STUDY OF GALATIANS (Part-1)

Study of Galatians (part 1)

Galatia:
    – Located in the center of what is now known as Asia Minor.
    – Original inhabitants (Phrygians) had a religion of nature worship.
    – Many Jews lived there.
    – Galatians were noted for their:
      1. Impetuosity (being impetuous).
               – Impulsiveness.
               – Acting with sudden energy and little thought.
      2. Fickleness.
               – Unstable in affection, interest, etc.
      3. Love for new and curious things.

    – Paul visited Galatia on his 1st and 3rd journeys.
      Note:
      The Holy Spirit forbid him from
      preaching there on his 2nd journey.
          Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region
          of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy
          Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
          (Acts 16:6)

    – At the time of Paul’s writing, there were some people in the
      area who recognized that salvation was of Christ, but felt
      that works were also necessary for salvation.
      Note:
      The Galatians were starting to embrace this way of thinking.

GALATIANS 1
VERSE 1.
Paul identifies himself and explains that he is on a mission. Not
just any mission, but a mission assigned to him by God and His Son.
    Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man,
    but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised
    him from the dead (Galatians 1:1)

VERSE 2.
He also makes sure they understand that the message he is
sending them is from him and other Christians with him.
    and all the brothers and sisters with me.
    To the churches in Galatia:
    (Galatians 1:2)

VERSE 3.
He reminds the Galatians of God’s love, by asking
Him to bless the people in the church at Galatia.
    Grace and peace to you from God
    our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
    (Galatians 1:3)

VERSE 4.
Paul reminds them that Jesus died for their sins
in obedience to God the Father, so that everyone
could be delivered from the evil environment they
were living in.
    who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from
    the present evil age, according to the will of our
    God and Father,
    (Galatians 1:4)

Question:
How did He deliver them? Were His plans to remove them,
from their sinful environment, or was it to provide them with
the ability to live a different type of life (with God in control)?

VERSE 5.
Just the mere mention of God’s
name caused Paul to start praising Him!
    to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
    (Galatians 1:5)

Question:
Do you think we praise God as much as we should?
Do you praise God as much as you should?

Question:
Do you think we thank Him enough for all He has done for us?
Do you thank Him often?

VERSE 6.
Paul tells them that he is perplexed over their acceptance of
a new gospel. Not only were they accepting this new gospel,
but they were embracing it so soon after hearing the gospel
of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for them.
    I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the
    one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and
    are turning to a different gospel
    (Galatians 1:6)

Question:
Why did he say “so quickly”?
Did he mean so soon after accepting the ‘real’ gospel?
Or, was he talking about so quickly embracing a new
and different gospel from others?

Question:
Was Paul concerned that they may have
never fully accepted the one and only true gospel?

VERSE 7.
Paul shows his great concern over the impact this new (and wrong)
gospel would have on them, and their understanding of the gospel
of Christ. He wanted them to know that the people with this new
gospel were distorting the truth, and it was confusing them.
    which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some
    people are throwing you into confusion and are
    trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
    (Galatians 1:7)

VERSE 8.
Paul wanted them to understand the seriousness of claiming
there was any gospel other than the gospel of Christ. He was
emphasizing the dangers of embracing any other gospel. Paul
new it was a serious error in judgment, and he wanted them to
be aware of the consequences of making bad decisions.
    But even if we, or an angel from heaven should
    preach a gospel other than the one we preached
    to you, let them be under God’s curse!
    (Galatians 1:8)

VERSE 9.
Just to be sure they understand the seriousness of believing
and following any false gospels, Paul repeats his message to
them about the consequences of making a choice of this type.
It seems that Paul wanted to ensure they did not consider it
as something to be taken lightly, but it was a serious matter.
    As we have already said, so now I say again:
    If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other
    than what you accepted, let them be under
    God’s curse!
    (Galatians 1:9)

VERSE 10.
It appears that Paul realized his message might be considered
harsh to them so wanted them to understand that in order for
him to answer God’s call for him to serve, he could not tailor
the true gospel to make it pleasant to their ears.

