Paul’s letter to the Galatians presents a paradox: How can something so severe
bring so much delight? Here is a letter that attacks and assaults its original
readers—and all of us who attempt to prove our worth to God and others:
“O foolish Galatians!” Paul writes (Gal. 3:1). And yet we have here a letter capable
of bringing inexpressible joy and peace and freedom, as those who truly hear
Paul’s passionate message find themselves basking in the light of the grace of
God found in Christ Jesus.

Galatians sounds a clear call to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It
teaches that Jesus, and only Jesus, provides the way for us to be accepted by God
and fully a member of his family. We are righteous through his righteousness.
Any addition to Jesus as the basis for our standing before God is ultimately a
deadly subtraction; to say we need more than Jesus to be justified before God
is to lose everything.

Beyond proclaiming to us the way we become members of God’s family,
Galatians also provides guidance for how we can experience the ongoing
freedom of being his children, the freedom that Christ has won for us. Even
as Christianity must begin by faith in Jesus, so also must it continue in the
same manner. Avoiding the dangers of slavery to either religion or irreligion,
a Spirit-led trust in Jesus enables the believer to discover the joyful freedom of
serving others in love.

At the heart of Galatians are the glorious words, “no longer I . . . but Christ.”
Joined to Christ by faith, the believer has been crucified with him: the previous
self, with its ties to this evil age and its vain attempts at independence, is no
more. Now believers live by faith in Christ, empowered by his resurrection life,
filled with hope because of their newfound status as sons of God, heirs of his
extravagant promises, members of his unimaginably great new creation. (For
further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2241–2244, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

Though Galatians is (rightly) understood as an epistle that proclaims the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone, a careful study of this letter must recognize the redemptive-historical context in which it was written. During the 2,000 years leading up to the coming of Christ, God’s people believed that the only way to experience God’s saving blessings was by becoming a part of ethnic Israel and placing oneself under the law of Moses. This understanding was upended when Peter was sent by God to proclaim the gospel to Cornelius, a Roman centurion (Acts 10). Ten years later, when Paul writes this letter, there remains a significant amount of confusion regarding how a person enters the family of God. What is required to become an heir to the promises of blessing God made to Abraham? What place do Gentiles have in God’s redemptive plan for humanity? These questions lie near the center of the controversy addressed in Galatians.

“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.” (Gal. 2:20).

The absence of any references to the Jerusalem council—certainly an event that would have been highly relevant to the subject matter of this letter—suggests that Paul wrote Galatians some time after his first missionary journey and before the meeting of that council. Thus AD 48 is a likely date for its composition.

Paul had a personal relationship with the Galatian Christians. He visited the cities in the Galatian region while experiencing physical weakness. As some of its residents cared for him, he proclaimed to them the gospel of God’s salvation of all peoples through Jesus (Gal. 4:13–16). Those who believed were filled with joy and experienced miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 3:2–5; 4:15). This resulted in churches being established throughout the region.

Following Paul’s subsequent departure, other teachers have arisen who have brought considerable confusion. Motivated in part by a desire to win the favor of Jewish leaders and avoid being persecuted by them (Gal. 6:12–13), these teachers have sought to persuade the Galatian Christians that individuals are not full members of God’s people until they join the Jews in observing the requirements of the Old Testament law (referred to in Galatians as “works of the law”). The Galatians have responded to this teaching by beginning to observe Jewish feast days (Gal. 4:10) and are considering becoming circumcised (Gal. 5:2). Paul is deeply concerned that these young believers are beginning to believe a different (and thus, false) gospel. He writes this passionate letter to persuade them that they must resist the influence of these teachers and return to their previous way of faith.

1. Initial Greetings (Gal. 1:1–5)
2. The Irreplaceable Gospel (Gal. 1:6–2:10)
   1. Paul’s rebuke: you are turning to a different, false gospel! (Gal. 1:6–9)
   2. Paul’s story: the gospel that I preach comes from God alone (Gal. 1:10–2:10)
3. The Heart of This Gospel: Our Identity in Christ (Gal. 2:11–21)
   1. Confrontation with Peter: you are out of line with the gospel! (Gal. 2:11–14)
   2. The gospel that defines us (Gal. 2:15–21)
4. Becoming an Heir of Abraham (Gal. 3:1–29)
   1. Entrance requirements (Gal. 3:1–14)
      1. Evidence from experience (Gal. 3:1–5).
      2. Evidence from Abraham (Gal. 3:6–9)
      3. Evidence from Scripture (Gal. 3:10–14)
   2. Why the Law? (Gal. 3:15–29)
      1. The law does not invalidate the promises (Gal. 3:15–18)
      2. The purpose of the law (Gal. 3:19–24)
      3. Now that faith has come (Gal. 3:25–29)
5. The Freedom of Sonship (Gal. 4:1–6:10)
   1. From slaves to sons (Gal. 4:1–11)
      1. Brought by Christ into sonship (Gal. 4:1–7)
      2. The temptation to return (Gal. 4:8–11)
   2. Two kinds of sons (Gal. 4:12–5:1)
      1. Two kinds of teachers (Gal. 4:12–20)
      2. Two kinds of lives (Gal. 4:21–5:1)
   3. Danger! Turn back! (Gal. 5:2–12)
      1. Where this teaching will lead (Gal. 5:2–6)
      2. Where these teachers are headed (Gal. 5:7–12)
   4. How to live in true freedom (Gal. 5:13–24)
   5. Sowing to the Spirit (Gal. 5:25–6:10)
      1. The way of the Spirit in a specific context (Gal. 5:25–6:6)
      2. Why we should live by the Spirit (Gal. 6:7–10)
6. Conclusion: Defined by the Cross (Gal. 6:11–18)

If Galatians could somehow be erased from the Bible and wiped from our memories, what would we lose? What do you think are some of the important truths that Galatians has for the church?

As you have studied Galatians in the past, what have you found most notable or striking? What key ideas or passages come to mind as you think of Galatians?

What aspects of the book of Galatians have confused you? Are there any specific questions that you hope to have answered through this study?

One of the challenges in applying Galatians to our context is that few of us seek to demonstrate our worth before God and others by placing ourselves under the Jewish law. As you prepare to consider this letter, list some modern-day examples of ways that people seek to demonstrate their self-worth apart from Christ.

Take a few minutes to ask God to bless you with increased understanding and a transformed heart and life as you begin this study of Galatians.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Sometimes it isn’t good to be polite! The beginning of this letter is striking in its abruptness and lack of expected pleasantries. After Paul’s typical initial greetings (which introduce the themes of human lostness and the divine nature of salvation), he skips the customary words of praise and thanksgiving and immediately confronts the Galatian churches with their failure. They are accepting false teaching, and their understanding of the gospel is being corrupted. This danger is so grave and urgent that Paul cannot afford to soften his words to spare their feelings: the path they are on is a path of destruction. They must return to Paul’s gospel, because it is the true gospel that comes from God.

Galatians 1:1–2:10 teaches that believing the true gospel is of paramount importance, because the gospel that comes to us is from God himself.

Read through the complete passage for this study, Galatians 1:1–2:10. Then review the following questions and write your own notes on them. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2245–2247, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

1. Initial Greetings (Gal. 1:1–4)

As is common with letters, Galatians begins by identifying its author. Specifically, Paul identifies himself in the first verse by making a contrast. What is that contrast, and what significance does that have for how this letter should be treated?

As he then identifies the recipients of this letter, the Galatian church, Paul blesses his readers with God’s grace and peace. What does Galatians 1:3–4 teach about how this grace has been shown and why it is so needed?

2. Paul’s Rebuke (Gal. 1:6–9)

In Galatians 1:6, Paul refers to the “gospel,” a word that will lie at the very center of this letter. A key task in interpreting Galatians is discerning what that gospel—that message of good news—is. Carefully examine Galatians 1:6–2:12 in relation to this theme, and list some of the details we are given about the gospel in these verses.

With words that echo Israel’s betrayal of God in the wilderness (see Ex. 32:8), Paul tells the Galatian Christians that they are “quickly deserting” God. According to Galatians 1:6, what had God previously done for them?

Elsewhere, in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he writes that God calls people through the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14). Why is the Galatians’ acceptance of the “gospel” of these false teachers a desertion of God?

In Exodus, shortly after God brought Israel out of Egypt, the Israelites quickly turned from the God who saved them and began to worship a human-made idol; here the Galatian Christians are quickly deserting the God who called them, turning instead to a human-made gospel. What does this pattern tell you about the tendency of the human heart? Why do you think the human heart is this way?

Paul uses the strongest possible language in condemning the teachers of this “different gospel,” essentially pronouncing their damnation. Why does Paul speak and feel so strongly about these teachers?

3. Paul’s Story (Gal. 1:10–2:10)

In Galatians 1:10–2:10, Paul provides a lot of interesting information about the events in his life during the years that preceded his writing this letter. As is always the case with Paul, what he shares about himself is for a pastoral purpose. What does this autobiographical section show us about the gospel that Paul preaches? What is wrong with the gospel that the Galatians are turning to?

