Galatians Bullet Notes

Volume 13-Gal.
1:1-5
The letter to the Galatians starts out differently than Pauls other letters
because there is a big problem that Paul is addressing. Some Jewish
Christians believe one must keep certain OT laws in order to become a
Christian. They also question Pauls apostleship.
1:1 He begins by stating that he is an apostle who has been sent out by Jesus
Christ and God the Father. His authority was being questioned.
1:2 Other Christians send their greetings. By mentioning them, Paul, in an
indirect way, is saying that they agree to his apostleship and the contents of
the letter.
1:2 Written to multiple churches. Delivered by a trust friend of Paul. Probably
read during the Divine Service as a sermon. Paul is repreaching the Gospel to
the Galatian churches because they strayed to another gospel.
1:3 This part of the opening is similar to other letters. It is liturgical.
1:4 Action taken: Jesus gave himself. Why: He is snatching us out of, rescuing
us, from the present evil age. Why is he will to do this? Because it is the
Fathers will. The one who is doing this offers them grace and peace.
1:3-4 Paul speaks grace and peace. Though grace is a gift, think of it as a
space. They hear this letter in the Divine Service, a place and time where
Christ is present to graciously give out his gifts of life and salvation.
1:3-4 Another gift Christ gives to his people is peace, a wholeness and full
health, a rightness between God and man.
1:5 The Father deserves glory because he sent the Son to bring grace and
peace.
1:5 The Son deserves glory because of saving work makes the grace and
peace offered in the Divine Service possible.
1:5 It ends with Amen. We can picture the congregation responding with
Amen. They are probably anxious to hear from Paul and hear about grace and
peace. Will they be saying Amen at the end of letter?
Volume 14-Gal. 1:6-10

---------The main characters in Galatians are:
Paul. An apostle. During his first missionary journey shared the Gospel with
the people in Galatia during his first missionary journey. The churches in
Galatia were turning away from the pure Gospel that Paul taught them.
Therefore Paul chastises them and is very passionate in this letter.
The Galatians. Essentially Gentiles who converted from paganism. They were
soldiers and mercenaries. Paul uses a lot of military metaphors and
illustrations in the letter. They embraced Paul. Since they were Gentiles they
had not preconceived notions about needing the Law to become Christians.
The Judaizers. They believed you needed the Gospel plus obey certain parts
of the Law to be Christians. They believed in circumcision. They followed Paul
teaching these things in the new Galatian churches. They were very
persuasive. They had the Galatians actually thinking about being
circumcised.
1:6-7 Paul is shocked that the Galatian churches are turning away from the
true Gospel. Those that are distorting the Gospel we call the Judaizers. These
men are powerful preachers and are very persuasive. Paul calls them out on
their false teachings.
1:8 Anyone who preaches a different Gospel he should be cursed by God,
even if it is a messenger from God (an angel). His opponents are apparently
saying that their Gospel came from God like the OT Law came from God by
an angel.
1:9 For emphasis Paul repeats the threat.
---------More about Pauls opponents:

They say they are from James, meaning the head of the Jerusalem church
sent them as official representatives. This is probably not true.
These are Pharisaical Jews who insist on keeping the law: circumcision,
keeping the Sabbath, keeping the food laws, etc. Basically they are saying
to be a Jew first before being a Christian.
These are probably classmates of Paul who went to the school of Gamaliel
with him. They know each other. They know each other and how they
argue Scripture. They are deeply conservative men.
They insist you must add to Pauls Gospel to be the full Gospel. For Paul,
anything added to grace and faith is not the Gospel at all.
Their message was probably something like this: We respect Paul. We like
Paul. He was first in his class. But he hasnt told you everything. He left
some things out and isnt telling the whole truth. The full Gospel is the
Gospel plus the Law.
