The Book of Galatians

In the years leading up to the Reformation, corruption in the church led to tensions that needed to be resolved. Devout students of Scripture who were privileged enough to read and speak Latin , Greek and Hebrew, in addition to their heart languages, were compelled to speak out for the sake of the Gospel. There were a lot of issues that came to the forefront causing division and strife. One of the foundational issues was nature and means of justification.

Martin Luther, in reading the books of Galatians and Romans came to the firm conviction that justification (or begin declared righteous) comes by faith alone - Sola Fide. This became one of the five foundational rallying cries of the reformation (Schreiner).

We could look back on the 15th and 16th centuries as being the climax of the argument for justification - whether by faith or by some other means. But the conflict that Martin Luther and the other reformers engaged in was not new - in fact Luther’s source material grew out of that same sort of conflict among the churches of Galatia. Paul addressed that conflict in his letter to the Galatians.

Introducing Galatians

According to Robert Gromacki, “Galatians has been called both the Magna Charta of Christian Liberty and the Christian Declaration of Independence.”

The six short chapters of the book of Galatians provide a power packed punch against falsehoods that had arisen in the Galatian churches.

Typically, when Paul begins a letter, he introduces himself, provides a blessing on the church and then gives thanks or commends them for something good that he sees in them. For the churches in Galatia, not only is this letter unique because it is written to a collection of churches, but Paul does away some of his traditional pleasantries and cuts to the chase after pronouncing the blessing.

Galatians 1:6–7 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.

It seems that the main problem that Paul was addressing in the churches was the presence of some Jewish background believers who were calling for the Gentile believers to adhere to some elements of the Jewish law. They were essentially saying that in order to be a true follower of Jesus, in order to be truly justified, they must obey the law. You can read a bit about this debate in Acts 15.

The big question that seems to arise from this debate is - “How is one justified in the gospel?”

But as we look at the book of Galatians today, we’ll see that Paul begins with the source of the gospel in chapters 1-2, addresses the means of the gospel in chapters 3-4, and then discusses how the gospel is lived out practically in chapters 5-6.

If you’d like to follow along with the printed notes or the notes that are available online, let’s begin together by noticing that in the first two chapters, Paul explains that...

The Source of the Gospel is God (Gal. 1:1-2:14)

It seems that there were some who had begun to introduce some new requirements for the Gentile believers - and may have been questioning Paul’s credentials.

So, in these first couple of chapters, Paul takes a great deal of time to explain that he had received the Gospel directly from God (Gal. 1:11-24).

Galatians 1:11–12 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.

He wants the people of Galatia to know that he did not make up what he preached. He did not invent it as some fancy way of creating a religion - but conveyed exactly what received from Jesus.

In the late 1990s, the Southern Baptist Convention printed a prayer guide for Baptists. This guide was a means of calling Christians to pray for Jews. As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir. Several Jewish groups were offended and demanded a retraction. In response to the controversy, the Ethics and Public Policy center in DC assembled several leaders from a variety of faiths in order to discuss the conflict. Mark Dever, the pastor at Capital Hill Baptist Church, who had been invited to discuss the baptist position, noted that there was disagreement, but the conversation was congenial. At one point in time, someone was growing increasingly frustrated by the baptist position. In response, Dever said,

‘You know, it’s not that we Christians sit around and try to think up what will really offend people. We don’t go scheme in a corner before lunch and say to ourselves, ‘What can we say that’s really going to upset people? Let’s believe that!’ No, we don’t preach this gospel because we think it is going to be popular. We preach it because it is true. We come to you saying that you are going to hell and that you need this salvation offered by Jesus Christ not because we think it is going to be immediately pleasant to your ears, but because we know it is true.’

(Dever, 216).

The point is that we preach a gospel that is based on truth - not on something we’ve made up. Paul didn’t make it up. The other Apostles didn’t make it up. God is the origin - and that’s a wonderful thing!!!!

Not only that, but this Gospel was confirmed by the others Apostles (Gal. 2:1-10). Paul wanted to make sure the he was not off base in what he was preaching and so he spent time with the Apostles in Jerusalem and was affirmed by them. He even went so far as to include others with him so that they too heard the confirmation from the Apostles.

I think Paul gives us an excellent example here. There is a temptation in life to be original or unique. In fact so much of what it takes to gain attention is to say something that is fresh and new. Paul confirmed what he was saying with others who had been followers of Christ longer. He sought out the wisdom of elder believers. As you are reading scripture or other books, consider them, ask questions, wrestle with the concepts, but also seek input from others when you hear something that seem different from an orthodox set of beliefs. There is great value in the wisdom of those who have gone before us.