“It doesn’t really matter what you believe or what you teach. What is really important is the life you live.” This statement summarizes a view commonly held in our culture. Consider it in light of this passage: what might Paul say in response?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

THE GLORIOUS IRREPLACEABILITY OF THE GOSPEL. The language of these verses could not be more stark: departing from the divine gospel to a manmade pseudogospel is literally damning. Those who preach an adulterated gospel are under the curse of God. No human being has the option of adjusting the Christian message of salvation for the purposes of making it easier to hear and accept; the only truly good news is the apostolic message that has come to us in the Scriptures from Jesus. The strictness of this standard points us to a precious truth: the reason the gospel cannot in any way be altered is that it comes from God himself and is uniquely imbued with his power. By this gospel of the one who “gave himself for our sins,” God actively calls us into the resurrection life of his Son and out of the hopelessness of this present age. This divine gospel accomplishes what no human message could ever achieve. To alter it in any way is the epitome of foolishness.

GOD THE DELIVERER. Repeatedly in the Old Testament God is described as delivering his people from the attacks and oppression of their human enemies. The paradigmatic example of this was God’s rescue of Israel from their servitude in Egypt under Pharaoh. But even the exodus was only an anticipation of God’s ultimate act of deliverance, described in these verses. This deliverance is not from slavery to tyrannical human rulers but from the deeper bondage of belonging to a world dominated by sin and death. And it is accomplished not through plagues of judgment but by the Son of God enduring judgment on our behalf. The Lord Jesus gave himself to deliver us.

JESUS OUR SUBSTITUTE. In Isaiah 53, a mysterious, innocent servant of God is described as suffering for the sins of God’s people. “He was pierced for our transgressions,” Isaiah writes. “Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace” (Isaiah 53:5). He was to deliver this people by enduring the punishment that they deserved. Paul here identifies Jesus as that servant, the one who “gave himself for our sins” (Gal. 1:4) so that we might be brought back to God.

HUMANITY’S FICKLE HEART. Soon after God had miraculously rescued Israel from Egypt, they “turned aside quickly” to the worship of false gods (Ex. 32:8?). Even as God was speaking directly to Moses, his people had already chosen to prostrate themselves before a golden calf made by human hands. In the Galatian churches, history is repeating itself. These Christians have experienced God’s gracious call upon their lives; they have been transformed by the news of the Son of God delivering them through his death. And yet now they, like Israel many centuries ago, are “quickly deserting” God, turning to a false gospel constructed by human imagination. The sinful human heart is capable of astounding inconstancy.

THE DIVINE CALL OF THE GOSPEL. The biblical gospel of salvation by grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is more than an important message. It is actually God’s way of powerfully drawing sinful humanity to life and salvation. God actively calls hearers to himself through the human proclamation of the biblical gospel. He personally speaks to people’s hearts, inviting them to trust in Jesus and receive the abundance of divine blessings that are found in him. And by the agency of the Spirit, this divine gospel calling has the power to bring life to the spiritually dead and awaken faith in the hardest of hearts.

THE EXCLUSIVITY OF THE GOSPEL. One of the traditional Christian teachings most under attack today is the doctrine that salvation is promised only to those who have heard and believed the biblical gospel of salvation through Jesus (a teaching sometimes referred to as “exclusivism”). Why, it is asked, would God reject devout, well-meaning followers of other faiths, men and women who often display greater piety than Christians? In our passage we see Paul unapologetically on the side of exclusivism, and the reason has nothing to do with the religious quality of the worshiper. Humanity’s sinfulness and slavery is so great that only a message that comes from God can offer the real hope of rescue. Anything of human origin is impotent, offering false hope.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 1:1–2:10 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 1:1–2:10

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on some key things that the Lord may be teaching you—and to take note of things to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To this point, Paul’s primary emphasis has been on demonstrating that the gospel he preached to the Galatians is irreplaceable because it comes from God and not from the imagination of any human. In the background have been false teachers (see Gal. 1:7 and Gal. 2:4) who appear to emphasize the continued importance for God’s people of observing the Jewish law. In Galatians 2:11–21, Paul transitions to focus more on the content of the divine gospel and how it refutes these false teachings. The rest of this letter will be spent developing and defending the truths he articulates here.

Galatians 2:11–21 shows that no religious observance of God’s commands should give anyone a sense of superior status, because a person’s standing in God’s sight depends on Christ and faith in him, and not on anything that person has done.

Read through the complete passage for this study, Galatians 2:11–21. Then review the following questions and write your own notes on them concerning these two cycles of judgment and grace for the nations. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2247–2249, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

Describe the chain of events that led to Paul confronting Peter (whom Paul refers to as “Cephas”).

Imagine you are one of the Gentile congregation members of “Pastor Peter’s” church. For many weeks, Peter has come to your house and joined you and your friends for dinner and has also invited you to his house. But when some friends of his from Jerusalem come, suddenly those meals with you stop, because you and your friends are not eating kosher. How do you think that would affect you and your church?

Why did this bother Paul so much that he confronted Peter in public (Gal. 2:13–14)?

2. The Gospel That Defines Us (Gal. 2:15–21)

If Paul and Peter (“we”), who are law-abiding Jews, could be justified before God only through putting their faith in Christ Jesus, what does that indicate about the role that observing the law has in a person’s justification?

If a person is not made more righteous in God’s sight by observing the Jewish law (Gal. 2:16), what does that say to those who feel superior to Gentile “sinners” because they faithfully observe the law?

In Galatians 2:17, Paul seems to be quoting an argument made by his opponents: If faith in Jesus makes observing the Jewish law no longer a requirement, then Jesus seems to be encouraging sin (because people no longer need to follow the Jewish law). Paul responds that sin is actually demonstrated when one “rebuilds” what had been torn down (Gal. 2:18). In what way did Peter “rebuild what he tore down” when the people from Jerusalem came? How did that rebuilding prove that he was a “transgressor?”

In Galatians 2:19–21, Paul describes Christian salvation in personal, striking terms. What words does he use to describe what happened to him, and how does he describe the outcome of this transformation?

Paul speaks in terms of dying so that “I” no longer live, and yet at the same time he refers to “the life I now live.” In what sense, then, did Paul die?

Paul identifies the life he now lives as living by dependent faith in Christ, which suggests that the life he “died” to was a life of independence and self-reliance. What role does Paul say the law had in this process?

Throughout these verses, Paul is driving at an understanding of the law that would have been very surprising to fellow Jews: the law does not enable a person to be righteous before God. Rather, it is part of what enables a person to “die.” Why, according to Galatians 2:21, must that be the case?

In light of this, how was Peter’s decision to separate himself from Gentiles (and their non-kosher eating habits) an action that was “not in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14)?

While most of us may not feel the pull of observing the Jewish law, we likely are tempted in other ways to appear or feel superior to others. What are status symbols or behaviors that have the tendency toward making us feel better than others? How does this passage address that impulse?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

RADICAL GRACE. Peter’s willingness to separate himself from other Christians to be part of a purer inner circle of believers points to a commonly held faulty understanding of grace. Our natural tendency is to believe that “God helps those who help themselves”—that gaining God’s approval is an ongoing project and that his acceptance of us depends on our level of commitment and effort. But the gospel of grace declares that our good standing before God is not something we achieve; our standing before God is something that has been achieved for us by Jesus. We are justified because we are “in” him, through faith in him, which means it is impossible for Christians ever to be more accepted by God than they already are. It is all a gift, given here and now.

THE PERSONAL LOVE OF JESUS. It is one thing to understand that Jesus loves his people in general; it is another thing to come to the realization that Jesus loves me. Paul’s testimony here points to the precious truth that Jesus does not just love generally; he loves personally. Like Paul, the believer is able to say, with awe and wonder, “Jesus loved me and gave himself for me.”

FOOD LAWS. The very specific food laws of Leviticus 11 (and Deuteronomy 14) were not given for the purpose of hygiene or because foods considered “unclean” were somehow in and of themselves immoral. Rather, God’s purpose in the food laws was to teach his people about holiness and to keep them separate from the nations around them (see Lev. 11:43–45). The distinctions they were to make between clean and unclean food acted as a constant reminder of the moral distinction that existed between the ways of the world around them and the way of their God. They were to be holy because they belonged to a holy God. These physical signs and shadows of a deeper spiritual reality were no longer needed after the death and resurrection of Jesus, who has cleansed once and for all every person who trusts in him (regardless of ethnic identity). As Peter had previously learned through his encounter with Cornelius (see Acts 10), the barrier between Jew and Gentile has been brought down and the food laws of the old covenant are no longer binding (see also Eph. 2:11–22).

DYING THROUGH THE LAW. Near the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses declares to Israel that in giving the law to Israel, God is setting before them the ways of life and death. Obedience will lead to an experience of God’s blessing, whereas failure to listen and follow the law will bring God’s curse of death (Deut. 30:11–20). Paul here is declaring that the way of life that the law offers is a way that no one has succeeded in taking, and that therefore the law has only brought death. This would have been highly offensive to Paul’s contemporaries, and in the following chapters we will see Paul developing and defending this argument.