How ironic! We have the same problem today! It is the biggest problem in our
churches. Many want to earn their salvation by doing good, by keeping the Law, by
cooperating with God, by surrendering themselves to Jesus, by giving themselves
over to him, by discovering the goodness in themselves. They think they can reach
out to God while God reaches out to them. That's not the Gospel Paul preaches.
And Paul says that such a Gospel is to be accursed.
----------
1:10 The answer to Pauls question is obvious. He has been sent by God and
he has preached Gods Gospel. Everything he does is to please God. And if
this is true then the message from his opponents is false.
1:1-10 Paul puts the main issues on the line. They are: Pauls apostleship and
the Gospel of Jesus Christ that he preaches.
Volume 15 Relationship of Galatians to Romans
Galatians written first. It is the first letter in which Paul use the language of
justification by grace through faith.
In many ways Romans explains Galatians in a detailed, systematic,
theological, doctrinal way. It was written much later.
Paul shows that he is not ashamed of the Gospel in Galatians (as he states in
Romans) by his rebuke of the Galatians and his opponents.
The theme of Galatians is: What is the Gospel? Is it by grace through faith or
is the Law added to it? Romans has a similar theme.
In Galatians Paul speaks of the Gospel for the first time and in several ways:
as justification, as new creation, as adoption.
Probably the only NT book written at this time was Matthew. Paul builds upon
the story and teachings of Jesus as told by Matthew.
Volume 16 Gal. 1:11-17
1:11 Paul states the main proposition of the letter here: This Gospel comes
from God. He was sent by God and so was his message.
1:11 Paul still considers them brothers, which includes men, women, and
children.
1:11 Everything in this letter he has already taught them.
1:11 The Gospel is something that happens. It is preached in that grace
space, the church, the Divine Service, the place where the sheep hear the
voice of the Good Shepherd.
1:12 Perhaps Pauls opponents were saying that Paul got the Gospel he
preached from Peter or Barnabas or someone else.
1:12 The Greek literally says he received it by the Apocalyptic revelation of
Jesus Christ. Remember, apocalyptic is a breaking in. God is stepping on
the scene doing something completely out of the ordinary. The incarnation
was apocalyptic. Pauls conversion was apocalyptic. Thats where Paul saw
Christ and thats where he got the Gospel.
1:13 2:10 Paul backs up what he just said by giving his life story. He tells
about his call from God. And he will put it in terms of the call the prophets
got.
1:13 Paul describes his life before the cross, his life of Judaism.
1:13 In his pre-Damascus days, he Persecuted the church violently. He
purposely kept trying over and over again to destroy it. He was the primary
persecutor of the church.
1:14 There was no one who advanced more quickly or who was more zealous
for the law (the traditions of the fathers) than Paul before his conversion. This
same zealousness is what is driving Pauls opponents. Therefore Paul
understands them. He used to be one of them.
1:15 Paul was set apart by God in the womb and then was called by God, as
were some of the OT prophets. In order to say this, Paul had to have a high
degree of confidence in that God had called him for this purpose.
1:16a Paul says that God apocalyptically revealed his son to me and in me.
---------The Apocalyptic Invasion. Paul basically has two questions that he's asking the
Galatians. The questions he's asking them are these:
1. What time is it? What world do we live in? And what time is it in that
world?
2. And then: What is this world like? What is the world that we actually live
in?
Pauls answer to these questions is that we live in an evil time, the end time.
And God is breaking in from eternity through his incarnational presence to
change it. And he sees that God has broken in invasively and revealed
himself to Paul on the road to Damacus.
---------
1:16b Why did God break in and reveal his Son to Paul? In order that Paul
might preach Christ to the Gentiles. That is why God called Paul and revealed
himself to Paul.
1:16c-17 Paul did not run to Peter or James or anyone else. He didnt go to
Jerusalem to any of the other apostles. He went to Arabia and then back to
Damascus.
1:17 Paul retreated for a while to Arabia. There were synagogues and Jews
there. Perhaps he spent time learning how to be an evangelist there among
the Jews. He was not popular among the Christians in Judea since he had
been persecuting them. And this would have prepared him to share the
Gospel with the Gentiles.
