STUDY OF GALATIANS (Part-4b)

Study of Galatians (Part-4)

Question:
Being a Christian involves more than just getting saved.
Do you agree or disagree?

Question:
What more is there to being a Christian?

Question:
What are some responsibilities of being a Christian?

Question:
What are some benefits of being a Christian?

Question:
What are some ways people change after becoming a Christian?
How have YOU changed?

Question:
Do some people seem to become stagnant?
Have YOU become stagnant, or are you focused on growing
closer to the Lord and trying to find new ways of serving Him?

Question:
Do some people seem to slide backwards (their
outward appearance implies they are not Christians?)
    Note:
    God will see to it that backsliding leads to a crisis.
    He will only let backsliding go so far. There is a
    sin unto death.
        Note:
        This could mean that if we are backsliding too far,
        we will be detrimental to God’s purpose, and as a
        result, He will remove us from the world.

Question:
What should be the goal of all Christians?

Question:
What can we do to avoid pitfalls of sin and improve our Christian life?

Question:
How do children grow from childhood to adulthood?

Question:
What do you notice in children in relation to their parents?
– They tend to develop the same mannerisms, attitudes, etc.

Question:
Are Christians children of God?

Question:
As His children, shouldn’t we have a natural tendency
to develop mannerisms and attitudes that are similar to God’s?
    Question:
    If we don’t have this natural tendency and desire,
    should we question our salvation?

Paul talks about believers as God’s children.

GALATIANS 3
VERSE 29.
Christians are descendants of Abraham,
and heirs to God’s promise of eternal life.

GALATIANS 4
VERSE 1.
Paul says that an heir has it all, but not while he is a child;
as a child, he owns no more than a slave.

VERSE 2.
Even though one is a future heir, they are under the control
of others (his or her parents make their decisions), until the
time for him or her to inherit their father’s estate.

VERSE 3.
Paul reminds us that prior to Christ,
people were under the control of the world.
Note:
In other words, people were under the control
of the world until they reached a spiritual maturity.

VERSE 4.
At God’s appointed time, He sent His human Son (made of woman).
Just as a father determines when his heir is mature enough to own
his estate, God determines when we are spiritually mature enough
to receive His Son.

VERSE 5.
Question:
What does ‘redeem’ mean?
    – To buy back.
      Note:
      Jesus was sent to provide redemption for those who
      believe. As a result of what Jesus did, we can become
      adopted children of God.

VERSE 6.
As adopted children of God, God sends His Spirit to us.
Note:
This is the beginning of our inheritance.

We no longer have to face life alone;
the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf.
    – He cries out ‘Father, my Father’.

VERSE 7.
As children of God, we are no longer slaves to the
world, but we have God to help us make our with
our decisions of what we will allow into our lives
and what we will exclude. This is one of the benefits
God has given to those who have become heirs. When
we become His heirs, it opens up opportunities for us
to receive all God has to offer.

VERSE 8.
Before we were Christians, we gave were influenced by
the things the world has to offer (which is a natural
tendency for non-Christians).

VERSE 9.
But now that we know God, and He knows us, Paul asks
why would we want to be under the control of the world
again?
Question:
After experiencing the blessings God has for His heirs,
what would cause us to even think about returning to
the control of the world?

VERSE 10.
Paul reminds the Galatians that they
are observing a lot of the Jewish customs.

VERSE 11.
The concern of Paul was that these observances would cause
them to consider the Jewish law as essential for their relation
to God. This would mean that all of his efforts to point them
to Jesus, were wasted, because they did not understand the
importance of the details of God’s plan of salvation.

VERSE 19.
Paul expressed his love (“my dear children”). This gives us an
idea of the magnitude of his concern for people in the church
of Galatia.

He used the image of childbirth (“of whom I am again in the
pains of childbirth”) to express the pain that filled his heart,
and would continue to grieve him until Christ’s nature was
formed in them.

Five 5 things we should learn from this lesson:
1. At one time, we lived in subjection to the world.

2. However, Christ freed us from that captivity.

3. As Christians, we are now heirs to God’s promises.

4. To turn to any other means of being ‘right with God’
    would be a denial of the heritage God has given us.

5. We are expected to live as children of God;
     to have Christ’s nature alive within us.

As Christians and heirs of God, we receive two very important
gifts (blessings) from the Lord. He give us the Holy Spirit and
at least one Spiritual gift.

We have the responsibility of inviting the Holy Spirit into our
lives and create an environment where He can flourish. The
Holy Spirit will help us discover the other blessing from the
Lord, which is a Spiritual gift.

God doesn’t give us these two blessings to put on a shelf and admire:
He gives them to us so we can serve Him and become a part of what
He is doing to reach the lost people of the world, and to encourage
other believers.

God gives us the Holy Spirit:
    If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good
    gifts to your children, how much more will your Father
    in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
    (Luke 11:13)

    God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them
    by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.
    (Acts 15:8)

    Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
    in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
    sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
    (Acts 2:38)

The Holy Spirit helps us achieve spiritual maturity, which
means we have a desire to serve the Lord in the way He has
chosen for us individually. It doesn’t mean we stop living a
normal life; it means that we incorporate the Lord in the life
we are living.
    But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
    will send in my name, will teach you all things and
    will remind you of everything I have said to you.
    (John 14:26)

The Psalmist knew the importance of the Holy Spirit in his life.
If it was important to him, then it should be important to us as
well, right?
    Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
    (Psalm 51:11)
Just to name a few of the benefits of the Holy Spirit
in our lives:
    He teaches us, helps us in our efforts to become more
    righteous, alerts us when we are doing things outside
    of God’s guidelines, encourages us as we serve the Lord,
    prays our prayers for us when we have trouble expressing
    ourselves, makes us aware of our weaknesses and helps us
    to overcome them.

God has given us a Spiritual gift which makes us a part
of His ‘body of heirs’. If we use the our gift, then we will
contribute to the health of His body, But if we fail to use
our Spiritual gift, then we cause a deformity of the body.
    There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes
    them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
    There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in
    everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the
    manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To
    one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to
    another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
    to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing
    by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another
    prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another
    speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the
    interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the
    same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he
    determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but
    all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we
    were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether
    Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one
    Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but
    of many.
    (1 Corinthians 12:4-14)

Since God has promised to give us at least one Spiritual
gift, we need to be diligent about
    (1) discovering which Spiritual gift He has given to us, and
    (2) using our Spiritual gift as God intends, in order to serve
          Him as He expects of those who have become His heirs.
    Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
    baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
    the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them
    to obey everything I have commanded you. And
    surely I am with you always, to the very end of
    the age.”
    (Matthew 28:19-20)

God expects those He has called heirs,
to be active in using what He has given them.
    Question(s):
    Do you know which Spiritual gift God has given you?
    If not, what are you doing to discover your spiritual
    gift? If you know your Spiritual gift, how are you
    currently using it to serve the Lord? If you are not
    using it, when do you plan to start using it? How is
    the Holy Spirit changing you? Has He given you a
    desire to be active in serving God?

BLOG: utvolwoody.com