UNITED WITH CHRIST IN HIS DEATH. Paul declares that he has been crucified with Christ and that it is now Christ who lives in him. When believers trust in Jesus, they are by the Spirit united to him. Jesus draws near to us, and all that he has received and accomplished becomes ours as well. Specifically here, Paul teaches that a believer is united to Christ’s death. Even as Jesus’ connection to this “present evil age” was severed at the cross, so also every person joined to Christ by faith “dies” to their previous existence. The “self” we once were, the self that pretended to be independent and that lives for its own desires, has been nailed to the cross with Jesus. The new self is one who is in Christ and lives by faith in him.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. The sinful human tendency is to believe that we are contributors to our salvation, that we earn the good things that come to us, through either our skill or our goodness. These verses definitively reject that way of viewing life. No matter how perfect and divine the laws that humanity might receive, humanity is utterly incapable on its own of undoing what it has wrought through its sinfulness. Reconciliation with God and being holy and righteous in his sight cannot be achieved by our own efforts. “A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16). Justification comes from God, through Jesus and what he has done, and it is received in helplessness, with the empty hands of faith.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 2:11–21 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 2:11–21

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on lessons that the Lord may be teaching you—and perhaps to take note of things to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

In these verses, Paul begins more directly to attack the distortions of the gospel that are “bewitching” the Galatian believers. It appears that the most prominent aspect of the false teachers’ message was that Gentile believers in Christ needed to observe the law of Moses in order to truly belong to the people of God. For Paul, this was unthinkable, since the law was given as a preparation, for the purpose of helping people die to the law (“through the law I died to the law”; Gal. 2:19). Now that Christ has come, the desire to return to something that was meant as a preparation for Christ reveals a deep misunderstanding of the very purpose of the law. In Galatians 3:1–14, Paul seeks to convince the Galatians of this by referring to experience, to the history of Israel (particularly regarding Abraham), and to what the Scriptures themselves say about law and faith.

Becoming members of God’s people and heirs of God’s promises does not come by observing the Jewish law, but by placing one’s faith in Christ.

Read through the complete passage for this study, Galatians 3:1–14. Then review the following questions and write your own notes on them. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2249–2250, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

1. Evidence from Experience (Gal. 3:1–5)

Paul begins this section by asking a number of questions meant to expose to the Galatian Christians the error of following the false teachers. The questions in the first two verses call them to consider their previous experience. What does he remind the Galatians of in regard to their conversion, and what implication does that have for how they are to understand the role of the law of Moses?

Galatians 3:3–4 focus them on their present situation. What do Paul’s questions say they are doing when they place themselves under the Jewish law?

2. Evidence from Abraham (Gal. 3:6–9)

The implication of Paul’s final question (Gal. 3:5) is that God blesses people as they receive his gifts by faith, not because people have earned his favor by adhering to the law. To demonstrate this, Paul turns to the father of the people of Israel, Abraham. How was it that Abraham became righteous in God’s sight?

What was the promise that God gave to Abraham?

What do the answers to the previous two questions indicate regarding the question of whether or not a person needs to submit to the Jewish law (and be a Jew) in order to be pleasing in God’s sight?

If law (including circumcision) is not the way one becomes a full member of God’s people, then what is?

3. Evidence from Scripture (Gal. 3:10–14)

How does Deuteronomy 27:26 (which Paul quotes in Gal. 3:10) provide evidence for the argument that a person cannot be righteous through the law?

How does Habakkuk 2:4 (quoted in Gal. 3:11) provide further evidence?

The people of Israel learned through the law that they were under a curse because of their sin, and at the same time they were told they must find life through trusting God to bless them. How do both of these truths find their resolution in Jesus?

Given this understanding, why is it a problem to try to make God accept us by doing what is good, whether through returning to the Jewish law or through some other means?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT. When Paul seeks to convince the Galatians of how God’s blessings came to them entirely apart from their effort, he immediately speaks of the Spirit. The influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is one of the chief ways we experience God’s grace. His work in us is not something we earn or achieve; inward change by the power of the Spirit is given to us who are united to Christ by faith. God joins every believer to himself by his Spirit and enables each of them to experience his redeeming power.

FULL MEMBERSHIP BY FAITH. Often within groups there can be an “inner circle,” a select number of people who have attained a higher status, which enables them to enjoy greater privileges. No such division exists within God’s kingdom. All who have put their faith in Christ are immediately members in the fullest sense. They are in Christ. What higher status could there possibly be?

THE CALL TO FAITH. A common misunderstanding of the Bible is that people in the Old Testament achieved God’s favor through works, while those who come after Jesus are justified by faith in him. But being God’s people has always been about faith in God’s promises. The nation of Israel began when Abraham heard God’s astonishing promises and believed them. The law, with its sacrificial system and Sabbath specifics, created a culture meant to promote a waiting trust in God. The Psalms and the prophets repeatedly exhort God’s people to trust in God’s promises and wait on him to fulfill them. The New Testament does not contain a brand-new call to faith but rather a call to a faith that has greater specificity. Faith in God’s promises is a faith in Jesus, in whom all the promises find their “yes” (2 Cor. 1:20).

THE CURSE. After the failure in the garden of Eden, God placed a curse of death upon humanity, a curse that has been inherited from one generation to the next. One of the purposes of the law of Moses was to convince people of their desperate estate. By saying, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep this law,” they were hearing a curse pronounced upon themselves. In their sinfulness, all of God’s people failed to keep God’s law. In their Babylonian exile, Israel experienced a taste of the curse they (and all humanity) deserved by enduring a kind of death. But it was left to Christ, humanity’s representative and substitute, to endure the curse on our behalf and so finally to remove it: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13).

GOD’S INTENT FOR THE NATIONS. When God called Abraham and elected him, his purpose was not to exclude all other peoples, but rather to save them. God called Abraham with the promise that through him all other nations would be blessed. The prophet Isaiah later foretold a time when nations would stream to Israel to be reconciled with God (see Isa. 2:1–4). In Jesus, these promises were fulfilled as Gentiles and Jews alike were able to come to God through Christ, the descendant of Abraham par excellence. Through Jesus, the blessings of Abraham come to all the nations.

SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT. Galatians 3:13 declares that Jesus became a curse to redeem us from God’s curse: he was our substitute. Jesus’ death was not merely an example of selflessness for us to follow, nor was it only a gesture to demonstrate God’s love for us. The death he died was in our place; he took the punishment we deserved so that we instead could enjoy the gift of God’s blessing.

SANCTIFICATION BY FAITH. One of Paul’s criticisms of the Galatians is that after they began with faith in Christ, they are trying to become “perfected” on their own, through independent effort. But growing as a Christian, just like becoming a Christian, happens only through dependent faith upon Jesus. As our confidence grows in his goodness toward us and in his sufficiency to meet our needs, our heart is filled with love and gratitude. As a result, whereas before our striving to be “good” was motivated by a selfish and fearful desire to look good in the eyes of God and others, the transformed heart now seeks to give itself in service out of joyful love. Trust in Christ lies at the center of Christian transformation.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 3:1–14 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 3:1–14

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on lessons that the Lord may be teaching you—and to take note of things to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Paul is turning everything upside down for the Galatians. They were being persuaded by their teachers that God would approve of them more if they placed themselves under the Jewish law. Now, Paul has told them that this law does not improve their status as Christians; it does not give them a place of greater importance in the kingdom of God. Instead, this law brings the curse of death upon all who are under it, because all (other than Christ) fail to keep it perfectly. What then, the Galatians might ask, was the purpose of the whole Mosaic covenant? Answering this question is the central focus of this passage.

The Mosaic law was not given to show the Israelites what they needed to do in order to receive the fulfillment of God’s promises. Rather, it was given to humble and preserve the people of Israel, to enable them to wait until the fulfillment of these promises came to them in Christ Jesus.

Reflection and Discussion
Read through the entire text for this study, Galatians 3:15–29. Then interact with the following questions. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2250–2251, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

1. The Law Does Not Invalidate the Promises (Gal. 3:15–18).

Paul’s explanation of the role of the law of Moses begins by referring to the “human example” of making a covenant. How does this illustration help us to understand the relationship between the promises made to Abraham and the law of Moses?

Paul’s argument in the following verses depends on a good understanding of the promises first given to Abraham. Read Genesis 12:1–3 and Genesis 17:1–8. What did God promise? To whom were these promises given? To what extent were these promises of God dependent upon Abraham’s obedience?

The Galatians seemed to believe that the path to experiencing the great blessings of God was through following the law of Moses. Why, according to Paul, must this belief be false?

What does Paul’s argument in Galatians 3:15–18 tell us about how we should view God’s promises?

2. The Purpose of the Law (Gal. 3:19–24)

“Why then the law?” If divine inheritance could only ever come by promise, and receiving God’s blessings never depended on law, what purpose did the law have? In the following verses, Paul lays out an answer to this question, one he had previously hinted at in Galatians 2:20. List the information that Paul provides in Galatians 3:19, 22–24 about what the law was given to accomplish.

