I mentioned that there were two critical questions asked by Paul to his readers in Galatians. The first we have already seen in Gal. 3:2, which inquired after how the Galatians believed that they had received the Spirit. The second critical question is the one in 3:19, which is the first verse we will look at today. It is perhaps the most central question in Pauline theology: Why did God give the law? Let's read, think and reflect o this question, because the answer might just shock you!

If you ever want to have a really thorny and controversial debate about the theology of Paul, just ask one simple question: how did Paul understand the Law of Moses after his association with the ancient Jesus movement? This is a question that Paul must address, and indeed in Galatians 3:19, he asks the very specific question himself. The build up to that question comes in the verses we will look at today. The crunch question is why did God give the Law in the first place. The answer to this question will emerge from this contextual framework - who are the true heirs of the promises God made to Abraham?

Paul goes to some fairly extraordinary lengths to demonstrate the significance of the risen Christ. The risen Christ is central to his arguments, and as we shall see in today's podcast, the Spirit is the vehicle by which the risen Christ energizes the faithful. This is initially the story of Isaac's birth, which preempts the story of the Resurrection of Jesus, which in turn foresees justification by faith.

With the context of the Deuteronomist history firmly in place, we are in a position to try to make sense of the quotations from the Old Testament in Galatians 3:10-13. Ultimately, Paul makes this claim; the curse for disobedience promised in Deuteronomy, have indeed come up on Israel. That is, the curse of exile; and yet even though the geographical exile in Babylon was over, Israel was still ruled by pagans, and the exile continued in their hearts. The true key to ending the curse of exile, which Paul sums up as death, was the life and death, and life again, of the Messiah.

This short excursus is to contextualise Galatians 3:10-13. It uses the scheme of the closing chapters of Deuteronomy to explain Israel's history. This is a history of rebellion leading to exile and repentance leading to restoration. To sum it all up, Paul seems to understand exile in terms of death, just as the author of Deuteronomy, and freedom and restoration as life, once more, just as the author of Deuteronomy. This becomes key for the rest of the argument, because for Paul the motif of life emerging from death is the most central dynamic reality of justification.

Galatians 3 introduces a key figure the argument of the letter, that of the patriarch Abraham. It is possible that Paul is only reacting to the fact that his opponents have introduced Abraham into their own arguments, but it is far more likely that Paul introduces Abraham for wholly other reasons. In Galatians 3:6-9, the Apostle argues that faith is what unites God's people, and that those who are defined by faith, are the true children of Abraham, and, therefore, the true people of God.

A number of commentators treat Galatians 3 as the beginning of what they call the scriptural argument of Galatians. Whilst not a meaningless designation, it can sometimes help simply to have a big picture of Galatians. Here, in particular, the transition from chapter 2 into chapter 3 is an important one, and it introduces one of two pivotal questions in the letter. How did the Galatians receive the spirit (Gal. 3:2) and what does this have to do with justification? In this podcast, we will open the door on this question, and as we we'll see, this is a door that doesn't close!

Galatians 2:15-21 is one of the thorniest and yet one of the most significant passages in the entire Pauline corpus. It outlines the key issue about which Paul was facing opposition in Galatia. What does it mean to be justified? What does that have to do with faith in Christ and why does it preclude the works of the Law? What does Paul mean that he has been crucified with Christ? The answer to these and to many more questions and what they mean for our lives are covered in today's episode!

It is sometimes overlooked in scholarship on Galatians that the key salvation terminology of the letter emerges from a very particular context. That context is the subject of today's instalment. A fellowship meal in Antioch goes horribly wrong when a group of Christian Jews turn up. Galatians 2:15-21 is the so-called thesis statement of Galatians. It relies on the story that we will tell today in Galatians 2:11-14.

Galatians 2 introduces the key vocabulary and theological ideas around which the entire letter revolves. For many years, and largely because of the interpretation of the Protestant Reformers, many saw the central question of Galatians as 'how does a sinner gracious God'? This position has been very strongly challenged, and many argue that this was the Reformers' question and not Paul's; a view which I am largely sympathetic with. As we shall see in this episode, the key underlying question of Galatians is about ethnic unity in view of the Resurrection. Paul's question is not, 'how do I find a gracious God', at least not in the initial instance; rather his question is, 'how can Jewish believers and gentile believers be one family - the children of Abraham and the New Covenant people of God.