More on the Introduction
I. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN: A unique letter in that it was written to a group of church congregations. It is not a single congregation nor a city of people but to the churches in the district of Galatia.
A. The Location
1. It was in central Asia Minor.
2. The province was one part of a district.
B. The History before Paul:
1. The Territory
a. It originally belonged to the Phrygians.
b. The Gauls (French) invaded the land. They tried to overrun Greece but were unsuccessful and settled in the area that eventually bore their name.
2. Important events:
a. Settled in 279 B.C.
b. Conquered by the Romans in 189 B.C., but allowed to keep their own king.
c. In 25 B.C., their self government was taken away by Rome.
3. The divisions of the Galatians:
a. Were divided into three tribes.
b. The cities of Tavium, Persinus, and Anarya (now Ankara) were the capitals.
C. The People
1. The Race
a. The majority were of the Celtic race, ancestors of the modern French, Welch, Irish, Scottish.
b. Mixed with Phrygians, Greeks, Jews and Romans.
2. The Language.
a. Main language was Greek,
b. Also retained the Gallic tongue until 4th century according to Jerome, so they could converse with the French.
D. The character of the People.
a. According to Julius Caesar, “the infirmity of the Gauls is that they are fickle in their resolves and fond of change, and not to be trusted.”
b. Paul said, “I marvel that you are so quickly removed from Him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different Gospel....O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified?” (Galatians 1:6, 3:1).
I. The Pauline Authorship
a. Stated in Galatians 1:1
b. Indicated in Galatians 6:11
II. The Date
A. It was written after his visit of Acts 18:23, which occurred about 54-58 A.D. Therefore 57 A.D. is about right.
III. The Place of the Writing
A. Macedonia is a possibility
C. Corinth is a possibility.
V. The Purpose of the Writing
A. To overcome the influence of Judaizing teachers.
B. To Establish His Apostleship.
1. The Judaizers sought to destroy the influence of Paul.
2. The claim was that Paul was not a real Apostle.
VI. The Relation of the Epistles of Galatians and Romans.
A. Both discuss the relationship between the Law and the Gospel.
B.
Justification by obedience to God by faith in Christ and not by works
of Law is discussed in both
INTRODUCTION
THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTER: Paul's subject in this epistle is justification by faith in Christ. The Galatians knew this, of course; they had to in order to become Christians (3: 26-27). But, false teachers from among unbelieving Jews had duped some among the churches of Galatia into believing that keeping the law of Moses was also essential to salvation. Inasmuch as legal systems of law cannot justify lawbreakers, but can only condemn them (Gal. 2: 16). This addition of the law of Moses to Christianity would obviously cancel out justification which comes by grace through faith in Christ (Gal. 2:21).
While believing in Christ, these Christians did not fully understand the justifying principle of faith nor the inherent condemnation of the law of Moses. This simplicity made them vulnerable to the particular brand of false doctrine which encouraged Paul to write and challenge.
OUR NEED TO STUDY GALATIANS: This same problem exists in the church today, and for the same reason- failure to understand just why and how faith justifies, and why the law of Moses is condemned. Therefore, grappling with the problem as revealed in the Galatian epistle is as needful now as it was then, and for the same reasons.
1. The Historical Argument, Chs. 1-2.
2. The Scriptural Argument, Chs. 3-4.
3. The Practical Argument, Chs. 5-6.
The letter opens with strong assertions (claims) of apostolic authority and divine power to save (1:1-5), and a warning challenge not to move away from the truth of the gospel (1:6-10).
AIM OF THIS LESSON: To show that Christ did for us what we could not do for ourselves and therefore the object of our faith is Jesus Christ.
I. CHRIST OUR SUBSTITUTE, v. 4
A. Consider the word “for”- from the Greek huper meaning, in behalf of another. A word of substitution.
B. Used in other scriptures (cf. Gal. 2:20; 3:13; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 5:2).
II. CHRIST OUR RESCUER, v. 4
Consider the words
A. “Deliver Us” - from the Greek EXAIREO,
meaning to set free, to deliver, to rescue.
B. “World” - from the Greek AIONOS, meaning this present age or time, not speaking of the physical universe.
CONCLUSION: Paul reveals the centrality of Christ in the Christian religion and arranges the rest of his epistle to produce obedience of faith in him as essential to salvation.
QUESTIONS?
1. Will one obey Christ if he does not trust him to do what he said he would?
2. Will a Christian fall from grace any quicker through false doctrine than he would by plunging back into this present worldly age? (Cf. Heb. 10:36; Rev. 2:10).