“Through the law I died to the law” (Gal. 2:19). “Scripture imprisoned everything under sin” (Gal. 3:22). Sin is here described as the entity that imprisons humanity. Elsewhere, Paul also speaks of sin as the reason for human death (Rom. 5:12). How then is the law involved in our imprisonment and death?

Words like “died,” “imprisoned,” and “held captive” imply a negative view of the law, and yet Paul elsewhere speaks of the law as “holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12). In what way is the law a part of the process of being redeemed by God (see especially Gal. 3:22–25)?

3. “Now That Faith Has Come . . .” (Gal. 3:25–29)

“The law was our guardian until Christ came” (Gal. 3:24). Why, with the work of Christ now finished, do people no longer need to submit themselves to this “guardian”?

According to Galatians 3:16, the “offspring” to whom the promises of God are ultimately directed is Christ, the son of Abraham. How then, according to Galatians 3:27–29, do we also become heirs of these promises?

Paul concludes by saying that, in the sight of God, there is no place for having pride or finding identity in things such as ethnicity, gender, or economic status (Gal. 3:28). Why is this the case?

Looking at Paul’s argument in these verses, why do you think it matters so much to him that people do not look to the law as a way of receiving God’s blessing?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

GOD’S IRREVOCABLE PROMISES. Paul’s logic in Galatians 3:15–18 rests on a simple yet significant premise. Once God’s promises are made, they are never withdrawn, and they are never broken. As historically significant as the giving of the law on Mount Sinai was, it in no way could negate or change any of what God had previously said to Abraham, because God’s promises are irrevocable. Here is an anchor for the believer’s soul. God has promised us everything we could ever need or desire through Christ Jesus: forgiveness, adoption into his family, protection and provision throughout the difficulties of this life, eternal and joyful life in the world to come, and so much more. Amid the ups and downs in this world and even the fickleness of our own heart, these promises are more certain than the rising of the sun or the steadfastness of the earth, for God will not and cannot break his word.

GOD’S CONFUSING MERCY. The law that God gave to his people “imprisoned them;” instead of diminishing Israel’s sinfulness, it underscored it. The very instructions that described how to find life were for the people of Israel a means of exposing their utter failure and helplessness. They discovered within themselves a desire to do the very opposite of what the law called them to. Surprisingly, this was part of what God intended to happen through the law: it was his purpose to discourage any who sought to fulfill the law by their own efforts. He was showing them their helplessness so that in the end they would look outside of themselves to God to provide for them. This was an expression of God’s mysterious love, for this “imprisonment” prepared them for Jesus. Divine grace is very different from “niceness” or pleasantness, because God’s work of love in our lives can often feel uncomfortable or even painful. But his grace is always good, for it always draws us closer to Christ, in whom all good is found.

THE “OFFSPRING” OF ABRAHAM. God had declared to Abraham that he would bless his offspring, granting this offspring the land to which he had brought Abraham, and blessing the world through this offspring. The Old Testament depicts a foretaste of the fulfillment of these promises, describing how Abraham’s descendants grew into a nation, took possession of the land of Canaan, and became a witness to the world of the one true God. Yet the true fulfillment of these promises would come only in Jesus: Jesus is the true offspring of Abraham. He is the head of God’s great people, the one through whom all nations would truly be blessed, and in the new creation that has begun through his resurrection, Jesus has in effect received the Promised Land. Jesus is the heir of these promises. All those who are “in” Christ by faith share in these blessings with him. All Christians are heirs of Abraham.

THE LAW AS GUARDIAN. Paul’s discussion of how the law of Moses was given long after God made promises to Abraham draws our attention to an important pattern in Scripture: God’s commands always come in the context of a relationship initiated by grace. In grace God created the world and created humanity to enjoy it, and in this gracious context he commanded humanity (Adam and Eve) to obey him. In grace God promised to bless Abraham, and in grace he rescued Abraham’s descendants, and in this gracious context he gave his people the Mosaic law. In the same way today, having redeemed his people through the precious blood of his Son, God calls them to reflect his holiness through their conduct (see 1 Pet. 1:13–21). Though these examples differ from one another in important ways, they all demonstrate the important point that God’s commandments are not preconditions for his love. Rather, they are expressions of it: God commands us because he loves us.

THE CONDEMNING FUNCTION OF THE LAW. The law “was added because of transgressions” (Gal. 3:19). Because the very definition of “transgression” is the breaking of a law, Paul’s logic here seems to be that part of the purpose of the law of Moses was to expose hidden sin by turning it into visible transgression. Hearing the command not to covet, for example, can in and of itself draw to the surface the covetousness that is within us, so that we become conscious of how sinful we are (see Rom. 7:7–8). This is significant for our understanding of the true depths to which mankind has fallen. Even when we are given perfect instruction from God regarding how we are to be, this instruction is insufficient to change the sinful heart within us. Indeed, it only makes our sinfulness more evident. What is true for divine instruction must then certainly be true also for human instruction: counseling or education or advice, no matter how wise, cannot on its own produce human maturity and wholeness. What is required is inner transformation, and that is something we cannot accomplish on our own.

UNITED WITH CHRIST IN HIS STATUS. Paul draws out glorious implications of being united to Christ. Because we who are believers are joined to Christ (a reality signified by baptism), we have “put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). Jesus’ status before God and the privileges he enjoys are now given also to us. Jesus is the “offspring” of Abraham and the Son of God, and that means that we who are believers are also, through Christ, heirs to God’s great promises and even royal children of God. With this new identity now defining us, all other aspects of who we are pale in their significance: our ethnicity, wealth, gender, and any aspect of ourselves that we previously considered important do not compare to the greatness of being God’s sons and daughters.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 3:15–29 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 3:15–29

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on key things that the Lord may be teaching you—and to take note of ideas to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Paul continues to seek to persuade the Galatians to abandon their desire to come under the Jewish law, but he now takes his argument in a new direction. In the previous three sections, the emphasis was on how justification comes through faith in Christ and not the works of the law. For much of the rest of the letter, Paul will demonstrate that true freedom comes only through faith in Christ, and that the Galatians’ desire to come under the law is a choice for slavery. In these verses Paul will focus on the change in identity that lies at the foundation of Christian freedom: Believers are, in Christ, sons of God.

The adoption that Jesus has won through his death and resurrection has brought believers in Christ out of the slavery they endured (whether they were Jews or Gentiles) into the freedom of divine sonship. To return to the law is to return to slavery.

Read through Galatians 4:1–11, which will be the focus of this week’s study. Following this, review the following questions and write your own responses concerning this section of the book of Galatians. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2251–2252, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

1. Brought by Christ into Sonship (Gal. 4:1–7)

How is an heir, when he is a child, both like and unlike a slave, according to Galatians 4:1–2?

How were the Jewish people, while they were under the law, like an heir who is a child?

Paul tells us that this status changed when Christ redeemed those who were under the law. How did Jesus do this (see Gal. 2:19–20 and Gal. 3:13)?

Describe the situation that believers in Christ now are in as a result of this redemption (Gal. 4:5–7).

Adopted children sometimes struggle to believe they are as much a part of their family as biological children are. What has God done to enable believers to know they are truly his children, truly part of his family?

2. The Temptation to Return (Gal. 4:8–11)

By speaking in the second person (“you”), Paul makes it clear in Galatians 4:7 that this status as “sons of God” is true of Gentiles as well as Jews. What, according to Galatians 4:8–9, is the central difference between the Gentiles’ former enslavement and their current experience of freedom?

What will these Gentile Christians be doing if they place themselves under the law of Moses?

What do you think might have motivated these Gentiles to begin observing religious rules about special days in the calendar, or about circumcision, or about food laws?

It is a common human tendency to try to do things that will increase our sense of self-worth or increase the appearance of our worth in the eyes of others. Observing the law of Moses seems to have been for the Galatian Christians a way of attempting to make themselves better in the eyes of God and others. What are ways you are tempted to prove your worth to yourself and others?

How do the truths of this passage help you in resisting this temptation to prove your worth?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. God’s salvation goes far deeper than enabling believers to escape judgment. When God rescues us, he draws us into an intimate, loving relationship with himself; we are brought into his family. God’s own Spirit is given to us so that we might experientially know that we are truly entitled to call God “Father” and that he loves us as his children. This is truly the Christian’s greatest privilege.

ADOPTION. From the beginning, it has always been God’s intention that humanity would belong to his family. The first humans were appointed to oversee the garden of Eden as “children” of God created by God (see Luke 3:38). When Abraham was called from the land of his fathers into a land God gave him, God was bringing Abraham into a father-son relationship with himself. In Exodus, God calls Pharaoh to release the people of Israel because they are his “firstborn son” (Ex. 4:22). And in his covenant with David, God promises that David’s descendant, who would be the head of Israel, would be a son to God (2 Sam. 7:14). All of this comes to its culmination in the person of Jesus. Taking on human flesh and becoming sinful humanity’s representative, dying and rising again, he draws all those united with him by faith into the father-son relationship he has enjoyed with God the Father from all eternity. In Christ we enjoy the privilege God has always intended for us: to be his children.

