Level Up – The Epistles Summer 2024
Galatians
◼ Introduction – NIV Study Bible
o Author
▪ Paul (Galatians 1:1)
o Date and Place of Writing
▪ A.D. ______________
▪ In Syrian Antioch after Paul’s first missionary journey and before the Council of Jerusalem mentioned in Acts 15.
o Recipients
▪ The churches in southern Galatia (Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe)
o Purpose – Why did Paul write this letter?
▪ There was a group of people called Judaizers (Paul called them ) who believed the ceremonial practices of the Old Testament (especially circumcision) were still binding on the New Testament church.
▪ Paul defends his apostolic and the gospel of grace through faith he preached.
o What does the beginning of the letter reveal to the reader?
▪ 1 Paul, an apostlea sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the deadb 2 and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil agec,d , according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
• A – Paul defends his apostleship.
• B – Jesus is who He says He is.
• C – We are set apart not because of our works but by our faith in the work of Christ.
• D – This is the gospel in its simplest form. He will immediately contrast what it is being taught as a “different gospel.”
o Paul wrote this important letter from a place of deep and
o He challenges the Galatians with his summary of the ________________________ message about the crucified Messiah.
o He opens by expressing his bewilderment that the Galatians have embraced a ______________________________ gospel.
o Paul defends the authenticity of his message and authority as an apostle.
o We have faith in the Messiah Jesus, to be justified, or literally, "to be declared .”
o At the heart of Paul's gospel is this claim: that when people trust in the Messiah Jesus, what is true of Him becomes true of :
o This profound understanding of what Jesus accomplished has huge implications for who can now be included in God's family and for what it means to live as a member of that family.
o Jesus was the faithful who truly loved God and neighbor. And as Israel's , He died to take the curse and consequence of Israel's failure into Himself and bring redemption.
o Paul contrasts this old and new .
o The Fruit of the Spirit is Jesus’ of life that He wants to reproduce in His Family so that they become people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
o In the end, Paul concludes that the requirement for Christians to become Torahobservant, or be circumcised, is an adventure in .
Key verses
◼ 2:20 - 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
◼ 3:26-28 - 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
◼ 4:6-7 - 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, ] Father.”7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
◼ 5:11It 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.
◼ 5:13-14 - 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[x]; rather, serve one another humbly in love.14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
◼ 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
◼ 5:25 - 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
◼ 6:11Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
◼ 6:22 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
◼ 6:77 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Practice – Context of Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
1. Galatians 5:22-23 is not the only list found in Galatians 5. Read the list found in 5:1921. How are these two lists different?
2. Read 5:13-15 and 5:26. What is the idea that bookends our two lists?
3. 5:1-12 talks about circumcision. How is that connected to the Fruit of the Spirit in vss. 22-23? Do vss. 24-25 help us?