authority from God: 1:1-12
-the charge: Paul's apostleship is second rate; his message differs from that of the first rank of apostles in Jerusalem in the matter of circumcision/Law
-Paul's answer: the Gospel is about revelation, not deduction: as one who received revelation, he is independent from, but equal to, the other apostles
b) Its Approval by All: 2:1-14
-but: having demonstrated his independence from them, he shows in ch.2 that they agreed with him, and extended the right hand of fellowship
-the incident with Peter demonstrated the rule: compare Acts 15
c) Its Accomplishments: (see Monday's question)
i) Purpose of Christ fulfilled: 1:4
-four key points about Paul's Gospel, and the place of the Cross in it:
i) voluntary death of Christ: He gave Himself (see 2:20)
ii) vicarious death: "for our sins" underlines that He is a substitute
iii) victorious death: "to deliver us from this present evil age" : compare John 5:24 (and see flesh and Spirit in Galatians 5:16-26)
ii) Powerful transformation in Paul's own life: 1:13-24
-does it work? Paul points again to himself: he changed, when God so chose, from one who was blaspheming and persecuting, to one who serves the Lord
iii) Pardon of Grace: Justified by Faith in Christ: 2:15-21
-more theologically expressed: works are hopeless as a source of righteousness: Paul notes that...
i) the false teaching opposes grace: see 1:6-7: 1:15 it is grace that called Paul to Christ; 2:21: he does not want to "frustrate" God's grace
ii) the gospel of the false teachers is "vain" : 2:21:
-3:4 asks if their sufferings are in vain:
-4:11 finds Paul wondering why he bothers to preach to them at great personal cost if they could have saved themselves
2. Atoning Power of Christ:3:1-4:7
a) The Spirit's Role; 3:1-5, 14
-the coming of the Spirit is a key marker of the New Covenant: see Ezekiel 36:25-27; Joel 2:28-32; Zechariah 4:6; note that this is the point in Acts 2:38-39; so the question is: how did this come to pass?
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b) The Scriptural Roots: 3:6-29
i) how was Abraham saved? Compare Romans 4; Genesis 15:6: he was "justified by faith", and had the Gospel preached to him
ii) the Old Testament taught that Gentiles also would be justified by faith, apart from the Law: the promise to Abraham was for all nations
iii) the Law results in the curse that works cannot remove; only in Christ, made a curse for us(Deuteronomy 21:23; 27:26), is the curse removed
iv) the Law and the Gospel, then, are seen to be fundamentally different by the Old Testament itself: Leviticus 18:5 underlining the essence of Law; and Habakkuk 2:4 giving the essence of Gospel
v) the false gospel claims that Moses is original, but Paul points out that the Gospel is rooted in the promise to Abraham by faith, which predates Moses by some four centuries! The Law must serve the Gospel
c) The "Seed" Revealed: 3:6-29
-since "seed" is singular, it refers not to all descendants, but only to one —Christ; the promise only applies to Him — and those "in Him"
d) The Sonship that Results: 4:1-7
-those who do share in Christ share in all that is in Christ!
Week 2: Five Pivotal Applications: Exploring the Purpose of Galatians Monday: Read Galatians 4:8-5:1
What is Paul saying here about the relation between his Jewish background and the church?
Tuesday: Read Galatians 5:1-12
Why does Paul believe that giving in to the demand to be circumcised would
undermine the Gospel so severely that Christ would be "of no effect"?
Wednesday: Read Galatians 5:13-26
Why is this Gospel of free grace not open to the charge of allowing or encouraging sin?
Thursday: Read Galatians 5:22-6:10
What does life in the Spirit look like? How does 6:1-10 illustrate 5:22-26?
Friday: Read Galatians 6:11-18
In summary, why does the cross matter?
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Key Applications in Galatians:
1. Adversaries of Freedom Identified: 4:8-20
"beggarly elements" that attract: 4:8-11: similarity with pagan past
-failure to discern faithful teachers: 4:12-20: -persuasive, but not from God: 5:7-10
2. Allegory of Freedom: 4:21-31
-Hagar/Ishmael represent bondage, the "earthly Jerusalem", Mount Sinai; whereas Sarah/Isaac represent freedom, the "Jerusalem from above": once the "son of promise" was born, the son of the slave woman had to leave
3. Admonition to Stand Firm in Freedom: 5:1-15
i) do not become debtors to the law or its empty rituals
ii) beware the temptation to mix grace and works: it is "either/or" (Romans 11:6)
-but this is not "free to sin" because freedom is i) through the Spirit: 5:5; ii) the hope of righteousness by faith: 5:5; iii) faith working by love: 5:6; iv) obeying • the truth: 5:7
-and therefore it is not: i) selfish or ii) serving the flesh: see 5:13-15
4. Abundant Fruit: 5:16-26
a) Lusts of the Flesh: 5:16-21
-so completely foreign to the Kingdom that practitioners are excluded
b) Life in the Spirit: 5:18, 22-26
-again, freedom that is "through the Spirit" will therefore be in line with the will of God: will become like Christ, and will not boast
5. Applied Freedom: 6:1-18
a) example: 6:1-5: the fruit of the Spirit applied to a crisis in the church
b) encouragement: 6:6-10: call for good teaching that applies the Word
c) endure: 6:11-13: see that suffering for the cause of Christ is part of the witness of the church — which is why attempts to avoid the shame of the cross end up destroying the whole of Christianity
d) exult: 6:14-18: rather than trying to avoid the shame of the cross, make it your boast: there is nothing that can do what the cross has done!
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From the Willisville Hill

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Ro 1:20