The primary objectives of these studies are a) to get you to read the Bible and b) to take in what you have read. At the end of each page of studies (normally a chapter) there will be a 'Recap' to remind you of what you have read. At the end of every 'set' (see the front Contents page) there will also be a 'Summary' and a 'Conclusions' that cover the pages in that set.

INTRODUCTION to Galatians

Background:

Paul and friends had travelled in the area known as Galatia in the central and northern part of Asia Minor (Acts 16:6 & 18:23 ) and many people had become Christians. Word had now come to Paul that these Christians were turning to a different Gospel (1:6), to law observation and human effort (3:2,3 & 4:21), to following special days (4:10) and allowing circumcision to become an issue again (5:2 & 6:12). Watch these things and apply them to the church today.

The Aim of the Letter:

To counter this drift from historic Christianity, Paul writes to these Christians refuting "Christianity by Rules and Regulations". In answer to the person who asks, "Shall I obey the law to please God?", "Shall I hold sacred, special days?" and "Ought I to perform any special ritual?" Paul comes with the freedom-bringing and life-bringing answer: it is not by DOING but by BELIEVING that salvation comes.

We may perhaps divide the letter up into:

  1:1-9           Introduction

  1:10-2:14   Historic Origins of Paul's Gospel

  2:15-5:12   The Gospel is about Faith not Works

  5:13-6:18    Freedom is seen in Practical Living

In other words this letter is directly and indirectly all about the Gospel, its origins, wonder and outworking. In many ways it is a densely packed and often difficult to read epistle and we will find the same truths coming again and again and again, but don't be put off, we need to hear them in the light of much of what is being preached today!

PART ONE : "Gospel Origins"

In the opening Introduction of this letter in the first nine verses Paul blasts into action with truth upon truth and challenge on challenge. He does not mince his words! We will then see in the remainder of chapter 1 and first half of chapter 2 how he explains his background as a means to showing that the Gospel wasn't his "bright idea", but that it came entirely from the Lord himself. He goes to great lengths to show that this is not HIS Gospel, not a Gospel of human origin, but God's Gospel. Consider as you read, have WE drifted away from the original Gospel that relies entirely on Christ alone?

Chapter: Galatians 1

Passage: Galatians 1:1-5

A. Find Out:

1. Who was Paul NOT sent by? v.1a

2. Who had sent him? v.1b

3. How is God described? v.1c

4. Why did Jesus give himself? v.4a

5. From what did he rescue us? v.4b

6. Why was He doing that? v.4c

B. Think :

1. What is Paul emphasising about himself?

2. What is he emphasising about God here?

3. What does he emphasise about Jesus Christ?

C. Comment :

When Paul starts writing this letter he has clearly in his mind, even before he says a single word, the things he is going to have to sort out with these Galatians. Therefore even his opening words are slanted in line with what is coming.

Note first, Paul speaks about his OWN CALLING. For large parts of chapters 1 and 2 of this letter he speaks about his own calling, going to some length to emphasise that he is what he is because of God's calling on his life. The message that he has flows out of his calling and from the One who called him.

Second, note his referral to God as Father, for it seems almost from the word go, he wants to emphasise this relationship with God as our Father. Christianity is all about a relationship with God and not about keeping rules, and that is at the heart of this letter.

Third, see his references to Jesus: He was raised from the dead, He died for our sins, He died to rescue us from the evil days in which we live, and He did it in accordance with His Father's will. The emphasis here is that JESUS did EVERYTHING necessary for our salvation, we cannot add to it, and that is the major problem these Galatians have which Paul is addressing, and it is the problem each and every one of us has to address again and again in our lives.

D. Application?

1. I am called by Jesus for His purposes.

2. Jesus has done EVERYTHING! I cannot add to it; I just accept it.

Chapter: Galatians 1

Passage: Galatians 1:6-9

A. Find Out:

1. Who was deserting whom? v.6a

2. To what were they turning? v.6b

3. What in fact was it? v.7a

4. What 2 things were some people doing? v.7b

5. What should happen to anyone who preaches a false Gospel? v.8,9

B. Think :

1. What was the main charge that Paul was bringing against the Galatians?

2. How was this obviously happening?

3. How does Satan try to get us to do this today?

C. Comment :

First, we should note from these few verses that Paul is quite clear in his mind about what the Gospel is. He had come to the Galatians and preached it with the obvious result that a number of them had turned to God through Christ.

Second, we see that, having received the Gospel, these Galatians had then allowed themselves to be led away from it. When you are led away from something it is always because you are being led to something else, and these Galatians were now believing something other than that which was first preached to them.

Third, says Paul, what you have been led to is no Gospel at all, it is not good news at all, and the people who preached it to you deserve eternal condemnation. Now that is strong stuff, but that is what Paul feels about it. If you preach a wrong Gospel that leads people away from a relationship with God through Christ you deserve eternal condemnation!

