Galatians 1:6-10 Study

Galatians 1:6–10 ESV

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

We’re going to break this text down, but today we’re also going to look at how to interpret the message before us.

Let’s set some ground rules I’m going to use the confession that I teach to my children to be some ground rules of how to deal with scripture. The confession we teach to my kids is the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures

1. The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal Himself, and to declare His will unto His church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures

4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, depends not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures

7. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them.

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures

9. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.

10. The supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved.

So the big thing is that Scripture is the best interpretation of scripture. Scripture’s chief point.

The first thing is looking at scripture with a

Christological Focus

A major principle of interpretation used by the Puritans was the idea, firmly rooted in Scripture, that all of God’s Word points to Christ. As John Owen argued, anyone reading Scripture must always keep in mind this fundamental principle, namely: that the revelation and doctrine of the person of Christ and his office, is the foundation whereon all other instructions of the prophets and apostles for the edification of the church are built, and whereinto they are resolved.… There are, therefore, such revelations of the person and glory of Christ treasured up in the Scripture, from the beginning unto the end of it, as may exercise the faith and contemplation of believers in this world, and shall never, during this life, be fully discovered or understood Since Christ is not merely here or there in the Scriptures, but found on every page, Owen declares that believers will never fully understand in their lives on earth everything in the Bible concerning His person and work. But they must certainly try their best.

Thomas Adams (1583–1652) remarks that Christ is the “sum of the whole Bible, prophesied, typified, prefigured, exhibited, demonstrated, to be found in every leaf, almost in every line.… Christ is the main, the centre whither all these lines are referred.”23 Similarly, commenting on how Christ is the scope of the Scriptures,

Richard Sibbes (1577–1635) remarks: “Christ is the pearl of that ring, Christ is the object, the centre wherein all those lines end: take away Christ, what remains?—Therefore, in the whole scriptures let us see that we have an eye to Christ; all is nothing, but Christ.”24

Because Christ, as the God-man, makes revelation possible to sinful, finite creatures, He also becomes the foundation and center of the Bible. Christ is, as it were, the fundamentum Scripturae (basic principle of Scripture).

So Let’s look at the text today:

Observations on verse 6

Marvel (NKJV)/astonished

Quickly/so soon (NKJV)

Turning(NKJV)/deserting

two clauses 1) Deserting 2)Turning

Paul who was the the one who delivered the gospel in the first place is speaking

Him in Jesus

Jesus did the calling -