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Today we begin a study of the book of Galatians

Galatians is a letter that is at once both hard-hitting, yet also gentle, sensitive, & so deeply caring Galatians contains lofty principles, as well as an unveiling of Paul’s heart & his own personal history.

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Today we begin a study of the book of Galatians

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  1. Galatians is a letter that is at once both hard-hitting, yet also gentle, sensitive, & so deeply caring Galatians contains lofty principles, as well as an unveiling of Paul’s heart&hisownpersonalhistory As we walk along side by side in this biblical adventure, we’ll gain eternally precious insights into our spiritual history as well – insights which will be most valuable, even for today Today we begin a study of the book of Galatians

  2. We are going to find that this letter from Paul to the churches of Galatia brings forth critical insights into our fellowship with & life from the Lord, & our relationships with one another Today we begin a study of the book of Galatians • There is no aspect or time of any of our lives that Galatians does not touch upon most deeply • This one letter tells early on, & later on, howlifeistobelived, getting right to the heart of the matter

  3. Paul very clearly wrote this letter, & we will take a closer look at Paul’s life as we begin studying the contents But our present question is: Who are the Galatians to whom Paul wrote? Over the centuries, there have been two major schools of thought on who the Galatians were: the Northern Galatia view & the Southern Galatia view The evidence favors Southern Galatia The owl question: Who?

  4. The Southern Galatia view sees the churches in this letter(Galatians 1:2) as those that Paul had established & thenvisitedinhis1st, 2nd & 3rd missionary journeys (see Acts 13-21 for details) Paul drew some faithful helpers from these churches, starting with his 2nd missionary journey: Timothy, from Lystra (Acts 16:1-4) Gaius, from Derbe (Acts 20:4) The owl continues: Who?

  5. A Galatians timeline 3 0 35 40 45 50 AD Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey (Acts 13-14; 46-48 AD) Paul’s letter  to the churches in the Roman province of Galatia The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey (Acts 15:39-18:32; 49-52 AD )

  6. Given the timeline, the believers to whom Paul was writing in the book of Galatians were at most two years old in the Lord, & some, whocametobelieve after the 1st contact were even younger Paul & Barnabas had appointed elders in each of the churches in these cities during the last half of Paul’s1stmissionary journey(Acts14:23). But the elders were spiritually young. Just how old were these people? (in the Lord, that is)

  7. Galatians 1:6, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel” Paul & Barnabas had just finished going to each of these churches, having taught the believers there,& appointed elders “I am amazed…” Butevenwithexcellent,recentteaching,these new believers had fallen foradifferentgospel.

  8. Some Jews, who were insisting upon the Law of Moses forbelievers,taught: The Law is required in order to be saved The Law is required to continue in one’s relationship with Jesus Christ Then there was the continuing ‘siren song’ of immorality from the pagans: “Go ahead! Indulge the passions of the flesh ‘to the max’ ” “Immorality & moral dissipationare also ‘spiritual activities’ ” Three primary doctrinal problems

  9. Galatians 4:13-14, “I preached the gospel to you the first time… you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.” But then… But then Jews came from Jerusalem teaching a different gospel (Galatians 1:6),oflivingbythe Law of Moses in order to be saved & then to remain in relationship with Christ(Galatians3:3) From listening to Paul to following the ‘Judaizers’

  10. These ‘Judaizers’, who were coming from Jerusalem would say that Paul, the Galatian believers’ original teacher, was not one of the original twelveinJerusalem. But ‘Judaizers’ claimed that they were bringing the true message, from the apostles in Jerusalem, so that Paul’s message should be set aside, in favor of the Law. From listening to Paul to following the ‘Judaizers’ Galatians 1:17-18

  11. These ‘Judaizers’ claimed that Paul was just a man-pleaser, varying his message here or there to please this group or that group (Galatians 1:10 & 5:11) So a number of the Galatian believers were then seriously sidetracked by following these teachers (Galatians 1:6) & practicing the Law of Moses (Galatians 3:1) From listening to Paul to following the ‘Judaizers’

  12. Galatians was written before the events described in Acts 15:1-2 & 4-5 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, "Unless you arecircumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue… 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church andtheapostlesandtheelders,andtheyreported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of thesectofthe Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses."

  13. Pisidian Antioch & Lystra were both Roman colonies, so Rome expected them to be the local expression of the Roman culture & the perfect picture of loyalty to the Roman emperor We will see that Paul took a number of illustrations from Romanlaw,sinceheknew their strong Roman background, & Paul himself was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-29 & 23:27) The Galatians’ Roman influence

  14. These cities also had Greek cultural influence, over a period of more than three centuries That would explain why Paul would write this letter to all of them in the Greek language The Greek cultural influence would also explain why these people sought to worship Barnabas & Paul as Zeus & Hermes, which were the Greek names for deities (Acts 14:12,13) The Galatians’ Greek influence

  15. Though a minority, there had also been Jews living in these cities for about 2½ centuries. A strong Jewish influence in these cities was evident in Acts 13:14-46, 50 & in Acts 14:1-5,19. The strong Jewish presence would explain why Paul used illustrations from Genesis to make his point, citing Abraham, Sarah & Hagar (Galatians 3:6-18 & also 4:21-31). The Galatians’ Jewish influence

  16. Galatians: One Big Chiasm A 1:1-1:12 An intense prologue  B 1:13-2:10 The two ways of Paul’s living  C 2:11-3:4 Justification by faith & Paul’s life  D 3:5-29 From Genesis: Abraham E 4:1-10 Redeemed by Christ (from & to) D' 4:11-31 From Genesis: Sarah & Hagar C' 5:1-12 Justification by faith & your life  B' 5:13-6:11 The two ways of your living A' 6:12-18 An intense epilogue

  17. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." These words in English are all translated from just one word in the Greek text. That word is a perfect passive indicative verb. What does that mean? That this is a verb means that it is an action. The perfect tense means that it is a completed past action with ongoing results on into the future, implying permanence.

  18. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." The passive part means that God has done the action to crucify us with Christ (it’s not our job!). Indicative means that it is a statement of fact. For the one who is a believer, this is not something hoped for, nor just a possibility, or something you are to work at. It is a ‘done deal’, by God’s doing, already & forever!

  19. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Because of the reality of that co-crucifixion with Christ, the one who was me has died, & I am now no longer the one doing the living. Christ is the one now doing that living in this body that walks the planet. What?! How is that again?

  20. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." The life that is shown forth from this body (the flesh) is no longer the life source that I once tried to live by, but it is the very life of the resurrected Christ, the Son of God. How does that happen? Only by faith! It is not by my simply trying to emulate Christ’s behavior!

  21. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." As we brought out at the Good Friday service, that Christ loved & gave Himself for us just keeps cropping up in the New Testament: John 3:16; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2; 5:25. Galatians 1:4 also says, “…the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins…”.

  22. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Christ conducted a ‘financial transaction’ in the spiritual realm, in which He paid full price. And He did so not just to give you eternal life insurance, but to impact your ‘right nows’ for all of eternity: Your death with Him back then, & now - His life in your life on into the day that we see Him face to face. All & only by faith.

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