Paul not only confirmed the message he received from Jesus with the other Apostles, but he lived it out (Gal. 2:11-14). There came an instance when Peter was not being consistent in how he was treating the Gentile believers and so Paul called him on that, addressing the inconsistencies in his walk.

But the overall point that Paul is getting at is that the source of the Gospel is God. Once he has established the origin, Paul moves on to the essence of the Gospel, namely that...

The Justification from the Gospel is through Faith (Gal. 2:15-4:31)

Paul lays out the thesis of his argument in

Galatians 2:16 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.

The essence of what Paul discusses over the next couple of chapters is that it doesn’t matter whether someone is Jewish, Gentile, Male or Female - everyone is justified through faith in Jesus Christ and not by works.

This point begs a couple of questions.

What is justification? and What is the purpose of the law?

Let’s briefly consider these.

What is justification?

We could spend weeks or months diving into the depths and nuances of what this means, but in its very simplest form, justification is the declaration that we are righteous because of what Christ has done. God, in His holiness, accepts us as having fulfilled all of the requirements of the law because Jesus fulfilled those requirements on our behalf (Elwell, 643).

Reading the entirety of this section and a good bit of Romans would give us a fuller understanding, but here are a couple of snippets from Galatians.

Galatians 2:20–21 ESV

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.

Jesus Christ, in his perfect holiness, died on the cross in our place. It’s almost as though that he is saying that the Paul who is fully accountable to pay for all of his sins died on the cross with Christ. Now that there as been this replacement, this payment by Jesus, Paul lives in Christ’s righteousness - justified.

Zoe’s little video in the Kid’s Connection - touches on the idea. The prisoner who owed the debt could not pay it, but someone came along and fully paid the debt in his place. The penalty for breaking the law is satisfied, Eddie (the debtor) is justified.

Paul also says...

Galatians 3:13 ESV

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Does this mean that we no longer sin? No - unfortunately. Even though we have been justified by Jesus Christ, we will still battle against our flesh in the process of sanctification - or growing in holiness. In fact Luther used the Latin phrase...

“simul iustus et peccator”

“justified and at the same time sinners”

Luther continues,

“We are in truth and totally sinners, with regard to ourselves and our first birth. Contrariwise, in so far as Christ has been given for us, we are holy and just totally. Hence from different aspects we are said to be just and sinners at one and the same time.”

(Schreiner, 46)

Here in Galatians, Paul helps us to see that our justification before God comes through faith in Jesus Christ. It is His finished work on the cross that accomplishes this for us. We don’t have to do certain things to earn it beyond simply acknowledging our need to be forgiven and receiving God’s free gift by faith.

So this then begs another question:

What is the purpose of the law?

Paul even asks this question as he lays out his argument.

Galatians 3:19–21 ESV

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.

The law of God helps us to see both how we should live and how far we fall short of God’s perfect standard. The law helps us to see how much help we need - we need a redeemer, we need a savior, we need Jesus Christ.

Paul continues...

Galatians 3:22–24 ESV

But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 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.

So, the argument that Paul is getting at here is that not only did the Gospel that was proclaimed to the Galatians come from God, but that the justification that comes through the Gospel is received by faith. As the Judaizers or the people who were adding law-keeping to the Gospel - they were essentially nullifying the work of the the Gospel - the work of the cross. Think about it like this, we can’t receive a free gift and earn it at the same time.

There are some who feel that they need to clean their lives up before responding to the gospel. The whole point of the gospel is that we can’t do enough to clean ourselves sufficiently to earn it. Come as you are. Come in your sin. Come in your addictions. Come in your shame. Lay it before God and allow His grace and mercy to justify you by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Last week at a luncheon with several pastors, each of those in attendance shared their testimony. One of the men, who had not grown up in a Christian home was a self-proclaimed pot-head in high school. He did everything he could to please himself. Someone invited him to a church youth group event. He thought he’d go because he heard the girls were cute there. Upon entering the group, he immediately was struck by the fact that there were geeks and jocks, goth and preps, stoners and skaters all in one room. People from different walks of life who would typically never talk to one another at school, worshiped God together in this place. He said that that night, he heard the gospel and responded. Over the next couple of months, he devoured scripture and sought the instruction from the youth pastor there. It was several years before his habits and sinful pleasures were eventually yielded to God. Was he justified that night? Absolutely. So what about the sin?

That brings us to the final part of Galatians.

The Transformation from the Gospel is through the Holy Spirit aided by the church (Gal. 5-6)

I can imagine that some of the conflict may have arisen from a sincere place - even addressing some challenges that were experienced in the church. Think about it like this. There are a bunch of Jewish background Christians. They grew up attending the synagogue, lived according to the law as best they could. They sacrificed, denied themselves. They didn’t live perfectly, but did the best they could. Then they heard the Gospel as Paul preached it. They were convinced that Jesus is the promised Messiah and received justification in Him.

