Galatians


  1. Background
    1. The Magna Cart of spiritual emancipation. 
      1. Liberation of Christianity from legalism
    2. Distinctive in tone from other letters
      1. emotional and polemical (attacking/argumentative) from beginning
        1. drops the characteristic prayer of thanksgiving
        2. begins with: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel" (1:6).
    3. Main concern-danger of exchanging Christian freedom for legalistic bondage.
      1. "My dear children...how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone because I am perplexed about you" (4:19, 20). 
      2. "Who has bewitched you?"(3:1) 
      3. Twice he condemns those who are preaching a gospel other than the one he has preached (1:8,9). 
      4. He accuses the Galatians of stupidity (3:1), 
      5. and is upset by "their return to the old covenant law" (4:11 footnote). 
      6. He is openly hostile to his troublemakers and wishes they would "emasculate themselves" (5:12). 
  2. Recipients
    1. Group of churches in Galatia (1:2)
      1. There are two theories about the recipients of the letter: 
        1. the North Galatian theory 
          1. the territory north of the cities of Pisidian Antioch, lconium, and Lystra
        2. South Galatian theory
          1. the territories of Pisidian Antioch, lconium, and Lystra
      2. The controversy is important for the dating of the letter. 
        1. South Galatian theory: the letter would have been written about A.D. 48.
    2. The Judaizers and Legalism 
      1. Paul wrote this letter because of the strong influence of the Judaizers
      2. Judaizers
        1. In order to be in proper relationship with God, everyone must follow the commandments of the Old Testament
          1. The Messiah is a Jewish savior
          2. being “in Christ” means also becoming a Jew
          3. circumcision is the symbol of being a part of the covenant
        2. taught Gentile converts to Christianity should get circumcised
          1. i.e. follow Jewish laws and customs
        3. disliked Paul because he did not insist on circumcision
          1. Paul did not circumcise Titus because Titus was a Greek, 
          2. Paul did circumcise Timothy, son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother, so that the Timothy would not interfere with Paul’s interaction with the Jews.
      3. Paul suggests that the real motivation for Christian circumcision is to avoid persecution.
        1. "The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ" (6:12). 
        2. circumcision makes Christians seem like regular Jews helping to avoid persecution and martyrdom
          1. think of Paul hunting down Christians before he became one.
          2. To Jews, righteousness happens by following Torah
          3. For Christians, righteousness happens by accepting Jesus’ as Messiah
            1. We are righteous because he is righteous
      4. The Judaizer’s argument against Paul (from what we can piece together)
        Note: THIS IS THEIR ARGUMENT, NOT THE TRUTH
        1. The Jerusalem leaders are the only persons with authority to say what the true gospel is, and this authority they received direct from Christ. 
        2. Paul has no comparable authority: 
          1. his commission is from the Jerusalem leaders, 
          2. if he differs from them on the content or implications of gospel, he is wrong 
        3. Paul went up to Jerusalem shortly after his conversion and spent some time with the apostles. 
        4. They instructed him in the principles of the gospel and authorized him to preach to others the gospel, which he had learned from them. 
        5. When Paul left Jerusalem for Syria and Cilicia he began to adapt the gospel to make it palatable to the Gentiles. 
          1. The Jerusalem leaders practiced circumcision and observed the law and the customs, 
          2. Paul omitted circumcision and other ancient observances from the message he preached, and thus he betrayed his ancestral heritage. 
        6. This law-free gospel has no authority but his own; 
          1. he did not receive it from the apostles, 
        7. The apostles disapproved of his course of action. 
          1. this happened publicly when there was a direct confrontation between Peter and Paul on the necessity of maintaining the Jewish food-laws." 
      5. Paul defends his preaching credentials
        1. The Judaizers question Paul’s apostolic credentials
          1. suggest Paul removed the legal requirements of salvation to make the Gospel more appealing to Gentiles
        2. Paul insists he is directly called by God (1:15)
        3. the gospel he preaches was directly revealed to him by God.
          1. He didn’t learn it from being a Jew
          2. He didn’t learn it from the other apostles in Jerusalem
            1. because he didn’t meet any of them until 3 years after his conversion.
            2. He met James and Peter and only stayed for 15 days.
          3. since the gospel of grace didn’t come from his background or his contacts in Jerusalem, it must have come from God.
        4. The other apostles recognize Paul as an apostle
          1. Fourteen years later, "James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles" (2:7-10). 
        5. Public rebuke of Peter
          1. Peter yielding to the pressure of the Judaizers when with Gentile Christians
          2. Paul corrects him publicly and Peter yields himself to Paul’s correction
          3. This demonstrates not only Paul’s authority in the church but also the truth about what he is preaching
    3. Libertinism
      1. Libertinism—living without moral restraints
        1. A problem on the other end of the spectrum from legalism
      2. Suggested by a number of verses, 
        1. "do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature" (5:13); 
        2. "the one who sows to please his sinful nature" (6:8); 
        3. "if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual" (6:1);
        4. "I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God" (5:21). 
      3. Whether this problem existed or not, the threat of libertinism would have been a real concern to the Jewish Christians,
        1. Jews were known for their high moral standards
      4. The concern: If Gentile Christians were not required to keep this law, what would prevent them from living like the pagans around them? 
      5. Paul's reply: Christian freedom is not freedom to do what we want, but a freedom to serve one another in love (5:13- 14). 
        1. The Christian's life does not follow a list of do's and don'ts, it is marked by the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23). 
        2. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (5:24). 
        3. The Christian does good, not to keep the law, but in order to please God and inherit eternal life (6:8). 
    4. Jewish and Gentile Christians 
      1. Would there be two churches (Jewish and Gentile) or only one.
        1. The first Christians were all Jews. Most of them continued their Jewish way of life
          1. following Old Testament cleanliness laws
          2. celebrating the feasts and making pilgrimages to the Temple
          3. going to synagogue
        2. The conversion of Gentiles causes a problem: Gentiles are unclean
          1. Jews would not be allowed to associate with them unless the Gentile Christians converted to Judaism and followed the O.T. laws.
          2. Peter struggled with this same problem (Acts 10) 
          3. and had to defend his association with Cornelius and his household before the believers in Jerusalem (Acts 11:1-18)
          4. Peter still struggled with this when traveling (Galatians 2:11-13)
        3. The Council of Jerusalem debates the question (Acts 15)
          1. the gospel of salvation by grace alone was reaffirmed (Acts 15:11) 
          2. a compromise was adopted that made it possible for Jewish and Gentile Christians to associate together (Acts 15:19-29)
  3. The Gospel of Galatians 
    1. Salvation is a free gift from God
      1. through faith in Jesus as the Christ
      2. not through strict observance of the law (Torah)
    2. The first time this theological theme is found is in Paul's summary of his reprimand of Peter (2:11- 21): 
“we who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified” (2:15-16). 