REDEMPTION FROM SLAVERY. The event that most clearly defines the Old Testament understanding of God’s salvation is the exodus, in which God liberated his people through Moses from harsh servitude and brought them into their “inheritance”: the land promised centuries earlier to Abraham. In the New Testament it becomes apparent that this was but a type of God’s greater work of redeeming all humanity. Christ is the new and greater Moses, entering into our servile condition and liberating us from slavery to sin through his death and resurrection, so bringing us into the freedom of sonship.

WHAT IS FREEDOM? In our culture today, freedom is conceived of primarily in terms of autonomy—our ability to make choices without any external restrictions or limitations. Freedom is my ability to do what I want. Consequently, any relationship that places demands on a person threatens this kind of freedom, whether that relationship be marriage, a parent-child relationship, or, most significantly, the relationship between a creature and his Creator. In these verses we find an altogether different conception of freedom, one that is not threatened by relationships: freedom is to be a son of God and to enjoy the privileges, glory, and access to God that this entails. We are no longer enslaved to fear but have the joyful, liberating certainty that we belong to a loving God. We will explore this idea further in subsequent chapters.

OUR SONSHIP IN JESUS’ SONSHIP. In a passage filled with glorious truths, perhaps the most remarkable one is that humanity is brought into the relationships eternally experienced within the Trinity. For all eternity, Jesus, who is God the Son, has enjoyed complete unity and intimacy with the Father. He loves the Father completely and is completely loved by the Father, through the power of the Spirit, so that together the persons of the Trinity enjoy eternal, perfect joy in loving relationships. Paul tells us that we are enabled to call God “Father” by means of the Spirit of the Son, meaning that we are, through Jesus, enabled to enter into the same kind of relationship that Jesus himself has enjoyed for all eternity. God has brought us fully into his family.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 4:1–11 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 4:1–11

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on some key things that the Lord may be teaching you—and to take note of things to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Paul continues to focus on where true freedom can be found, exploring how the two different messages preached by him and the false teachers produce two very different outcomes. He came to the Galatians in weakness, and, correspondingly, his message called people to place their confidence outside of themselves in the promises of God. The teachers after Paul, creating an “insiders’ group,” had a very different approach and a very different message. Only one of these offers the way of true freedom.

The teachers’ invitation to achieve respectability by coming under law is an invitation to slavery. Freedom is experienced by only those who depend on the promises of God and reject the way of self-reliance.

Read through the complete passage for this study, Galatians 4:12–5:1. Then review the following questions and write your own notes on them. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2252–2253, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

1. Two Kinds of Teachers (Gal. 4:12–20)

What can we learn from Galatians 4:12–15 about the situation when the Galatians first heard the gospel from Paul?

Reading between the lines of Galatians 4:16–18, what can we say about the current situation between the teachers who have recently arrived and the Galatians? How is the nature of this relationship different from the one they had formed with Paul?

Why do you think people might be influenced and shaped by these false teachers?

2. Two Kinds of Lives (Gal. 4:21–5:1)

In Galatians 4:21–5:1, Paul uses Sarah and Hagar as an illustration to contrast the life produced by Paul’s gospel and the life produced by the false teachers. In what ways did the circumstances of Ishmael’s and Isaac’s births differ from each other (see Gen. 16:1–4; 17:15–19; and Gen. 21:1–3 for more details)?

In what ways does the covenant of Sinai correspond to the birth of Ishmael?

In what ways does the new covenant of the heavenly Jerusalem (which fulfills the covenant of Abraham) correspond to the birth of Isaac?

The implication of this illustration is that those who seek to achieve God’s promised blessing through human achievement (as was the case with the birth of Ishmael) will find slavery, whereas freedom is found as God fulfills his promises in ways human effort could never achieve (as was the case with the birth of Isaac). How does Paul in Galatians 4:28–5:1 apply this illustration to the situation in the Galatian churches? How does he call them to respond?

Near the center of our passage (Gal. 4:19), Paul names the goal that he has in writing this letter. What is that goal, and how do you think Paul would say this goal is accomplished?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

GOD’S POWER AMID HUMAN WEAKNESS. In Galatians 4:12–15, Paul is not simply nostalgically reminiscing. He is making an important point: When he came to the Galatians, his physical helplessness (caused by some sort of “bodily ailment”) did not lessen the power of his message. The Galatians, hearing this gospel proclaimed in weakness, were filled with joy (and received the Holy Spirit; see Gal. 3:2). This was no accident: God’s gracious work in our lives does not depend on our strength, and his power is often most clearly seen amid our powerlessness (see 2 Cor. 12:1–10). In fact, it is often our perceived strengths that most stand in the way, as we are inclined to rely on them, rather than on Christ. God helps those who realize that they cannot help themselves.

PERSECUTION OF THE FAITHFUL. There is a recurring pattern throughout the Bible: Those who are alienated from God oppose God’s faithful people. Cain in his jealousy killed Abel; Ishmael mocked Isaac; Saul sought to kill David; and the surrounding nations took glee in Israel’s downfall and exile. Most significantly, even those claiming to know the God of the Scriptures crucified his Son, because his faithfulness exposed their faithlessness. Our expectation should be that those who live by faith in Christ will experience persecution (Gal. 4:29; see 2 Tim. 3:12). Our message and identity as believers in Christ are offensive, because we stand as a sign to the world that the life of self-reliance that people have been living is based on a lie and that their hopes in their own capability are empty.

GOD’S COVENANTS. As Paul argued in the previous chapter, the Sinai covenant (i.e., “the law”) made between Israel and God was not meant as a replacement of the Abrahamic covenant made centuries earlier. It was a temporary, provisional covenant, designed to prepare and preserve Israel until God’s promises to Abraham were fulfilled. This preserving and preparing happened in three main ways. First, the food laws and other practices unique to Israel isolated God’s people from the other nations. In so doing, these laws protected them from adopting the idolatrous practices and beliefs of other nations. Second, the law humbled Israel, exposing the people’s sinfulness as they fell short of the requirements and heard the curse of death pronounced upon them. With these first two functions the law was acting as a “guardian” that imprisons, as Paul wrote earlier (Gal. 3:22, 24). But, third, the law of Moses, with its priests and sacrificial system, and with its promises of restoration after Israel’s failure (see, e.g., Deut. 30:1–10), also calls people to hope outside of themselves in a God who will provide a solution for sin and will forgive. The law provided hope for the humbled. Viewing its functions as a whole, the law was designed to prepare people for Christ: to enable them both to see their need of Christ and to recognize how their hopes are fulfilled in Christ. With the coming of Jesus, the preparation and preservation that the law provided is no longer needed. Now is the time of the new covenant, in which God’s people are holy and accepted through their faith-union with Christ, and in which the law is now written on their hearts (Jer. 31:33). Any who choose to place themselves under the law of Moses now, in the time of the new covenant, are choosing to be imprisoned for no purpose; they are choosing the way of slavery.

THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM. In the previous chapter we noted that true freedom is the freedom of being a child of God. In these verses we note another important element of true freedom: It can be experienced only by those who are “born through promise.” That is, those who live “according to the flesh,” who are self-reliant and seek to be independent, cannot know what it is to be truly free. All effort that they expend is in slavish service to their desire to become happy and to their fear of suffering. The promise of grace that gives a believer new birth is also what liberates: the new believer, now a child of God, has everything already in Christ. Neither fear nor selfishness any longer has mastery. Every action can now flow from the fullness of gratitude rather than being a means of trying to fill a void.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 4:12–5:1 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord regarding the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 4:12–5:1

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on some key things that the Lord may be teaching you—and to take note of passages to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

As Paul continues his focus on Christian freedom, he now applies what he has been discussing to the specific issue at hand. Teachers who have arrived after Paul’s departure are instructing Christian Gentiles in Galatia to be circumcised, and it appears these Christians are being convinced that this is something they need to do to become part of the “inner circle” of Christianity. Paul provides a very different picture of where circumcision will take them as well as a different perspective from which to view these teachers.

The choice to rely on something we accomplish to give us status before God is a denial of Christ and a rejection of God’s grace. Those teachings that encourage such a choice must be carefully resisted.

Read the text for this week’s study, Galatians 5:2–12. Then review the following questions and write your own notes on them. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2253–2254, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

1. Where This Teaching Will Lead (Gal. 5:2–6)

Our passage for this week actually begins with the final verse of last week’s text: the call to “stand firm” in our freedom (Gal. 5:1). Paul has already identified freedom with being able to say truly and confidently that we are children of God (Gal. 4:6–7). What then might be some ways in which we might fall from this freedom back into slavery?

In Galatians 5:2, Paul warns the Galatians of severe consequences of becoming circumcised, yet in Galatians 5:6 he says that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. If circumcision in and of itself is insignificant, why is Paul so concerned that the Galatians are considering accepting circumcision? (See especially Gal. 5:4 to see what this choice means for the Galatians.)

What does Paul mean when he speaks of the Galatians seeking to be “justified by the law?”

