Study Notes Ed Underwood

Galatians Free at Last! “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1, NASB).

The thirteen Pauline Epistles develop the foundational truths of Christianity introduced in the Gospels. Paul wrote nine letters to churches and four to individuals. He writes from the perspective of the Apostle to the Gentiles, church-planter, pastor, and friend. His letters contain instructions, exhortations, and corrections that were real-time—messages to real people, gathered in real churches, with real problems as they endeavored to follow Christ and make a difference in their world. One consistent theme undergirds all of Paul’s teaching—the reality of every believer’s position in Christ.

In 49 AD a delegation of Judean religious teachers came to the predominately Gentile church at Syrian Antioch and started teaching the Christians that those who were not circumcised as followers of the law of Moses could not be saved from their sin by simple belief in Jesus (Acts 15:1). They were part of a worldwide conspiracy to undermine the Gospel of grace sending emissaries of the lie to the daughter churches planted by the church at Antioch (Acts 15:23).

The most vulnerable to the lie were the fledgling assemblies of the Roman province of Galatia. Paul and Barnabas had planted these churches on their first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). One historian describes the inhabitants of Galatia: “Fickleness is the term used to express their temperament. Their religious tendencies were marked by passion, ritualism, and mysticism.” (Lightfoot, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians)

Paul’s response is swift and strong. He will not tolerate this false gospel—that works are essential to salvation—to take root in the lives of these new Christians and churches.

And neither should we.

On the eve of the Jerusalem Council, Paul writes his most passionate letter, reminding the church of the real basis of our salvation:

Galatians is the Magna Carta of Christian liberty, settling the issue of the Gospel: Salvation is by grace, through faith, plus nothing!

I. The language and message of Galatians has been setting Christians free since it was written.

A. Impact of Galatians on church history: Religious people have always mistrusted grace and the gospel. Galatians stands against the lie of grace plus works.

1. Early Church: The Book of Acts records the necessary separation of Christianity from Judaism. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, “no doubt was one of the greatest forces” in that separation. (Merrill C. Tenney, Galatians)

2. Reformation: Galatians catalyzed the Reformation more than any other book of the Bible. Tenney calls it “the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation.” G.G. Findlay writes, “Martin Luther put it to his lips as a trumpet to blow the reveille of the Reformation (The Epistle to the Galatians, p. 3). Luther so loved the Book of Galatians that he called it “his wife”. “The Epistle to the Galatians,” he wrote in his commentary, “is my epistle. To it I am as it were in wedlock. It is my Katherine.”

3. Today: The gospel of grace is under siege again. This little book insists that the church not add works to grace.

We are justified by faith in Christ because Christ was faithful!

1. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to set Christians free of the yoke of slavery to works-righteousness by defending his apostleship, his grace-plus-nothing message, and the freedom his message releases in Christians.

   1. The message of the gospel was at stake: Judaizers were teaching that Gentile believers must be circumcised to be saved.

   2. The health of the churches in Galatia was at stake: These false teachers were confusing Gentile believers everywhere and their lie was beginning to influence the fledgling churches of Galatia.

   3. The future of the church was at stake: Christian liberty—which grows out of justification by faith, is essential to the survival and influence of Christians and Christianity.

2. Outline: Righteousness is and always has been by grace through faith. Embrace faith, because the gospel and your freedom in Christ are at stake.

   1. Introduction:ThisisalettersocriticalthatPauldispenseswiththeusualnicetiesandgetsright to it: Are you Galatians nuts? Why are you deserting the grace and the gospel of Christ? (1:1-10)

   2. DefenseoftheMessengerofGrace:Pauldefendshisapostleshipbyprovingthatmessengersof grace-righteousness are the true messengers of Christ and noting that the message of the gospel is at stake (1:11-2:21).

   3. Defense of the Message of Grace: Paul teaches what justification by faith means, and why it is true (3:1-4:31).

3. Defense of Freedom in Christ: Paul demonstrates that the full experience and demonstration of the new creation in Christ can only come by grace through faith (5:1-6:10).

D. Conclusion: Paul closes his letter as powerfully as he opened it by exposing the evil motives of the false teachers and comparing these with his pure motives (6:11-18).

II. Galatians settles it! Deliverance from sin and righteousness comes only by grace through faith, not by following the Law or any set of religious rules and regulations.

1. Have you settled it in your own life? Or are you insisting that God count some of your good works as reasons to accept you as righteous?

2. Have you settled it in your view of others? Or are you insisting that God count some of the good works you feel must accompany faith before He accepts others who don’t measure up to your standards?

3. Legalism is adding works to grace. What legalistic influences from your home or church of origin still haunt you as you struggle with being free in Christ?

4. How do you really feel about Paul’s message in Galatians where he puts grace in your face? Do you, as Martin Luther, rejoice in the Book? Or do you remain suspicious of all this talk about grace and freedom?