In this text Paul expands on his point from verses 24-26 in Chapter 3. The Law was a guardian that led us to Christ, but now that Christ has come we are no longer under the authority of the guardian. We are free. We are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And as […]
After explaining salvation from Abraham to Moses to Christ, Paul now further examines the purpose of the Law – an analysis he started in verse 19 – and contrasts what it is to be under it compared to being in Christ. The Law is a prison and a disciplinarian and is not intended as a […]
Now that he has established that Abraham was justified by faith and that the true heirs of Abraham are those who believe as he did, Paul now turns to the Law’s effect on God’s promise to Abraham (all nations shall be blessed in you) and the Law’s purpose. He anticipates the false teachers’ response to […]
If you’re a believer, you should know the Ten Commandments. You should have them committed to memory. You should know them well enough that you can rehearse them easily and quickly. At the end of this post I’ll give you a shortcut method for learning them so you can recite what is the summary of […]
In verses 1-5 of Chapter 3 Paul argued for the truth of the gospel based on the experience of the Galatians when he originally preached to them; i.e., they believed and received the Spirit before anyone told them they had to keep the Law to be saved. Beginning in verse 6 Paul makes the case […]
Paul moves from discussing his own experience and justifying his credentials to reminding the Galatians of what they heard and believed when he was with them. He asks them about their experience with the gospel and how that affects their theology today. He makes it very clear to them that he is horrified and incredulous […]
Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which He thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and declares us to be righteous in His sight. A right understanding of justification is absolutely crucial to the whole Christian faith. Once Martin Luther realized the truth of justification by […]
Paul ends the autobiographical section of the letter and the defense of his ministry with a story about confronting Peter. The purpose of telling the Galatians about this event is to demonstrate again the freedom that is theirs in the gospel and also to demonstrate for a final time his independence from and equality with […]
Paul continues to defend his message from the criticism of the false teachers – criticism that says he is a second-rate apostle who simply distorts the gospel he was given by the real apostles in Jerusalem. He has already told the Galatians that during the first years after his conversion he spent very little time […]
Paul begins a defense of his apostleship and teaching. Apparently the false teachers have not only questioned his status as an apostle but have cast doubt on the origins of his teaching. They have said he is just a weak imitation of the Jerusalem apostles – Peter, James, John – and that his gospel message […]