Obviously he was concerned about the risk of the Galatians
being lured away from the Lord, so he was not going to
‘sugar-coat’ the rigidness of God’s gospel in order to win
the favor of someone and to be liked by them.

As parents, we can relate, can’t we? There are times when
we cannot bend any rules that could result in harm to our
children. We want them to know and understand the
consequences of making bad choices, don’t we?
    Am I now trying to win the approval of human
    beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?
    If I were still trying to please people, I would not
    be a servant of Christ.
    (Galatians 1:10)

Question:
What about our choices of either accepting the true gospel
of Christ, or being lured by any ‘watered-down’ messages
tailored to ‘fit’ our lifestyle?

VERSE 11.
Paul validates that the gospel he is sharing with them is not
one that he created as a result of listening to the ideas from
other people, but he was giving them the divine gospel he
had been given to share.
    I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that
    the gospel I preached is not of human origin.
    (Galatians 1:11)

VERSE 12.
Just to be clear in his explanation, Paul again emphasized that
man had nothing to do with his message; it was the gospel he
was given by Jesus Christ. It sounds like Paul was saying tpo
them, “This is the gospel of Jesus and I am just His messenger,
so if you have issues with it, you need to discuss them with Jesus.”
    I did not receive it from any man, nor was
    I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation
    from Jesus Christ.
    (Galatians 1:12)

Question:
Are there some guidelines that we have been given by the Lord
that inhibit our lifestyle, so we make a choice to ignore them?

In our world we know there are some commands God has given
us that are often debated. Those in opposition will take scriptures
out of context, or ‘parse’ some scripture in order to support their
objections and continue with some habits which are outside God’s
guidelines. Remember when Satan was tempting Eve, he said,
“Did God really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
    Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the
    wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to
    the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not
    eat from any tree in the garden’?”
    (Genesis 3:1)

He was trying to distort God’s command in order to lure
her to embrace a different gospel that would allow her to
fulfill her own desires, wasn’t he?

Question:
What areas of our own lives are we susceptible to
embracing distorted versions of God’s Word as a
way to justify continuing habits that are not within
His guidelines?
    Note:
    If we feel the need to justify our choices, then
    we should ask ourselves if we are exceeding
    God’s guidelines in some way.

VERSE 13-14.
In preparing to explain how his life had changed when he met
Jesus, Paul was honest and transparent about the type of person
he was before he met Jesus. He didn’t try to hide the fact that he
was driven by Jewish traditions (which did not accept the gospel
of Jesus), and how his fanaticism resulted in his persecution of
the church of God and those who were members of it. Paul was
using his position to advance his image as a devout Jew, and he
was focused on his own personal reputation and how his actions
would contribute to his personal gain.
    For you have heard of my previous way of life
    in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the
    church of God and tried to destroy it. I was
    advancing in Judaism beyond many of my
    own age among my people and was extremely
    zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
    (Galatians 1:13-14)

Question:
Can you think of any examples today where someone
who wants to enhance their own reputation and wealth
are distorting the gospel of Christ as a way of influencing
others to follow them and contribute to their mission (even
though it does not align with God’s Word)?

VERSE 15.
Even though he did not know it, or understand it, after Paul
met Jesus, he discovered that God had a plan and a purpose
for him before he was even born. Paul now understood that
God chose to reveal His plan for him at a time of His choosing.
    But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s
    womb and called me by his grace, was pleased
    (Galatians 1:15)

Note:
As our Creator, God has a plan and purpose for every person
and we have a responsibility to discover His purpose for our
lives and to be diligent about following His plan for us.

Question(s):
Have you discovered His plan and purpose for you? If not,’
then why not? If you know His plan and purpose, what are
you doing about it? Have you altered your lifestyle, habits
and attitudes to fit within His guidelines?

VERSE 16.
Paul explains that God had called him to preach the gospel
of Christ, and after he realized his purpose, he would not
allow the opinions of others to influence him to distort God’s
message.
    to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach
    him among the Gentiles, my immediate response
    was not to consult any human being
    (Galatians 1:16)

Question(s):
Do you think God has a pre-ordained purpose for each of
us today? When do you think He will reveal that purpose
to us?