According to Paul, what are the consequences if the Galatians do decide to become circumcised/try to justify themselves by the law? What does he mean by this?

If Galatians 5:2–4 describes the path from freedom to destruction, Galatians 5:5 describes the way of freedom. What does this verse tell us about what it looks like to live as a Christian?

“If God’s favor toward me doesn’t depend on my obeying him, then won’t that make me more likely to disobey God?” This is often a concern people have when we consider the biblical understanding of God’s grace. How does the description of faith in Galatians 5:6 begin to answer this question? How does this work?

2. Where These Teachers Are Headed (Gal. 5:7–12)

Paul moves the focus from examining the consequences of the teaching to examining its source. It seems likely that part of what drove the Galatians was the desire to be mature and respectable according to the standards of these seemingly impressive teachers. These people made them believe that they were moving from immaturity to maturity by adopting Jewish law. How is Paul’s description in Galatians 5:7–12 of what took place different from this understanding?

What does he help the Galatians to see about these teachers in order to turn the Galatians back?

Paul says the preaching of the need for circumcision is incompatible with the offense of the cross. Why is that?

“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Something as seemingly small as the motivation for why we do what is right can make all the difference in the world. Paul says that doing what is otherwise inconsequential—or even doing what is good!—can stand in the way of Christ if we look to those actions to make us right before God. Trying to justify ourselves cuts us off from Christ. What are areas in your life, whether actions you do or aspects of who you are, that you look to for a sense of worth instead of to Christ? What “good” things about yourself do you need to repent of because they keep you from trusting in Jesus and waiting for the righteousness that comes from him?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. What we feel about ourselves right now is neither what we truly are nor what we will one day be. Whereas our society is driven by external markers of status and worth, the Christian’s vindication is currently hidden. The Spirit gives us faith that on the last day we will share in the glorious righteousness of Christ. We will then know with certainty that we are approved of and loved by God, even if that reality is hard for us to recognize right now. And we will be transformed into Christ’s likeness, so that we are perfect in every way, without any remaining blemish of sin. The Christian life in this age is a life of waiting, holding on to this certain hope even as we don’t fully experience it. This confidence of our future righteousness is what enables us at present to forgo the natural striving to exalt ourselves in the eyes of others.

GOD PRESERVES HIS PEOPLE. Paul is confident that the Galatian Christians will come to see the truth of what he is teaching them, not because he thinks that his words are especially persuasive or that they are especially perceptive, but because he is “confident in the Lord.” He knows that the God who began his real saving work in the hearts of these Galatians will preserve and protect them to the end (see Phil. 1:6), so that even though they are considering false teaching, they will not ultimately succumb to it. Our confidence in our salvation rests in the knowledge that, even though our faith is weak and we are inclined to wander, our God will remain faithful to us.

FALSE TEACHERS. Humanity fell into its current sinful, helpless condition by listening to false teaching: “You will not surely die,” said the serpent (Gen. 3:4). Many times since, Satan has attacked God’s people with half-truths that threaten to turn people away from the faith. Deuteronomy 13 warns in the strongest terms of false prophets who will lead God’s people to idols, a warning that in subsequent centuries would repeatedly be ignored. Similarly, the New Testament Epistles are filled with warnings against the corrupting influence of false teachers. In Revelation’s depiction of the Satanic forces arrayed against the church, one of the three beasts that comprise this “unholy trinity” resembles a lamb (that is, he appears at first glance to be a representation of Jesus) and deceives people into worshiping false gods. Throughout the story of redemption found in Scripture, one of the chief battlegrounds for God’s people has been in the content of the ongoing teaching among them. Christians wage war against Satan by working to remain faithful to the true gospel, proclaimed in Scripture.

PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. These verses focus our minds on the tension surrounding the question of whether or not Christians might “lose” their faith. As was mentioned above, Galatians 5:10 speaks of God’s work of preserving and protecting his own. Paul is confident in the Lord that the Galatians will respond rightly. He believes God will use the words of warning in this letter to turn their hearts back to Christ because he is convinced they have a faith that comes from God. If a person’s faith is from God, our great shepherd will not ultimately allow his sheep to stray unto destruction; he will bring his own back to repentance and to true faith. Yet we also see here that God’s commitment to preserve believers does not mean that every person who expresses faith will be saved on the last day, no matter what choices that person makes in life. Paul writes that if the Galatians accept the understanding that they need more than Christ to be right with God, they will be cut off from Christ. As Jesus tells us elsewhere in the parable of the soils (Mark 4), some who express initial commitment to Christ will fall away, indicating that their faith had never fully taken root.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 5:2–12 for your own life today (and don’t forget Gal. 5:1, from last week!). Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 5:2–12

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on some key things that the Lord may be teaching you—and perhaps to take note of things to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

The bulk of Galatians 5 can be read as explaining the declaration Paul begins with in Galatians 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:2–12 warns against taking on the “yoke” of religious observance of the Jewish law. Galatians 5:13–24 focuses on the slavery of irreligion, of servitude to our desires.

Doing whatever “I” (i.e., the old self) want is slavery, not freedom. The freedom of divine sonship is found in submitting to the leading of the Spirit, who directs us lovingly to serve others.

Read through the complete text for this study, Galatians 5:13–24. Then review the following questions and write your own notes on them. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2254–2255, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

Our passage begins with Paul identifying a pseudofreedom that threatens real freedom. What would be some examples of using your freedom “as an opportunity for the flesh?”

Perhaps surprisingly, the ways of both religion (observing the Jewish law) and irreligion (doing whatever I want) are seen as forms of slavery. The former involves binding oneself to the project of trying to become right with God through one’s own accomplishments; the latter involves giving oneself over to desires that are ultimately self-destructive, twisted by sin. What does the way of freedom (rather paradoxically) look like, according to Galatians 5:13–14?

Paul describes the way of slavery as being the way of gratifying the desires of the flesh, whereas the way of freedom is that of walking by the Spirit. What connection has Paul already made between the freedom of divine sonship and the work of the Spirit (Gal. 4:4–7, 29)?

What instruction does Paul give in Galatians 5:16 to keep us from succumbing to the pseudofreedom of following the “desires of the flesh?”

What, according to Galatians 5:16–17, should we expect living by the Spirit of sonship to be like?

We are called to walk by the Spirit. But how can we know if we are doing this? To give us an understanding of the difference between the two ways of living, Paul lists both the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit.” As a means toward gaining a more concrete picture of what this means, go through both lists (first the “works of the flesh” and then the “fruit of the Spirit”) and give examples of how each particular work or fruit might be shown in today’s world (e.g., “sorcery”: superstitions such as horoscopes).

Looking at these two lists, what are some of the key differences you notice between them?

Those who walk by the Spirit “serve” each other. They do not do what they want. They have “crucified” the old self, “the flesh,” with its passions and desires. How is it that what is being described here is true freedom?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

THE GIFT OF GODLINESS. The logic of the gospel is not “God has saved you because of the good things you have done for him.” Nor is it “God has saved you through his mercy; now it’s your turn to do something for him.” Instead it is, “God’s love for you is so great that he is not going to be satisfied until you are wholly and completely the person you were created to be, utterly free to enjoy love and peace and all else that comes through communion with him.” God’s transformation of believers flows out of his love for us. He has given us his Spirit to render us renewed, whole, and righteous, as we were meant to be. Our obedient choice to “walk by the Spirit” is simply a choice to receive this divine love and experience it to the full.

THE LAW WRITTEN ON OUR HEARTS. As the prophets of Israel looked through the failure of their nation and even beyond the exile to the hope on the other side, they foretold of God’s people enjoying a new relationship to the commands of God. God would write his law on their hearts (Jer. 31:33); he would put his Spirit within his people so that they would be able to obey him faithfully (Ezek. 36:27). Believers in Christ have experienced the fulfillment of this prophecy: the Spirit of the Son dwells within. He has written God’s law on our hearts, so that, in his power, we find ourselves wanting to do what God has called us to. Though they are not under the law, those who follow the Spirit in the way of love ultimately find themselves fulfilling the law.

THE COMPLEXITY OF SANCTIFICATION. Paul teaches that the Spirit and flesh are opposed in such a manner as “to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Whether he means by this that our sinful selves get in the way of our Spirit-implanted desires or (more likely) that the Spirit rescues us from submitting to our own never-satisfied selfish desires, the result in either case is that we have a divided self. The desires that come naturally to our fallen selves stand opposed to the work of the Spirit and the freedom he brings. While the Spirit ultimately will prevail and the heart of every believer is gradually being conformed to the likeness of Jesus, the process of Christian growth is an ongoing internal battle, involving both a continual dying of the “flesh” and a corresponding renewal by the Spirit. For this reason we should expect the life of seeking to follow the Spirit’s leading to be difficult, even as it is good.

