After the Sermon: Galatians 2:16-3:9 by West Hills Church

“All religions are basically the same.” We’re no strangers to such an appraisal in today’s world. We even hear it from the lips of many who identify as Christians. But such a conflation of the various competing worldviews out there would have been unthinkable to the apostle Paul. Specifically, there is one thing that sets Christianity apart from every other religion out there: they are all primarily concerned - in one way or another - with instructing their adherents in how to live; commending a law to live by. Christianity, on the other hand, proposes that “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal 2:16). In this text, Paul will expound all that faith in Christ can do for us that the law was powerless to do.

This conversation, prompted by a listener named Darcy, explored why responding to the gospel in faith is not considered a "work" that earns salvation. The pastors explained from a Reformed theological perspective that faith is not a meritorious human action but rather a gift from God.

After the Sermon: Galatians 2:11-16 by West Hills Church

Unity. It’s one of the most frequent exhortations found throughout the New Testament: the call to “be united in one mind” (1 Cor 1:10); to “maintain the unity of the Spirit” (Eph 4:3); to “agree with one another and live in peace” (2 Cor 13:11). It was even Jesus’ final prayer for his followers: “that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me” (Jn 17:23). But what is this “one”-ness that we share in Christ? What does it mean to be one in the gospel? Check out the sermon for part two of Paul’s answer in Galatians 2:11-21.

After the Sermon: Galatians 2:1-10 by West Hills Church

Unity. It’s one of the most frequent exhortations found throughout the New Testament: the call to “be united in one mind” (1 Cor 1:10); to “maintain the unity of the Spirit” (Eph 4:3); to “agree with one another and live in peace” (2 Cor 13:11). It was even Jesus’ final prayer for his followers: “that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me” (Jn 17:23). But what is this “one”-ness that we share in Christ? What does it mean to be one in the gospel? Check out the sermon for the answer in Galatians 2:1-10!

After the Sermon: Galatians 1:11-24 by West Hills Church

We’ve all heard it said that “people don’t really change”. Well try telling that to the apostle Paul! What could possibly convince a man who had devoted his life to “persecut[ing] the church of God violently” (Gal 1:13) to then re-dedicate his life to “preaching the faith he once tried to destroy” (1:23)? Only one thing, according to Paul: “a revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:12). If sinners like us have any hope of being changed… redeemed… SAVED… we must be “called by [God’s] grace” (1:15). How does God do this? Why does He do it? In this text, Paul unpacks the origin, objective, and outcome of God’s calling on our lives.

After the Sermon: Galatians 1:1-12 by West Hills Church