Then, at the same time, there are these Gentiles. They may have been moral prior to coming to faith. They may have been completely pleasure seeking in their lives. They had likely gone to the temples of the Roman gods and participated in the normal worship practices. Upon coming to faith, they became convinced that there is only one God and that justification for their sins was only found in Jesus Christ.

So these two groups co-exist together in the church. One with certain habits and traditions. The other with completed different habits and traditions. Sometimes old habits die hard. Since the primary scriptures that they had at that point was the Jewish Bible - our Old Testament, the Jews would likely have had a leg up.

In an attempt to establish some standard, it’s quite possible that the Jews would have begun expecting certain things from their Gentile brothers and sisters. These moral expectations could have easily morphed into conditions for justification. You can’t be justified unless you _______.

So Paul tells them in these final chapters that Christ has set us free from adhering to the law and that the Spirit transforms us to live in a way that is pleasing to God.

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 then goes on to talk about how the Spirit helps us - how the desires of the flesh work against the desires of the Spirit. As we mentioned before, even though we are justified by Christ, we still battle with sin, with the flesh.

Yielding to the Spirit - like the pastor that I shared about - eventually results in a transforming life. A life that looks quite different from the life that we left (Gal. 5:16-24). And yet we still have this ongoing struggle against sin. Which is where the church comes into play.

Galatians 6:1–3 ESV

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

In God’s wisdom, He not only reconciles us to himself through Jesus Christ, but also reconciles us to each other - in this thing called the church. As members with one another, we have this heavy honor of helping one another in the walk. The joy is we don’t have to do this alone.

Christians, maybe even especially baptists, have often taken a bad rap in this regard. Not because we don’t want to help each other root out sin, but because we don’t do it in a spirit of gentleness. Sometime, we can be like the judaizers, and begin to add things to the gospel - “You can’t be a Christian if you smoke, drink alcohol, gamble, have sex outside of marriage, play cards, etc.” - all the while forgetting that one of the greatest sins is pride. So we proudly point out the sin in others that we can see and forget to look at the sin in ourselves. Which is why Jesus said...

Matthew 7:3–5 ESV

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Paul and Jesus are urging a sense of humility in the church - recognizing that none of us are immune to sin. We are all prone to stumble.

I know, in the past when I have been a part of accountability groups, the very thing we were trying to hold each other accountable for became a temptation, even a stumbling block. Which, I think, is why Paul urges us to watch ourselves.

If you find that your flesh is winning, that certain sinful behaviors are tripping you up and compromising your witness, go to a brother or sister in Christ or one of the elders and humbly ask for help.

If you see the flesh winning in someone else’s life, look at your own life first and repent of things that you may be holding on to, then go to the one who is struggling and gently confront them. Be willing to walk with them toward holiness - guided by the Spirit.

What are the things that we’re looking for? Paul says,

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

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.

We like to focus on what we might call the big ones - but I wonder if things like idolatry, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions and envy - might actually be the more destructive ones. Not to minimize the others, but I know I don’t always have an eye for these - until it’s too late.

What should we be revealing by our transformation?

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

I believe that as the Spirit of God is at work - he is working in us individually - rooting out those sinful behaviors. But he is also at work in us collectively, corporately - calling each of us to aid in the transforming work.

Closing Thoughts

Beloved - let us stand firm in the Gospel. Let us stand in confidence, knowing that the Gospel is not something made up by or modified by humans - it originates with God.

Let us confidently rejoice that we have been justified by faith in what Jesus did on the cross. We can’t earn it. We don’t have to perform a certain way to keep it, we are justified.

Friend if you’ve not yet responded to the Gospel, receiving this free gift by faith - I pray that you would do so today. If you’re hoping that your good deeds are going to get you there - win you favor with God - read back through the book of Galatians. Our good deeds are good, but every time we stumble, every time we fail to live perfectly, we fall short. Repent of your attempt at self-sufficiency and trust in the forgiveness that comes only through Jesus Christ and then walk confidently in that justification.

Finally, let us daily yield to the leading of the Spirit, recognizing that he uses each of us in the transforming work in each others lives.

Let’s pray.

Memory Verse:

Galatians 2:16 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.

Benediction

Galatians 6:18 ESV

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

References:

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/galatians

deSilva, David Arthur. An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods and Ministry Formation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.

Dever, Mark the Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005

Elwell, Walter A. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd Ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

Gromacki, Robert G. New Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1974.

Schreiner, Thomas Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015.