THE FREEDOM OF THE SPIRIT. These verses provide a concrete picture of what the Spirit-led freedom of divine sonship looks like, and it is significantly different from the modern-day freedom of autonomy. “I get to do whatever I want” is not freedom, but slavery, for the desires to which we then entrust ourselves lead us to loneliness, shame, and despair. True freedom generates the choice to deny oneself what one naturally desires and to joyfully serve others out of love. Nowhere is this freedom seen more clearly than in the person of Christ, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:6–7). We live free as Christ is formed in us.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 5:13–24 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 5:13–24

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on some key things that the Lord may be teaching you—and to take note of passages to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

During Paul’s discussion of the nature of Christian freedom, he has alluded to a problem of division within the Galatian congregations. In Galatians 6 he addresses it directly, applying his discussion of freedom to this specific context.

The freedom of the Spirit is freedom to love: It involves humbly carrying the burdens of others and seeking to do good to everyone, especially fellow believers.

Read through the complete passage for this study, Galatians 5:25–6:10. Then review the following questions and record your notes and reflections on this section of Galatians. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, page 2255, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

1. The Way of the Spirit in a Specific Context (Gal. 5:25–6:6)

In Galatians 5:15, Paul has already alluded to dissension within the Galatian churches, and now he focuses more directly on this problem. What does Galatians 5:26–6:1 imply about what was going on?

Let’s try to translate this to our present context. Imagine it becoming known in your church that one of the people in your congregation has a severe problem with alcohol and that their addiction to alcohol is causing major problems at work and at home. What would it look like to deal with this problem in the manner in which the Galatians seem to be dealing with people “caught in transgressions?”

Galatians 5:26 described the “way of the flesh” in this situation; in Galatians 6:1–2, Paul describes the way of the Spirit. Envisioning the scenario described above, what would it look like to live according to the way of the Spirit?

“Each will have to bear his own load” is likely a reference to the final judgment, when we will be held accountable for our actions. How does Galatians 6:3–5 diagnose this problem of becoming conceited over another’s downfall?

We are called to “test our own work.” If comparing self to neighbor is the wrong way of testing ourselves, what is the right way (see Gal. 5:19–24)?

2. Why We Should Live by the Spirit (Gal. 6:7–10)

Paul turns more directly to describing what should motivate us to live by the Spirit, and he does this with an agricultural metaphor. In what way is the choice of living by the flesh or by the Spirit like sowing and reaping?

We have to “bear our load” before God. We “reap” eternal life if we “sow” to the Spirit. What do these statements tell us about what true commitment to Christ looks like?

In our previous study, we noted how living by the Spirit involves a choice to forgo satisfying natural desires. How does Galatians 6:9 encourage believers in that endeavor?

Throughout this section the emphasis has been on how living by the Spirit leads to a life of love (and thus fulfilling the “Law of Christ” to love). Where, according to Galatians 6:10, should the primary focus be on how to direct our love? What are examples of what that might look like (see Gal. 6:2, 6)?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

THE GIFT OF TRUE COMMUNITY. Like the call to personal godliness, God’s command to be a sharer of Christian community is a gift, not a burden. Christians have been adopted by God, and that means they have been given a place in a new family: we are the “household of God.” As with any healthy family, we now have the privilege of being able to care for each other and experience each other’s care for us. And also in a manner that resembles earthly families, we grow and mature through being in relationships that last beyond initial infatuation—relationships that cannot easily be cast off. For amid these relationships, our sin is exposed and we are refined. The local church, even with all of its messiness, is an expression of God’s grace. When believers choose not to be connected to a church community, they are rejecting God’s good gift to them.

THE PROMISE OF REWARD. “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” This verse indicates two important truths: first, that a life of loving service is tiring. We will be inclined to grow “weary” of doing good, because true love involves true sacrifice. We who follow a crucified Lord should expect nothing else. Second, the encouragement that helps enable believers to continue despite their tiredness is the knowledge that we will “reap” a reward if we remain patient, that is, if we “keep on keeping on.” This is not to say that believers earn God’s goodness—everything God gives us is an expression of his grace, utterly undeserved by us. Rather, what we have here is a promise that our faith in Christ and the life of sacrifice that it engenders will not be disappointed in the end. When believers look backward at their lives on the last day, they will rejoice at their decision to give themselves in trust to the guidance of the Spirit. They will celebrate the “reward” that is the outcome of their faith.

THE SALVATION OF A COMMUNITY. Though God cares for each of us individually (see Gal. 2:20), his purpose has always been to save a community. He declares to Israel, “I . . . will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Lev. 26:12). That communal focus continues in the New Testament with its pervasive corporate imagery: individual believers are stones in the temple in which God dwells (1 Pet. 2:4–5). They are “members” of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). The great hope of the last day is described as the wedding feast for Jesus and his bride, the church. Individuals are saved by God into a people, so that a fundamental part of their identity (whether they realize it or not) is that they belong to a community, and are members of a family, in which they are to bear each other’s burdens.

BY FAITH ALONE, BUT NOT BY FAITH THAT IS ALONE. A quick reading of this passage can lead one to wonder if Paul is reversing all that he has said before about our salvation being entirely by faith and not by works of the law. But these verses do not call us to something more than faith; they describe what that faith looks like in action. To trust in Christ necessarily involves entrusting our choices and desires to his guidance; it means entrusting ourselves to the Spirit who leads us. We “test” our actions to see if our faith is genuine. A Christian is saved on the basis of faith in Christ alone, but a faith that is truly in Christ is a faith that will not be alone; it will be “working through love” (Gal. 5:6).

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 5:25–6:10 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 5:25–6:10

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on some key things that the Lord may be teaching you—noting things to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Paul’s “case” against the opposing teachers is concluded. He has demonstrated decisively from the Galatians’ experience and from Scripture that entrance into God’s family and the freedom that this offers comes by faith in Christ, through the power of the Spirit, and not by the “flesh” fulfilling the “works of the law.” He has applied these truths to the specific decision the Galatians were facing over whether or not to be circumcised and to the dissension about this that the churches were facing. Now he finishes his letter personally. “Look carefully at these teachers and look carefully at me,” he seems to be saying, “and recognize where the cross-shaped work of God is to be found.”

False teaching will always come off better in appearance because it avoids the scandal of the cross, but it will always lack the substance of the true gospel. Embracing the true gospel involves choosing the way of the cross; it means joining in Christ’s sufferings and experience of rejection in this world as our hearts place their hope in the new creation that has begun in Christ’s resurrection.

Read through the complete passage for this study, Galatians 6:11–18. Then review the following questions and record your notes and reflections on this section of Galatians. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 2255–2256, available online at www.esvbible.org.)

As it recounts Paul’s missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire, the book of Acts describes a Jewish leadership that so passionately opposes Paul’s efforts that they stone him and leave him for dead (Acts 14:19). It is likely that Paul’s claim to bear on his body the “marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17) is a reference to the scars and disfigurements that this event (and possibly other experiences of persecution) caused. Based on what Paul has written to the Galatian churches, why do you think the teachers and leaders of the Jews would be so against Paul (see Gal. 5:11)?

Central to this passage is a comparison between Paul’s and the teachers’ responses to persecution for the cross of Christ. Describe the difference between the two.

What does Paul’s description of these teachers in Galatians 6:12–13 indicate about the authenticity of what they proclaim? What is the problem with being concerned about outward appearances?

Paul refuses to be concerned about how he appears to others: he will not boast except in the scandal of the cross. He says circumcision or lack thereof is inconsequential (even though many are concerned with it). Why does he have this attitude toward public opinion (Gal. 6:14–15)?

This is the second occasion in Galatians when Paul has spoken of participating in the cross of Christ: by faith in Christ, he shares in being crucified to the present world. In practical terms, what has that meant for Paul’s life?

In what way should our faith in Christ affect our relationship to the present world?

Paul blesses with peace and mercy those who “walk by this rule.” What rule is Paul referring to, and what does it look like to walk by it?

The teachers were persuading the Galatians that true Christians are those who become Jews. What has this discussion of the cross, and indeed, the entire letter to the Galatians, taught about who the true descendants of Abraham, the true “Israel of God,” actually are (see Gal. 3:25–29)?

In what way does the benediction of Galatians 6:18 express the desire that motivates this entire letter?

Read through the following three sections on Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings. Then take time to consider the Personal Implications these sections may have for you.

TRUE GODLINESS. These verses alert us to the tragic irony of what is taking place in the Galatian churches. The false teachers appear to call Christians to a stricter and higher way of life, but in the end, their teaching only produces the outward appearance of holiness. Even the teachers themselves do not, in reality, keep the law. At the same time, though Paul’s gospel casts off the “yoke” of external-related rules, in reality this message of grace through Christ creates a radical, all-of-life transformation from within. By the grace of Christ we are crucified to this world and brought into a new life, a new family, a new creation. Only this reality is capable of producing true godliness.

NEW CREATION. The gospel enables the Christian to be brutally realistic about this present world and yet also profoundly optimistic about the future. The present age is “evil” (Gal. 1:4), and the world in its present form is enslaving (Gal. 4:3, 9). This is not to say we are devoid of any good in our present context: Creation still is filled with expressions of God’s grace, and this “common grace” still also appears in the good things we experience in our culture. Yet, ultimately, society is twisted by sin and corrupted by its alienation from God, and thus humanity can have no realistic hope for this world in its present condition. The hope that believers in Christ have is that through Jesus this world is no longer their own; they are members of a new, perfect creation initiated by the resurrection of Christ. Believers in Christ belong to a world that lies ahead of them, in which they will enjoy perfect fellowship with God and an end to all suffering. This hope is what defines us in this world and enables us to endure the suffering to which we are called.