    1. Faith is how we receive justification
      1. Paul uses Abraham as his example
        1. the Father of the Jewish nation
        2. this would hold quite a bit of sway among Jews
      2. God promised a blessing to Abraham and his descendants, which Abraham accepted in faith (3:8, 16-18); 
      3. that promise has come to fulfillment in Jesus (3:16b, 22, 26, 29). 
      4. Abraham was justified before the law was given; 
        1. even in the Old Testament, righteousness came by faith
        2. not by the law. 
    2. The purpose of the law
      1. to make us aware of our inability to make it on our own
        1. "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse," (3: 10)
        2. quoting Deuteronomy 27:26
          1. “Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.”
      2. we recognize we need a savior
        1. because we cannot keep the law, so under the law we stand condemned
    3. Gentiles finally included in Abraham’s blessing.
      1. original promise was that Abraham would be a blessing to all nations
      2. "in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit" (3:13, 14)
    4. Jesus both annulled and fulfilled the Torah
      1. annulled it because Torah does not allow for a crucified messiah
        1. Deuteronomy 21:23
        2. Those who look to the law for salvation experience captivity and slavery instead
      2. fulfilled it because he was completely righteous and faithfully obedient to the will of the Father
        1. now Jesus offers us his righteousness
          1. we no longer have to come under Torah to get to God.
        2. "all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (3:26, 27)
        3. Christians become sons and daughters of God, through faith
    5. This acceptance of Jesus’ work for us calls for another response of faith
      1. We must refuse the World’s way of binding us with rules and regulations outside of Christ his completed work on the cross.
      2. "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation" (6:15). 
      3. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (5:1)
    6. Note Romans 1-8 argues the same themes as Galatians: 
      1. that salvation is by grace through faith alone and not through keeping the law; 
      2. that Jews and Gentiles are equal and alike before this gospel; 
      3. that those who are in Christ are now dead to sin and alive in the Spirit. 
  1. Freedom in Christ and Life by the Spirit 
    1. Freedom in Christ expresses itself through love (5:6). 
      1. the freedom Paul advocates has strict moral obligations built into it 
        1. not the obligations of the law but the obligation of love
      2. Paul depicts living by the law as slavery (2:2-4; 4:1-11; 4:21-5:1). 
      3. He assures the Galatians, living by the Spirit provides enough moral safeguards, 
        1. He gives a number of examples contrasting "acts of the sinful nature" to "the fruit of the Spirit" (5:19-23).
    2. Practical applications of freedom and faith (5:13-6:10)
      1. Paul attempts to convince Galatians to let the Holy Spirit direct their lives
      2. Life by the Spirit focuses on what we should do while life under the law (still lived in the flesh) focuses on what we should not do.
      3. In Christ, we live life for others instead of for ourselves.
      4. The Spirit leads to life and love while the Flesh leads to division and hostility
      5. We reap what we sow (6:7-10)
        1. “7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (NIV)
    3. Fulfilling the Law while not under the Law
      1. The Spirit within us gives us the ability to do what we could not while we were under the law.
        1. Remember, we are not under the law because in Christ, we are dead.
        2. “1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.”
          ”4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:1-6)
      2. Living a life focused on loving God and others (life by the Spirit) fulfills the entire law without a checklist of right and wrong.
        1. Jesus said as much when he summarized the entire Torah.
        2. “37 Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-40)
Lesson Activities 

1. Galatians reading questions and comments.

Begin by reading Galatians together as a class. As we read, write down questions you have either about the letter or topics the letter addresses. If you do not have questions, write down some observations you have or ideas which interest you. You must have at least one question/comment per chapter.

2. Class discussion on ‘legalism’

What is it? Does it exist in your life? Here at school? At your church?  What are some possible ways we could identify legalism? What is the difference between having rules and being legalistic? When a community (school, family, etc) has a common set of rules not everyone agrees on, is this legalistic or not? 

3. Essay on Galatians.

The main body of the letter is found in 3:1 - 5:12. Using the theme: "The righteous will live by faith," your job is to write an essay explaining this section. You may refer to other passages in the letter, or even to other parts of Scripture (e.g. Romans 1-8) if you so desire. Length: 600 - 800 words.