Galatians:

[Rob Morgan]

Galatians:

The Epistle to the Galatians has been called "the Magna Carta of Christian liberty." lt is Paul’s manifesto of justification by faith, and the resulting liberty. Paul directs this great charter of Christian freedom to a people who are willing to give up the priceless liberty they possess in Christ. The oppressive theology of certain Jewish legalizers has been causing the believers in Galatia to trade their freedom in Christ for bondage to the Law. Paul writes this forceful epistle to do away with the false gospel of works and demonstrate the superiority of justification by faith. This carefully written polemic approaches the problem from three directions: the gospel of grace defended (1-2); the gospel of grace explained 3-4; and the gospel of grace applied (5-6).

The Gospel of Grace Defended (l-2): Paul affirms his divinely given apostleship and presents the gospel (1:1-5) because it has been distorted by false teachers among the Galatians (1:6-10). Paul launches into his biographical argument for the true gospel of justification by faith in showing that he received his message not from men but directly from God (1:11-24). When he submits his teaching of Christian liberty to the apostles in Jerusalem, they all acknowledge the validity and authority of his message. (2: I -10). Paul also must correct Peter on the matter of freedom from the Law (2:11-21).

The Gospel of Grace Explained (3-4): ln this section Paul uses eight lines of reasoning to develop his theological defense of justification by faith: (1) The Galatians began by faith, and their growth in Christ must continue to be by faith (3: I -5). (2) Abraham was justified by faith, and the some principle applies today (3:6-9). (3) Christ hos redeemed all who trust in Him from the curse of the Low (3:10-la). (4) The promise mode to Abraham was not nullified by the Low (3:.l5-l8). (5) The Law was given to drive men to faith, not to save them (3:19-22). (6) Believers in Christ are adopted sons of God and are no longer bound by the Low (3:23-4:7). (7) The Galatians must recognize their inconsistency and regain their original freedom in Christ (4:8-20). (8) Abraham’s two sons allegorically reveal the superiority of the Abrahamic promise to the Mosaic Law (4:21 -3.1).

The Gospel of Grace Applied (5-6): The Judaizes seeks to place the Galatians under bondage to their perverted gospel of Justification by law, but Paul warns them that the law and grace are two contrary principles (5:1-.l2). So for, Paul has been contrasting the liberty of faith with the legalism of law, but at this point he warns the Galatians of the opposite extreme of license or antinomianism (5:13- 6:10). The Christians not only set free from bondage of law, but he is also free of the bondage of sin because. Of the power of the indwelling Spirit. Liberty is not on excuse to indulge in the deeds of the flesh; rather, it provides the privilege of bearing the fruit of the Spirit by walking in dependence upon Him. This letter closes with a contrast between the Judaizes - who ore motivated by pride and o desire to avoid persecution - and Paul, who has suffered for the true gospel, but boosts only in Christ (6:11- 18).