Finally note that last point in more detail: it is being led away from God! That is what is happening, they are turning away from God, deserting Him, leaving the relationship of grace they had for something else, a religion of works and self-striving!

D. Application?

1. If the Gospel I believe in is something more than Christ dying for my

sins, and requires me to work for my salvation, it is not THE good news!

2. Thank Him today for the free gift of salvation.

Chapter: Galatians 1

Passage: Galatians 1:10-17

A. Find Out:

1. What does Paul first say he is NOT doing? v.10

2. What ISN'T the Gospel? v.11

3. Where did it come from? v.12

4. What had Paul been like previously? v.13,14

5. What had changed that? v.15

6. What DIDN'T he then do? v.16,17

B. Think :

1. What main point is Paul now making?

2. Why, in the light of what we have said in the previous two studies, do

you think he is doing this?

3. Why is it sometimes right, therefore, to defend what we say?

C. Comment :

Paul has been starting to scold these Galatians for deserting the Gospel he has preached to them. As he does that he is aware of what they might be thinking as a response to him: well, who is to say you are right about the gospel you brought to us? To counter this, Paul starts off a lengthy discourse about his own background, the purpose of which is to totally disclaim any claim to the origins of the gospel. It is not his! In doing this he emphasises that he is doing this not to please or satisfy them for his sake, but he is doing it for the Lord.

Look, he says, you know my background, how I was against the gospel (by implication - I wouldn't have dreamt this gospel up!). I didn't dream it up, God revealed Christ to me; that's the only reason I preach this Gospel because He told me to, directly. I didn't get this from any Christian leader, I went straight off and didn't see any of them. The gospel I preach I received directly from Christ; that is its origin, from God not from man, so believe it!

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord that the Gospel does NOT have a man made

origin, it came directly from Him!

2. We can trust the Gospel, it is different from any other "world belief"!

Chapter: Galatians 1

Passage: Galatians1:17-24

A. Find Out:

1. Where did Paul go first? v.17

2. How long was it before he went to Jerusalem? v.18a

3. What was his purpose in going? v.18b

4. Who else did he meet there? v.19

5. Then where did he go? v.21

6. What did the Judean church hear? v.22,23

B. Think :

1. What main point is Paul continuing to make?

2. Read Acts 9:19-31 Check an atlas. Why into Arabia ?

3. Why did Paul go to Jerusalem ?

C. Comment :

In what appears to be a rather factual, uneventful passage Paul reveals some facts about his Christian life that Luke had not included in Acts. In Acts Luke's order of events seems to be salvation - Damascus - Jerusalem . Here Paul seems to be saying it was salvation - Arabia - Damascus - Jerusalem . The synthesis of the two is probably the whole picture. Paul encounters Jesus, arrives in Damascus and is commissioned (Acts 9:17 -19), but after a short while goes across the border into Arabia (for a prayer retreat not likely to be mentioned by Luke?), and returns to Damascus where he continues to preach, finally going to Jerusalem .

Paul is going to some lengths to expound the same point: the Gospel he has preached to these Galatians did NOT have human origins, it did not even come from the apostles in Jerusalem (Paul had gone to them merely to get acquainted with them, he had already been preaching the Gospel for three years!) These verses ARE important in that they add to our historical understanding of both Paul and the Gospel.

Some theologians talk about "Paul's Gospel" as if it is something inferior, but Paul claims the opposite, it is exactly the same as that preached anywhere else, because its origin is the same - Jesus!

D. Application?

1. May our knowledge of the Gospel not be second hand.

2. Ask Him to make it live for you today.

Chapter: Galatians 2

Passage: Galatians 2:1-5

A. Find Out:

1. How long before Paul next went to Jerusalem ? v.1a

2. Who went with him? v.1b

3. Why did he go? v.2

4. What didn't have to happen? v.3

5. Why had this arisen? v.4

6. But what had been the outcome? v.5

B. Think :

1. What, again, is the main point Paul is making here?

2. Read Acts 15:1-31 What had been the main point under debate?

3. What had been the outcome?

C. Comment :

As Paul carries on his argument with relentless logic, having just shown how the Gospel of Christ that he preached had not originated in Jerusalem , but had come directly from Christ, he now continues with a twofold thrust.

First he is continuing this idea that the Gospel he preached wasn't second-hand. For a further fourteen years he hadn't been near Jerusalem, so his preaching wasn't under their influence.

But secondly and now more strongly, Paul starts introducing the matter of circumcision, because this was obviously the key issue again in Galatia now, as we'll see later in the letter. It was because of arguments about the necessity of new Christians to be circumcised to comply with the law of Moses that Paul had gone to Jerusalem a second time. The leaders there had confirmed that it was not necessary. Paul is starting to build his case against the need for circumcision.

