Letters of Paul: Galatians

Over the past year we have looked at many of Jesus’s teachings and miracles, We have looked at the lives of the heroes of the Old testament, and Jesus’s Disciples. We have covered much of the four gospels and a good bit of the old Testament, But we have for the most part avoided the second half of the new testament, the epistles.

These books of the bile are letters sent by one of the apostles (usually Paul), to some church or individual.

Paul wrote 13 of these, about half of the new testament

We are going to explore some of them in the coming weeks.

Some of them are quite long - Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians

THese are the longest letters from anquitity,

So we are going to start with Galatians.

Galtians might be Paul’s earliest letter,

Some debate that 1st and 2nd thessalonians were written earlier

It was written to group of churches in several cities throughout modern day turkey.

There was a movement in the church at this time that threatened to tear the church apart.

It had become clear to the church that Gentiles were able to be saved and become part of the church, but it was unclear if Gentiles had to follow all the laws of the Old Testament,

there were groups going around at that time telling the gentile believers that in order to br properly saved by Jesus, they first had to convert to Judaism.

So Paul writes to the churches where this rumor is spreading to tell them that it simply is not true.

Galatians 1:1–5 ESV

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul opens his letter with a formula he would use in all of his letters, but what stands out is here he seems to give evidence of his authority to speak on these matters.

He calls himself an apostle, and more than that and apostle sent by Jesus Christ.

This title was reserved for Jesus’s 12 Disciples, and Paul is claiming that Jesus chose him to be an apsotle as well

Which Jesus did - on the road to damascus.

Paul argues this point more a little later

Galatians 1:11–16(a) (ESV)

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles,

Paul recieved his mission, his understanding of the Gospel and his aposleship from jesus himself.

So Paul is qualified to speak on the issue

and he is not happy with what has been said.

Galatians 1:6–9 ESV

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— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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. 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.

Church look at this: - this is important

If anyone preaches a Gospel contrary to the gospel of Jesu Christ - he is accursed

Church Isla started as someone saying he heard a new gospel from an Angel,

Mormonism started from someone saying he had a new gospel from an angel.

So church when you hear someone say “i heard this or that - or God wants you to do this - Check and make sure it lines up with the Bible.

The Galatians were recieving a new message a new gospel - Jesus can only save you if you become Jewish and follow the law.

And Paul says NO - it the exact opposite.

Galatians 2:16–21 ESV

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Christ died to save sinners, because the law couldn’t save anyone.

If we could be saved through the law - the old testament - then Christ’s death was for nothing!

So the question is, What was the purpose of the Law?

Galatians 3:23–29 ESV

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

THe law was the guardian, the gold standard, it was there to show us that none of us could be saved on our own, and it was Jesus who allows us to be saved by faith, and then if we have faith in Jesus, and his sacrifice then we are adopted into the family of God

and this salvation through faith is open to anyone and everyone!

Not just the jews, not just the rich, not just men, everyone.

Galatians 5:1–6 ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Paul’s argument is this: The old testament law cannot save you, only Jesus can, and Jesus gave us the holy spirit, and when we are saved by faith in Jesus the Spirit comes and lives inside us, and that makes us new.

Jesus did not require his followers to convert to Judaism in order to recieve the salvation he offered. The Galatians had been saved, and had experienced the Holy Spirit before when Paul was among them

Now there are people sayign “Hold up! what about all these rules in the old testament? what do we do with them?

and some were sayign we have to follow these or else we might not be really saved

But Pauls says NO! you were saved by faith, not by the law, You dont need to follow the law anymore

But if you really want to practice the law then you better keep all of it.

Church - Their is value in knwoign the old testament - thats why we have been studying it on wednesday nights

But we are not bound to all of the rules that the jewish people were bound to, and there were times where paul encouraged the Jewish people to keep following the law

His point is, that you do not have to be jewish in order to be a christian

thats sounds obvious today but 2000 years ago that was a controversy.

And I know many Chrisitans who now only celebrate Jeiwsh holidays, and who had a jewish theme to their wedding, and who refuse to celebrate Christmas and easter becuase “they aren’t one of the holidays given in the Bible” And I just want to take galatians and shove it down their throat, because they are trying to become Jewish in order to be Christian, and that’s not what the Bible says.

I think their is value in knowing the old testament and the law because it points to Jesus, the sacrificial laws point to Jesus’s sacrifce, the moral laws point us to jesus’s perfections, the ceremonial laws point to Jesus’s purity, and the festivals show what God has done - and what Jesus has done, and then there story after story about people who lived by faith but couldn’t live up to the standard of the Law, pointing us to the need of a savior.

Galatians 5:13–14 ESV

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

In Christ we have freedom from the law, we don’t have to follow the old testament rules, But paul does warn us that we shou;dn’t just live how we want, but to follow the essense of the law - and he lists the second greatest commandment which sums up the entire law,

Lov your neighbor as yourself.

Church that is all we need to do once we are saved by fsaith in Jesus is love our neighbors as ourselves, becuase Jesus loved us enough to die for us, and jesus loves them enough to die for them.

Galatians 5:16–24 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Paul says we have freedom, freedom to live by the spirit, and that he says we shouldn’t use our freedom to gratify the flesh - or in this case our sinful nature.

and he lists out things that people do when they only live for themselves and their own pleasure.

We aren;t supposed to do that

But rather we live by the Spirit, living by love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfullnes gentleness and self control.

So just becuase we aren;t bound by the law does not mean that we should live as if morality does not matter.

There are some who preach this, who say “no matter what you do Jesus loves you and will forgive you” which is technically true, but the way they say it is as an excuse to live hower you want

We are living not for ourselves, but for Jesus,

And you can tell who lives for Jesus by their fruit

does their life produce the fruit of the Spirit.

So as paul concludes

Galatians 6:9–10 ESV

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Church we need to do good. do good things for others,.

What paul is sayign is dont let doing right get in the way of doing good.

When we think we have to do works to recieve salvation it becomes all about us

How are we doing, are we doing everything right, did we mess up, have we sinned.

But in Grace we know that we are forgiven even when we mess up, we no longer have to focus on doing the right things, which frees up to do good - and doing good is inherently others focused.

How can we help them?

How can i make their day better.

How can we show them light of Jesus today.