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    Exploring the Word of God: Reading Through Galatians
    Exploring the Word of God: Reading Through Galatians
    Exploring the Word of God: Reading Through Galatians
    Ebook70 pages1 hour

    Exploring the Word of God: Reading Through Galatians

    By Michael D. Morrison

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    About this ebook

    Galatians, one of Paul's earliest letters, clearly states the gospel of salvation by grace without any need to keep the laws of Moses. But this does not mean that Paul does not care about how a Christian lives - he includes numerous instructions about it. Dr. Michael Morrison, Professor of New Testament at Grace Communion Seminary, explains how it all works together. Written for lay readers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGrace Communion International
    Release dateSep 4, 2012
    ISBN9781476323008
    Exploring the Word of God: Reading Through Galatians
    Author

    Michael D. Morrison

    I grew up in a small town in southern Illinois: Sparta. Our family of seven was religious but did not go to church - instead, we had a Bible study at home every week. I eventually began attending a church after I moved away, and then I went to a Bible college, and eventually a seminary. Now I work for Grace Communion Seminary, an online seminary based in Glendora, California. My interests are the Gospels, the epistles and theology of Paul, and ethics.

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      Book preview

      Exploring the Word of God - Michael D. Morrison

      Exploring the Word of God: Reading Through Galatians

      By Michael D. Morrison

      Copyright 2012 Grace Communion International

      Scripture quotations in chapters 1-3 are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations in chapters 4-6 are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

      Cover artwork by Ken Tunell. Copyright Grace Communion International.

      Table of Contents

      The Gospel Revealed: Galatians 1

      Justified by Faith, Not by Law: Galatians 2

      Redeemed from the Curse of the Law: Galatians 3

      Inheritors, Not Slaves: Galatians 4

      The Purpose of Freedom: Galatians 5

      Do Good to All: Galatians 6

      About the Author

      About the Publisher

      Grace Communion Seminary

      Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

      The Gospel Revealed: Galatians 1

      Paul started several churches in the province of Galatia and then moved on to other regions. Then he learned that some other people had gone to Galatia and were teaching the people that the gospel involved much more than Paul had told them. Jesus is good, they apparently said, but you need to go further. You need to obey the Law that God gave his people. Faith is good, but you need the laws of Moses, too.

      Paul was furious! The people were meddling in his territory, making false accusations about him, trying to hijack the work he had done, and worst of all, leading the people away from Christ. Paul wrote a letter[1] (numbers in square brackets refer to notes at the end of this chapter) to defend his ministry and to explain what the gospel is. It has much to teach us today.

      Introduction

      Greek letters normally began by saying who wrote the letter and the people it is being sent to. Paul modifies this pattern by adding a lengthy comment about the basis of his authority: Paul, an apostle — sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead — (verse 1).[2]

      Several times in this letter, Paul denies that he was sent or authorized by other people, especially the apostles in Jerusalem. Apparently his opponents said that the apostles had sent Paul on a mission, a mission he supposedly had not finished, and the apostles had then sent more people to tell the Galatians about their need to obey the law of Moses (cf. Acts 15:5). Paul says that they are mistaken: They might have been sent by human authority, but he had divine authority for his mission.

      The letter is being sent not only by Paul, but also all the brothers who are with me — he has supporters, though the letter does not name them, perhaps because the Galatians do not know them. To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (verses 2-3, ESV). Greek letters usually began with charein, or greetings. Paul modifies this by using a similar word, charis, grace, and adding the Jewish greeting, peace.

      In verse 1, he noted an action of the Father. Here, he describes the work of Christ: who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (verse 4). This is the gospel in a nutshell: Jesus has taken care of our sins and rescued us, giving us a place in the age to come as children of God. Paul will elaborate more on this later in his letter. Here he specifies that this rescue is precisely what the Father wanted, and it is to his glory for ever and ever. Amen.

      An astonishing curse

      Most Greek letters included a brief prayer to the gods; Paul usually expands that by thanking God for the faith of the readers and asking a blessing on them. But in this letter, Paul gives no thanks — he begins abruptly and includes a curse instead of a blessing: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel (verse 6). Paul’s expression of amazement…was a common expression of rebuke in Greek letters of his day…. The tone of rebuke pervades the…letter from 1:6 to 4:12 (G. Walter Hansen, Galatians, 36, 35).

      The readers may have been astonished, too, because Paul is telling them that they are deserting God. That is not what they want to do, but Paul is telling them that’s what it amounts to. They had been called by grace, and if they give their allegiance to the law, they will be denying their call (compare with 5:2). The opponents claimed that their message was the original gospel, but Paul says that it is not: not that there is another one (1:7). It was bad news, not good.

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