Although we may not insist upon circumcision to be a sign of being saved, we may often fall into the trap of requiring other "things" to be "essentials". We may do various things as an outworking of our love for Christ but the moment they become "essentials" we are back under the Law again! Beware!

D. Application?

1. Christ released us from being "law-keepers" (Romans 7:6) to become

people of grace and the Spirit.

2. Beware insisting on certain "actions".

Chapter: Galatians 2

Passage: Galatians 2:6-10

A. Find Out:

1. What hadn't the leaders done? v.6

2. What had they seen? v.7

3. How did Peter & Paul differ? v.7,8

4. Who had met with Paul? v.9a

5. What had they recognised? v.9b

6. What one thing had they asked? v.10

B. Think :

1. What hadn't the meeting with the Jerusalem leaders done?

2. What positive result had it had though?

3. So what point is Paul continuing to make here?

C. Comment :

Paul had previously said that the Jerusalem leaders hadn't insisted on any of them being circumcised in order to keep the Law. Now he enlarges on that and says in fact they hadn't added anything to what he had already been preaching. From that point of view the Jerusalem meeting had simply confirmed that what Paul was doing and saying was quite right. The leaders had recognised that in the same way that Peter had been called to be an apostle to the Jews, it was clear that Paul had been called to be an apostle to the Gentiles. They saw that Paul's heart was to preach to the Gentiles and that he had in fact been doing that for quite some time.

Oh yes, he adds almost as an after thought, there was one thing they asked of us and that was for us to remember the poor in our travels, which of course we already did, but apart from that (by implication) there was absolutely nothing they added to us.

Yet again Paul is driving home this point to the Galatians: the message he had preached was from Christ and that it was perfectly accredited by the leaders in Jerusalem . Therefore (he will be saying) why are you adding to it?

D. Application?

1. One of the greatest temptations that we can have today is to add to the

Gospel, by implication to say that Jesus' death was not sufficient.

2. Nothing I can do can add to Jesus' work for me!

Chapter: Galatians 2

Passage: Galatians 2:11-14

A. Find Out:

1. Why had Paul opposed Peter? v.11

2. What had Peter done before others came? v.12a

3. What did he do when they came? v.12b

4. Why had he done that? v.12c

5. Who had joined in? v.13

6. How had Paul exposed Peter? v.14

B. Think :

1. What freedom had Peter known?

2. Why had he lost that?

3. Who had been the "pressure group" that he had bowed to?

C. Comment :

In his ongoing logical challenge to the law-keeping Galatians, Paul now recounts a small incident that had actually occurred in Antioch . Peter, the great leader, had come to Antioch and had been living as a free Christian, mixing with the Gentiles with no problem. Then other Christian Jews had arrived who held to the belief that Christians, whether Jew or Gentile, still needed to keep the Law and be circumcised. Because Peter feared them he drew back from the Gentiles he had been with.

This had clearly incensed Paul who had challenged Peter openly. Instead of merely speaking about his having drawn back he struck at the root of the thing. Look, he said, you have been living with the freedom of a Gentile so why insist on Gentiles having to follow Jewish customs, it's not logical!

Again Paul simply makes this same point, over and over again: Christ brought freedom from outward law keeping so why start adding extras, things that "ought" to be done. As we have said previously, this is perhaps one of the greatest temptations for the Christian church, even today.

D. Application?

1. Yet again can we examine our own lives. Do we have the feeling we

"have" to do things to justify ourselves before God?

2. Thank the Lord that He accepts us just as we are, and that gives us

freedom to live - and change.

RECAP: "Gospel Origins " Galatians 1:1 - 2:14

SUMMARY :

In these 7 studies we have seen:

- Paul's opening greeting

- His challenge to the Galatians for deserting the Gospel

- Paul:

- proceeding to explain the Gospel is Christ's

- giving his own Jewish background

- showing how the Gospel didn't come from men

- challenging the circumcision party

- telling of the Jerusalem council

- sharing how he refuted Peter's hypocrisy

COMMENT :

The church in Galatia had deserted the true Gospel and were now believing in a Gospel that required activity by man to achieve salvation. The apostle Paul explains in detail how the Gospel he preached had not been his own idea or even that of the apostles in Jerusalem , but had its origins in Jesus Christ alone.

LESSONS :

1. We cannot add to the work of Christ on the Cross.

2. Working for salvation is NOT the Gospel.

3. The Gospel comes from God alone.

4. Christ released us from being law-keepers to be Spirit-followers.

5. Christ accepts us just as we are - and then goes about changing us.

PRAY :

Thank the Lord that He died for us sinners and did everything that could be done, so that all we can do is receive it today.

PART 2 : "Faith or Law-keeping"

As we continue these Studies watch how Paul rejects the Jewish activity of observing the law as a means of salvation, and replaces it instead with simple faith in Christ. Observe how he develops his theme to show we are children of promises, children of God who are receiving all the blessings of Abraham today.