ISRAEL OF GOD. “Who are the true people of God?” Much of Galatians has been concerned with this question. Who are the true children of Abraham, the true heirs of God’s extravagant promises? The false teachers have argued that the Jewish law answers this question: Christians are only truly a part of God’s people when they accept the command to be circumcised and practice other ceremonies prescribed by Moses. Paul has passionately refuted this. What defines the people of God is Jesus Christ, the true son of Abraham and Son of God. All those who are in him by faith are the true heirs of God’s promises. Whether Jew or Gentile by descent, in Christ all believers comprise the true “Israel of God.”

LIVING IN THE NOW BUT NOT YET. Paul’s description of the Christian life in Galatians points us to the complex reality of our moment in time. On one hand, those who place their faith in Christ have been crucified with Christ to this world. We no longer look to our place in this world for identity or ultimate joy, and, as Paul’s life demonstrates, we should expect the pain and rejection that comes from associating with one whom this world has crucified. We are aliens and strangers in this world as we wait for the world to come. At the same time, Christians experience some of the benefits of our future joy. We have been given new life through the Holy Spirit and so have begun to experience the “new creation” within! The Christian is enabled to call God “Father” with a Spirit-inspired confidence. The believer is able to bear the fruit of a transformed life by that same Spirit. And, directed by the Spirit, we are able to hope joyfully in the reality that lies before us. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with our spirit, even as we wait to experience his grace in all its fullness.

Take time to reflect on the implications of Galatians 6:11–18 for your own life today. Consider what you have learned that might lead you to praise God, repent of sin, and trust more deeply in his gracious promises. Note the personal implications for your walk with the Lord in light of the (1) Gospel Glimpses, (2) Whole-Bible Connections, (3) Theological Soundings, and (4) this passage as a whole.

1. Gospel Glimpses
2. Whole-Bible Connections
3. Theological Soundings
4. Galatians 6:11–18

Take a moment now to ask for the Lord’s blessing and help as you continue in this study of Galatians. And take a moment also to look back through this unit of study, to reflect on lessons that the Lord may be teaching you—and to note things to review again in the future.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

We will conclude our study of Galatians by summarizing the big picture of God’s message through Galatians as a whole. Then we will consider several questions in order to reflect on various Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings throughout the entire book.

Galatians is a tightly argued letter, focusing ultimately on a question of status and belonging before God: How does one become a true member of God’s people, truly a “son of God?” The teachers who are influencing the Galatians’ claim that submitting to the Jewish law is a crucial entrance requirement; Paul declares that one becomes a “son of God” only by faith in Jesus, the Son of God who rescued his people.

Following initial words of greeting, Galatians 1:6–2:10 focuses on two “gospels” and where they come from. There is only one true, saving gospel by which God calls people to himself, and that gospel God gave directly to Paul. It is of divine origin. Any departure from this gospel by other teachers is a departure from God into destruction. This leads to Paul’s central assertion, stated in Galatians 2:11–21: The true gospel declares that entrance into God’s family (i.e., justification) comes through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works of the law. The heart of Christian identity is the believers’ union with Christ: they have joined in his crucifixion to this world, and who they now are flows from Jesus and his resurrection life. Galatians 3 explains the place the law was designed to have in God’s work of redemption. Both the Galatians’ experience at conversion and Israel’s own history (beginning with the promise of Abraham) demonstrate that law is not the mechanism by which someone enters God’s family. The law of Moses was given to those who already were God’s people in order to protect and prepare them for the fulfillment of his promises. Now that Jesus has died and risen, faith in Christ establishes all believers, Jew and Gentile, as sons of God, heirs to the promises. The Mosaic law’s preparatory work is no longer needed, and it could not possibly improve one’s status beyond what a believer has already received in Christ.

In fact, to come under law is to depart from the privileges of divine sonship. Any addition to the gospel of Christ is always a subtraction. That is the primary focus of Galatians 4:1–5:12. The choice to come under the law, now that its fulfillment has arrived, is a choice to turn from Christ and reject his benefits. Such a wrong choice is fueled by the false belief that our own independent (sinful) effort can somehow earn God’s approval. But it is only by God’s grace, as “children of promise,” that we are able to experience divine sonship. “Children of the flesh” will forever remain in slavery.

This leads Paul to discuss in Galatians 5:13–6:10 what the true freedom of sonship looks like. True freedom is the freedom of the Spirit—a freedom from selfish, destructive desires and a freedom to love and serve others with sincere joy. It is to experience the same freedom displayed in the Son of God himself. Paul describes the nature of this freedom in tangible ways, calling Galatians to carry one another’s burdens within the household of faith. Following these final instructions, Paul concludes on a personal note. His life reflects the cross in a way that these false teachers’ lives do not. All who truly find their identity in Christ will similarly testify to being crucified to this world, living lives oriented toward the new creation.

Galatians is a book that gets in your face with the gospel: It confronts and encourages at the same time. On the one hand, Paul’s words deal ruthlessly with our tendency to try to achieve a status and identity that comes through our own effort. Our sinfulness renders us incapable of fulfilling the law, and any attempt at self-reliance will only bring repeated failure, slavery, and, worst of all, alienation from God. But these severe words are written in order to enable us to hear the glorious good news: Christ has won for us the status and freedom of sonship that we could never acquire on our own. “In him,” through faith, we become sons and daughters of God (Gal. 4:7), experiencing an intimate relationship with the Father, enabled to walk in the freedom of the Spirit, and possessing a confident hope in the new creation.

Has Galatians brought new clarity to your understanding of the gospel? How so?

Were there any particular passages or themes in Galatians that led you to have a fresh understanding and grasp of what God has given you through Christ Jesus?

Galatians interprets the historical seismic shift that has taken place in God’s work of redemption. Now that Christ has come, there is no longer a need for the law of Moses to protect and preserve God’s people. The waiting is over. God’s blessings have come through Christ to all those who are in Christ. Therefore, no one needs to “come under the law” to become part of God’s family. In Christ there is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile; there are only children of God. God’s people have been brought from the rigid restrictions required by children into the freedom of the Holy Spirit. What has Galatians taught you about God’s work (recorded in the Old Testament) of preparing the world for Jesus?

What connections between the law of Moses and the coming of Christ were new to you?

What has Galatians taught you about how God’s work of saving his people changed with the coming of Christ?

What has Galatians taught you about how God’s work of saving people remained the same between the Old and New Testaments?

Our sinful human nature inclines us to attempt to justify ourselves before God, whether that be through the law of Moses, as was the case with the Galatian church, or through attaining success at work, or pleasing people in relationships, or being very actively involved in our church. This letter has the explosive power to blow up any such project and replace it with something far better. To be a Christian is to be crucified with Christ; it is to receive the death sentence on our vain attempts at independence from God and to relinquish any hopes of making ourselves right in his sight. The glorious truth that shines forth in Galatians is that letting our previous life go is no loss at all, because those who do so by faith in Christ gain Jesus and all his benefits in exchange. In Christ, believers are fully justified before God. Sharing in Christ’s righteousness, they are accepted and forgiven apart from anything they do on their own. In Christ, we are God’s “sons,” intimately loved by God, given assurance of this love by the Spirit of the Son, and given a growing family resemblance as Christ is formed in us (Gal. 4:19). Not only have we been crucified with Christ, we also now live in the power of the resurrected Christ, and we wait with hope for the day when what is real will be what we experience, and we can enjoy the new creation in its fullness. Has your understanding of your relationship to God shifted in minor or major ways during the course of studying Galatians? How so?

What, specifically, does Galatians teach us about the human condition and our need of God’s grace?

What have you learned about what it means to be united with Christ?

What has Galatians taught you about how to live in true freedom?

God gave us the book of Galatians to transform us. As you reflect on Galatians as a whole, what implications do you see for your life?

What implications for life flow from your reflections on the questions already asked in this week’s study concerning Gospel Glimpses, Whole-Bible Connections, and Theological Soundings?

What have you learned in Galatians that might lead you to praise God, turn away from sin, or trust more firmly in his promises?

We rejoice with you as you finish studying the book of Galatians! May this study become part of your Christian walk of faith, day by day and week by week throughout your life. Now we would greatly encourage you to study the Word of God on a week-by-week basis. To continue your study of the Bible, we would encourage you to consider other books in the Knowing the Bible series, and to visit www.knowingthebibleseries.org for print copies or www.thegospelcoalition.org/courses for reading online.

Lastly, take a moment to look back through this study. Review the notes that you have written and the things that you have noted to review again in the future. Reflect again on the key themes that the Lord has been teaching you about himself and about his Word. May these things become a treasure for you throughout your life—which we pray will be true for you, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Galatians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Geoff Ziegler. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.