How do you become a Christian

Intro: Did you know that marshmallows grow on bushes?

This is what a friends older brother told him, and what I told my siblings

It’s easy to be fooled, and the Galatians were fooled into believing that the Gospel that was preached to them was insufficient, and that they needed something else to be saved.

By Faith Alone (1-9)

You can’t be a Christian through anything but faith

There’s no extra credit, no other work assigned, all of it is by faith

When you are saved, it says in Acts that Christians receive the Spirit of God.

Then, Paul mentions this guy Abraham

Explain some of Abraham

In Gen. 15, Abraham believes God’s promises, and his faith made him righteous.

Gen. 15:6 “Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Even a man like Abraham, who is beloved by the Jews as one of the first prophets, even he could only be righteous by faith alone.

Without the Law (10-12)

The “Law” in this case is talking about the OT Law found in the first 5 Books of the Bible.

We will talk more specifically about the Law later, but for now we can look at the law as a system of rules to make God happy and you righteous.

But, if you follow any “law system” that aims to appease God, you will inevitably fail.

We all want to do something to please God (or some version of that) but in making that law system, we put ourselves under a curse because we couldn’t ever follow that system perfectly.

Even if that God is ourselves.

So, if any religious system has a law system that will ultimately fail you, then there must be some way that you can find satisfaction.

Through Christ Alone (13-14)

Paul knows all of the problems with the law because he lived in it, and then he found hope in Christ!

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross took the burden of the law off of us.

We were under a curse (10), se He went under the curse in our place (13)

Because of the cross, we can be like Abraham, righteous because of faith, because we could never be righteous under the law!

Questions

Read vs. 6-9 again. Why does Paul even mention Abraham?

Why does a “law system” with God not work?

Is it easier to follow a law system or God? How so?