scripture: galatians 3:1-3:9

A group that likes to think that the church at large has it wrong, and they’re the ones returning to some lost, hidden, suppressed center and root of faith are the Judiazers that Paul is dealing with in Galatians. And they are flat out wrong. Paul’s point in our text today, is that what they’re arguing for, that somehow, to be a better Christian one must be Jewish, because that’s what the Bible says, implies, or flat out teaches, is in fact wrong. Paul’s point, is that our heritage of salvation by faith has been around since the proverbial day one. That’s our heritage.

Southview Baptist Church

Southview Baptist Church

This week we open our Bibles to Galatians 3 and read along as Paul continues to battle against a gospel that claims blessing from God is a reward for good behavior. After giving them the reason for his letter in the first chapter, Paul has spent a good deal of ink describing his own personal experience with God’s message of grace. In chapter three, he will ask them to consider their own experience of Christianity! Do remember when God came crashing into your life! Do you remember what life was like then? Do you remember how it felt? Remember, Paul is appealing to the non-Jews who have become “spellbound” by traditional Judaism and tempted to turn to rule-keeping to try to earn God’s blessing! Have you ever had a bad day, difficult circumstance, or painful period, and during it you have wondered, “What have I done wrong? Maybe I should have prayed more, or tithed more, or served more!” Have you felt guilty like it was something you did or didn’t do that brought on adversity from God? For this and many other reasons you will want to listen in with an open heart and curious mind as we jump into this next chapter of Paul’s letter.

As Paul leaves his defense of the origins and authority of his gospel, he turns now to argue against the Agitators’ position; specifically, that circumcision is needed to be truly considered part of the people of God. While Paul will argue against such a position in a number of ways, the first argument is from experience. While we have looked at a portion of this argument last week, this week we will look at the larger argument from 3:1-9.

When was the last time you refused/forgot/ neglected to use what you knew in battle? This is one of the problems the Galatian church faces, and someone has bewitched them into not using what they know to do.

When was the last time you refused/forgot/ neglected to use what you knew in battle? This is one of the problems the Galatian church faces, and someone has bewitched them into not using what they know to do.

Part 4 in our systematic study of the book of Galatians.

Galatians Series # 5