Galatians
Study 2
Background
The
Galatians The Gospel
Jesus gave Himself To
deliver us
And
all the
brethren which are with me, unto
the
churches of Galatia: Grace
be
to you and peace from God the
Father, and from
our Lord
Jesus
Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he
might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of
God and our Father: To whom be
glory
for ever and ever. Amen.
Gal.1:2-5
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and all brethren
which are with me unto
the churches of Galatia
Gal.1:2
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When Paul writes to the various believers in each city
he
just
said the church in. ( i.e. singular )
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Unto
the church
of God which is at Corinth,
I Cor.1:2
….unto the church
of God which is at Corinth,
II Cor. 1:1
Paul, and
Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto
the church of the
Thessalonians
1 Thess. 1:1 &
II Thess. 1:1
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Only
here in
Galatians does the
apostle address himself
to ‘churches’, which suggests that the epistle to
the Galatians
is
addressed to several assemblies in a region. The exact geographical
region has been the point of much dispute amongst Bible scholars,
but it does not really matter where it was, it is the message that is
the important issue, and it’s quite clear that the heresy
that Paul was
addressing had infected a large region! Once error creeps in, it can
spread
like wildfire. It may be added here that such endless questions as to
the exact region, and which assemblies Paul had in mind, distract from
the important issues of the letter, and this is one of the tactics of
the
devil.
However we are fairly safe to assume that the
assemblies
include
those
on his missionary journeys in that region, and consist
of churches that he himself established. In Acts
13-14; 16:6, we note that there are clues indicating the close affection
between the Galatians and the apostle:
Ye
know how
through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the
first. And my temptation which was
in my flesh ye despised not,
nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ
Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear
you
record, that, if it had
been
possible, ye would have plucked out your
own eyes, and have given them
to me. Am I therefore become your
enemy, because I tell you the
truth?
Gal.4:13-16
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Paul
wasn’t allowing sentiment
though, to
get in the way of telling the truth! He was ruthless with them, because
of the love he had for them and the truth of the Gospel. A love that
leaves people alone when in error is no true love. Just as a (real)
parent would scold the wayward child, so Paul brings the Galatians to
account: remember that God, who loves us, chastises us for our profit.
Away with
such sentimental ‘love’ that has no place for
discipline and correction.
As to the date, opinion is divided: it is regarded as one of
the earliest of Paul's letters that we have in our
possession; no one knows for certain when, but most scholars put the
date somewhere between 53 and 58 AD. However this is only of
academic interest and has nothing to add to the message of the book.
But what is significant, as we shall see later, is
that
the events of Chapters
1 and 2 were written before the 'conferencel' of Acts 15.
Grace be
to you
and peace from God the Father,
and from our Lord Jesus Christ
Gal.1:3
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Whilst
verses 3 to 5 may seem
only to be Paul giving
a salutation it is important to remember the truths that he states,
for these are the basics of the gospel, the gospel which the Galatians
had turned from.
Grace is the first thing mentioned. This is the foundation, God’s
grace; if mercy is withholding something we deserve (Hell) then Grace
is giving us something we do not deserve. This gospel is a gospel of
grace; it is not by the works of the flesh that the
Galatians had slipped into. In the NT the word grace appears some 122
times; let us be reminded of some relevant ones to our studies.
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For
the law was
given by Moses, but
grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ.
Jn1:17
The
gospel of the
grace of God.
Acts
20:24
For
sin shall not
have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace
Rom.6:14
For
by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast.
Eph.2:8-9
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Then
Paul mentions peace. We were enemies of God and
had
neither
peace with Him, nor peace within ourselves. But God came and dealt with
our
sin and ourselves.
The
word which God
sent unto
the children of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ:
(He is Lord of all )
Acts 10:36
Therefore
being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ:
Rom.5:1
For
to be
carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is
life and
peace.
Rom. 8:6
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The
Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of peace, to
follow
the works of the flesh is to be in turmoil and restlessness, as the
Galatians
found out, and as Paul later explains. But then we turn to the one who
made this possible - the Lord
Jesus Christ himself.
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Who
gave Himself
for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever
and ever. Amen.
Gal.
1:4-5
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There are two things
here
that we shall
consider:
Jesus gave
Himself
and it was for
our
deliverance.
This
salvation was not cheap, it
demanded of Jesus a heavy
price, so that we could have the free gift of eternal life; how could
anyone now suggest that there is anymore to pay or do? If God
spared
not
His Son how shall he not freely give us all things with Him?
Rom.8:32.
Here Paul makes it plain to the
Galatians
that Salvation is from Him and not by the works of the flesh, it is God
who saw the need and provided the remedy, we had no part in it
whatever; it is the gift of God not of works, Eph.2:8-9.
The idea behind the word 'gave'
here is to give
voluntarily, Jesus freely gave Himself over to the plan of
redemption, no one compelled Him, not even His Father; Jesus willingly
gave Himself for our salvation. Jn. 10:14-18;
Eph.5:25; Titus 2:14. Neither
did He give someone or something else but HIMSELF, God the
Son
took it upon Himself
to come to this earth and pay the price for our
redemption. It is all of Him, His grace and love.
He gave Himself for:
- for us (as individuals) Gal.2:20
- for the church (ie. His church, not the
organisations
called churches) Eph.5:25
- a ransom for all I
Tim.2:6
- for us to redeem Titus 2:14
In the
above
reference in Titus
the word 'redeem' means
‘to release on
the payment of a
ransom’ and in I Timothy the word 'ransom'
indicates that Jesus Himself was the ransom, His very life. So we have
it that the Lord Jesus’ death was the substitutionary death
for us.
And
this is
the reason, the
specific purpose that God had
in mind: to deliver us from the world. The word deliver implies
rescue:
that is by removing us from the system of this world, so that we might
belong to another – God’s kingdom not by taking us
out of the physical
world, but by changing our nature so that we are not a part of this
world. Peter puts it like this:
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According as his
divine power hath
given unto
us all things that pertain
unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him that
hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers
of the
divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the
world
through lust.
II
Pet. 1:3-4
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God has
delivered/rescued us!
It is no wonder that Paul says .... to whom
be glory for ever and ever! Gal.1:4b-5.
Let us be ever mindful of what God has done for us, and be always be
careful to give Him the praise due to Him, for He alone is worthy.
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