series: only by grace: salvation and life in jesus ch

Today we finish our study through the book of Galatians. As Paul wraps up his letter, we see a review of the most basic points that Paul makes to the Galatians. The gospel is the center of our lives before God, it alone has the power to justify us through the proclamation and our personal belief in Jesus' work on the cross. The wonderful news of Galatians is that this is all you need: trust that Christ has taken the penalty for your sin and provided you with his righteousness, that you might live in freedom before God?

We are told that, in order to be civil in public and in private friendships, we ought to avoid speaking on politics and religion. How much more, then, should pastors who earn support from church avoid speaking about that kind support! Yet, Paul insists that such giving is not just for the benefit of the pastor (which, indeed, it is!) but it also benefits the congregation that generously supports him. In this sermon, we will think through how you might make the harvest of your giving as fertile as possible!

Paul has started to fill in what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves, calling for us to walk by the Spirit by cultivating fruit in our lives. This focus was mainly on who we were to be and the kind of characteristics that we ought to have. Now, Paul wants to fill that picture in even further, and lead the Galatians in how such fruit is to be used amongst the body of believers known as the churches in Galatia. A healthy body needs the fruit of the Spirit.

We are caught in a time between the times. Paul has encouraged us to know that we are free from the law, a thought that he will come back to in Galatians 5:16-24, because the law was from a former time, dominated by the flesh. Yet, Paul has also pushed us to see that our struggle against the flesh is not over. Being justified in Christ, cleared before the courtroom of God through his sacrifice, does not mean that our flesh has given up. No, our real fight has only just begun.

One of the toughest commands placed upon us by Christ our Lord is to love our enemies. It is only by not thinking through what is being asked of us that many of us don’t balk more at the request: given that the same Christ said in the same sermon that persecution was to come our way, how are we to love those who seek our harm, even to our deaths? Although slightly eased, the same question applies to our neighbors – what empowers us to act in this way?

The Galatians had been duped. Almost led astray by a false doctrine, they had listened to others they had no right to listen to. Sheep with pointy teeth are always a dead giveaway. Yet, we struggle to see them for who they are, and can be led astray by their false doctrines and the itching of our ears. How are we to protect ourselves? What kind of things ought we be persuaded by?

In 5:2-6, much like 2:21, Paul brings his argument to its conclusion. Faith in Christ is all you need; not only does circumcision avail you nothing, but it puts you under the obligation of the law and separates you from the benefits of Christ. Therefore, do not turn to the law, but believe. But what is the nature of this belief, this faith?

Many questions surround the text of Galatians 4:21-5:1, from its placement in the letter to the nature of its argument. Why does Paul include something that is so difficult as the last argument in his epistle? The passage is not meant to be difficult but illuminating to both the Old Testament and Paul’s argument in Galatians.

We love reason, and appeals to cold logic seem to be the order of the day. We are continually told of reason’s importance: from the need for math and the scientific method as modes of knowledge, to our love of court-room dramas, logic and reason are seen to be the arbiters of truth in our culture. But humans are not computers; we are not beings who act and respond to logic alone. God often appeals to us through our emotions. Therefore, Paul does the same. What can we learn from Paul’s appeals in Galatians 4:12-20?

The theme of Galatians rolls on in chapter 4: God’s work in Christ means that believers no longer need the law and are justified freely by Christ’s work on the cross. Paul reminds the Galatians of the slavery that existed before Christ for all people, so that all must come to God through the foot of the cross (cf. Gal 3:28). Here, however, Paul pushes further into our redemption, now focusing on our adoption in Christ. What does our adoption mean for us?

The problems that have surfaced in Galatia are not problems that are limited to first century believers. The Galatians are essentially seeking assurance; they are seeking a way to make sure that they will be a part of God's people, considered fully justified, and escape the coming wrath. These are assurances that we long for as well. The question that confronts us all is how and where we are to find that assurance. Paul has been pushing us to see the central importance of faith, but here in 3:24-29, we can also helpfully see that there are many ways we are not to be affirmed.

We have, for several weeks now, considered the depravity of man in Sunday School. We at Crossway believe that mankind is enslaved in sin, what has historically been called "total depravity." The "total" here means "thorough" not "complete." We are not as bad as we could be, but we are sinful through and through. The biblical image of this varies; sometimes it is spoken of as death, but often as slavery. Here, we look at this metaphor as Paul presents it in Galatians.

Why, if the promise is central to all of Scripture, and therefore the law cannot change or amend it, did God give the law? Or, perhaps a more relevant question for us today, what good is the law? Why should we take our time and read carefully through Leviticus, if Leviticus is not how we come to know God and his blessings? Today we address these questions, as Paul seeks to demonstrate why God gave the law to his people.

While it should be clear that those who are building their identity on the law are not inheritors of the blessings of Abraham, being under a curse, Paul will start to turn to explain the law to the Galatians, beginning with its relationship to the promise. Paul was not intent to tell believers what to believe, and leave them in the dark as to why. Before turning fully to the law, however, Paul fills in some background information for us, telling us something about the nature of the promise.

Paul has argued that the experience of the Spirit should have been enough to clue for the Galatians to know that they belong to the people of God. Why, then, is he so against the idea that some want more assurance? What if circumcision helps the weak in faith; what is so wrong with that? It this practice not a helpful way to encourage them in the faith, to keep them assured of their inheritance from Abraham? Paul has argued positively, that the Spirit is assurance enough. He will know begin to argue negatively that any mixture of works stands against faith. Works and faith are incompatible.

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.

Galatians 3 begins Paul's main argument in the letter. This argument starts not with an appeal to Scripture, nor an appeal to pure logic, but rather to experience. The Galatians had clearly received the Spirit during Paul's missionary journey to their area. Today, before we look into the importance of this event within the epistle, we will study the background and NT evidence about the importance of the Spirit, and its relationship to us.

There are many times when people place faith against logic and reason. Faith, they say, is outside of logic. We walk by faith, not by sight. Perhaps this is true; but often times, we are told to think through our faith, to reason out what we are to know and how we are to act. As Paul confronts Peter, he does not ask for Peter to simply believe him, but rather to think through his faith, seek to understand the implications of what he knows is true. Here, we get to see the logic behind Paul's central conviction of vv. 15-16: we are only justified in Christ.

It is vital to know what is of central importance in your life. What is the one thing that you are unable to give up? What is the one thing that holds everything you know and believe together? For Christians, as it certainly was for Paul, Galatians 2:15-16 seems to be that answer. These verses contain the central and core confession of Christians, it is here that we find, above all other things, what Christ has done for us.

Many times, we enter into the middle of conversations and don’t know all the background we’d like. Galatians 2:11-14 is one of those times. To best understand what is going on, there are some questions that need answers. While these questions are important, and do greatly affect our understanding of the passage, they cannot be answered with compete certainty. Therefore, the following points, while reasonable, should be understood as likely, not certain.