Galatians

The Path to Freedom

Dr. David Jeremiah

• Publisher: HarperChristian Resources
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780310091677
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

God's grace cannot be earned...

Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the letter of Galatians in a chapter-by-chapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time it was written, and what it means to Christians today.

Paul's letter is written to those who had been deceived into believing they had to practice the laws of the Old Testament to receive salvation. Paul is adamant that God's grace cannot be earned, regardless of how many commandments we try to obey. Only our faith in Jesus provides the way to eternal life. "Man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ...for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified" (Galatians 2: 16).

This knowledge gives us freedom from the pressure of trying to be "good enough" for God.

Each of this study's twelve lessons is clearly organized to include:

• Getting Started: An opening question to introduce you to the lesson.
• Setting the Stage: A short reflection to explain the context of the study.
• Exploring the Text: The Scripture reading for the lesson with related study questions.
• Reviewing the Story: Questions to help you identify key points in the reading.
• Applying the Message: Questions to help you apply the key ideas to their lives.
• Reflecting on the Meaning: A closing reflection on the key teachings in the lesson.

—ABOUT THE SERIES—

The Jeremiah Bible Study Series captures Dr. David Jeremiah's forty-plus years of commitment in teaching the Word of God. In each study, you'll gain insights into the text, identify key stories and themes, and be challenged to apply the truths you uncover to your life. By the end of each study, you'll come away with a clear and memorable understanding of that Bible book.

Each study also contains a Leader's Guide.

LESSON one
THE ONE TRUE GOSPEL
Galatians 1:1–10

GETTING STARTED

Since the beginning of Christianity, people have tried to redefine the message of the gospel and what it means. In your own words, how would you define the gospel?

[Your Response Here]

SETTING THE STAGE

Even in the days of the early church, believers in Christ struggled to find agreement on what is the “gospel.” Is it simply that Jesus gave His own life on the cross so we might be set free from our sins and experience eternal life with Him? Or does the gospel require something more—such as our ability to follow a set of rules and regulations on how to live?

This is the debate Paul confronted as he composed his letter to the Galatians. After he had planted the church in Galatia on one of his missionary journeys, he learned that certain Jewish Christians from Jerusalem (known as the “Judaizers”) had arrived and were trying to convince the new believers their faith wasn’t complete unless it was accompanied by obedience to the rituals and requirements of the Old Testament. The Judaizers taught that in order to be saved, a follower of Jesus had to live as a Jew. This message posed a real threat to the new church. It seemed the gospel—the good news that salvation is a gift—wasn’t as good or as simple as the Galatian Christians had been led to believe.

In response to this, Paul preached that Jesus alone saves. He held that the additional requirements of the Judaizers, such as circumcision, were not needed for salvation. No one can justify himself or herself before God—it is only in Christ that anyone is justified. This is the incredible reality of the gospel. We cannot save ourselves by any effort whatsoever. Our only hope is grace and grace alone. And when we place our trust in Jesus, we are saved!

EXPLORING THE TEXT

Greeting (Galatians 1:1–5)

¹ Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), ² and all the brethren who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

³ Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

1. Paul was under attack by certain leaders in the Jerusalem church who were questioning his authority and the validity of the message he had preached. Given this, what is significant about the way Paul describes his apostleship (see verse 1)?

[Your Response Here]

2. How did Paul define the gospel (see verses 4–5)? How does Paul’s definition compare with your own?

[Your Response Here]

Only One Gospel (Galatians 1:6–10)

⁶ I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

3. What was the source of Paul’s marveling or astonishment as it related to the believers in Galatia (see verses 6–7)?

[Your Response Here]

4. The word Paul used for accursed is the translation of the Greek word anathema, which means “to be set aside to God for destruction.” According to Paul, who are those who are accursed (see verses 8–9)? Why does Paul use such strong language?

[Your Response Here]

GOING DEEPER

Paul omits his typical “thanksgiving” section—where he praises God for the faithfulness of the church—in his letter to the Galatians. This points to the urgency he felt in calling out the error of the Judaizers. This was not the first time God’s people had been forced to deal with false teachers. In the following passage, Moses—the giver of the Law—offered the following guidance to the Israelites on how to identify a false prophet.

Identifying a False Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15–22)

¹⁵ “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, ¹⁶ according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’

¹⁷ “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. ²⁰ But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ ²¹ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’—²² when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

5. The Israelites were about to enter a land filled with pagan ideology. For this reason, the Lord needed to clarify how they could discern a true prophet from a false one. Why did God first specify the importance of following the instruction of a prophet who was truly from Him? What were the penalties for failing to do this (see verses 15–19)?

[Your Response Here]

6. What guidelines did God provide for how to distinguish a false prophet from a true one (see verses 20–22)? How does this help explain why it was critical for Paul to show the believers in Galatia that he was a true “prophet” from God who had brought them the true gospel of Christ?

[Your Response Here]

Paul was not the only apostle in the early church who had to deal with the problem of false teachers infiltrating the body of Christ. In the following passage, the disciple John—much like Moses before him—gives his readers some advice on how to distinguish the true prophets of God from the false teachers who had crept into their congregations.

Testing the Spirits (1 John 4:1–6)

¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are of t...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Ebook Instructions
• Contents
• Introduction to the Letter to the Galatians
• Lesson 1: The One True Gospel (Galatians 1:1–10)
• Lesson 2: Grace Under Fire (Galatians 1:11–24)
• Lesson 3: The Freedom Fighter (Galatians 2:1–10)
• Lesson 4: Confrontation Over the Gospel (Galatians 2:11–21)
• Lesson 5: Bewitched (Galatians 3:1–14)
• Lesson 6: The Law and the Promise (Galatians 3:15–29)
• Lesson 7: Time to Grow Up (Galatians 4:1–20)
• Lesson 8: A Tale of Two Sons (Galatians 4:21–31)
• Lesson 9: The Law of Liberty (Galatians 5:1–15)
• Lesson 10: Walk In the Spirit (Galatians 5:16–26)
• Lesson 11: Bearing Each Other’s Burdens (Galatians 6:1–10)
• Lesson 12: Grace Gets the Last Word (Galatians 6:11–18)
• Leader’s Guide
• About Dr. David Jeremiah and Turning Point
• Stay Connected to Dr. David Jeremiah