Question:
How does you think He reveals His purpose to us?
    – Through the Holy Spirit?
    – Through other people?
    – Through the reading of His Word?
    – Through situations?
    – Others?

Question:
Faith in Christ + ??? = Salvation?
                              (??? = nothing)

Question:
What are some things people try to add
today as a requirement for salvation?
    – Church membership?
    – Others?

GALATIANS 2
– Paul describes a dispute he had with
  Peter about Peter’s conduct in Antioch.

– Peter and the other Jewish Christians would
  not sit down and eat with the Gentile believers.
  Note:
  This suggested that the Gentiles had
  something lacking in their salvation.

VERSE 15.
Jewish pride caused them to refer to the Gentiles
as sinners, which implied that only Jews were righteous.
    “We who are Jews by birth
      and not sinful Gentiles
      (Galatians 2:15)

VERSE 16.
Paul explained that the way to God is the same for the Jews
and the Gentiles; all had the same opportunity to be saved.
    know that a person is not justified by the works
    of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we,
    too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we
    may be justified by faith in Christ and not by
    the works of the law, because by the works of
    the law no one will be justified.
    (Galatians 2:16)

Paul wanted them to understand that they could not require
anything of the Gentiles that they don’t require of themselves.
He also emphasized that faith in Christ is the requirement
and works have nothing to do with receiving God’s salvation.
    Note:
    James tells us that works (serving God) is a confirmation
    that we have received salvation, but it is not a requirement
    to be fulfilled in order to be saved.
        What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone
        claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith
        save them?
        (James 2:14)

        But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
        Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you
        my faith by my deeds.
        (James 2:18)

Question:
Have you confirmed your salvation through your works?

VERSE 17.
Paul explains that since the requirements for Jews and
Gentiles are the same, and since they consider Gentiles
to be sinners, does that mean that God is furthering His
mission through the work of sin?
    “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ,
     we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,
     doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin?
     Absolutely not!
     (Galatians 2:17)

VERSE 18.
Paul continues his explanation: If we say that Jews are saved
by faith, but Gentiles must include works according to the law,
then we are indicting ourselves, since the plan of salvation is
the same for all (in other words, the law must apply to the Jews
in the same way it applies to the Gentiles).
    If I rebuild what I destroyed,
    then I really would be a lawbreaker.
    (Galatians 2:18)

VERSE 19.
Paul says that the restrictions of the law caused despair and
drove him to find peace, which was productive, because it led
to his salvation through faith. The law served a purpose in his
life, but now he was controlled by the laws of God, so the law
was not longer needed by him (so he died to it).
    “For through the law I died to the
     law so that I might live for God.
     (Galatians 2:19)

VERSE 20.
Paul continues:
Self is no longer the controlling force in my life,
but Christ living in me guides my life, decisions, etc.
    I have been crucified with Christ and I no
    longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life
    I now live in the body, I live by faith in the
    Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
    for me.
    (Galatians 2:20)

Note:
Paul felt a closeness to Christ, and he had an
appreciation for the sacrifice He made for him.

Question(s):
How close do you feel to Jesus and how much do you
appreciate the sacrifice He made for you? Is your
appreciation shown through your words, actions,
attitudes, habits, and use of the spiritual gift He
has given you? How are you serving Him today?

VERSE 21.
Paul was determined to not reject the grace (gift) of God
by accepting the gospel of salvation through the law;
…to do so would mean that Christ’s sacrifice was in vain.
    I do not set aside the grace of God, for if
    righteousness could be gained through
    the law, Christ died for nothing!”
    (Galatians 2:21)

Four things we can learn from this portion of Galatians:
1. There is only true gospel – it is the gospel of Christ.

2. The death of Christ has the power to
    deliver (rescue) us from the destructive power of sin.

3. Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.

4. Faith is the commitment of our entire person
    to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and serving
    Him is confirmation of our salvation.

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