1:17 As a Pharisee, Paul knew the OT well. During this time he may have
studied the OT in a whole different way, in seeing Christ as the key that
unlocked it.
Volume 17 - Gal. 1:18-24
1:18 Dr. Just dates Stephens martyrdom and Pauls conversion as A.D. 36
(others date it earlier), so that makes the events of 1:18 to be A.D. 38. After
three years 36, 37, 38 he went to Jerusalem.
1:18 Why 36? Only Romans could execute capital punishment. In 36 there
was no Roman procurator in Caesarea Maritima. This would allow the Jews to
execute the stoning of Stephen.
1:18 He went to visit Cephas (Peter). His opponents probably said Paul went
to receive the Gospel. But Paul probably went to tell Peter of his conversion
experience and how God wanted him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. His
conversion is spoken of 3 times in Acts, so it is a very important event.
1:18 Paul stayed with Peter 15 days. Why 15 days? Why not say 2 weeks?
Since he stayed with Peter, he had table fellowship with Peter. If the first day
of the 15 days was a Sunday, then he would have went to church with Peter 3
times. He would have had fellowship with him at the Lords Supper 3 times,
showing that they were in agreement with each other.
1:19-20 Paul didnt go down there to see other apostles to meet with them
and learn from them. He did see James who was Jesus brother. Because he is
mentioned like this it seems likely that James is now the bishop of the church
in Jerusalem. So Paul says he is not lying when he says he saw two of the
churchs leader and no other apostles.
1:21-22 Syria is where Antioch is. Cilicia is where he's from. So he went back
to his hometown and to Antioch which is going to be the mission base of
operations for his missionary journeys. He says he was unknown in the
Judean churches because he didnt visit with them. Since he was known as a
persecutor of the church, he probably didnt think it was a good idea to visit
them.
1:23 The churches did see him, but they did hear about his complete change
from persecutor to preacher of the faith.
1:24 The rejoiced when they heard about Pauls conversion. That would be
like Osama bin Laden coming back to New York having converted to
Christianity and preaching the Gospel and the people of New York receive him
with joy and glorify God.
1:23-24 Even those who Paul persecuted could see him as a preacher of the
Gospel. And both Peter and James embrace Paul as a preacher of the Gospel.
Volume 18 - Gal. 2:1-3

---------Taking a step back to see whats going on:
Paul gives historical markers of early church history in Galatians.
Many people believe this is the report by Paul of what happened in Acts 15
and the Apostolic Council. If that is the case, that means that this letter to the
Galatians was written after the Apostolic Council, in 49 or 50.
Dr. Just believes that the letter to Galatians was written before the Apostolic
Council. Therefore he believes that whats in Gal. 2 is not the Apostolic
Council, but a private meeting in which Paul and Barnabas, as representatives
of Antioch, met with Peter and James, who represented the church in
Jerusalem. The apostle John is also mentioned, so this is a powerful group.
Together, they may have accounted for or heavily influenced 24 of the 27 NT
books.
Dr. Just believes this is a private meeting in which Paul discusses with them
his first missionary journey, the Gospel that he preached and the success he
had.
---------
2:1 Dr. Just suggests that there were two meetings held very close to each
other (maybe within 6 mos. Of each other), a private meeting (Gal. 2) and the
Apostolic Council (Acts 15). An example of when they might have met would
be early 49 (private) and late 49 (Council). Both would have been 14 years
after Pauls conversion.
2:2 It appears that Paul had another revelation from God. In it God told him to
go to Jerusalem for this private meeting to share the success he has had in
proclaiming the Gospel. As Paul went from church to church and from town to
town preaching the Gospel, people were being converted.
2:2 Paul is not worried about the apostles in Jerusalem wanting to change his
Gospel message. Rather he is worried about a possible split in the church
because some Jewish Christians disagree with the Gospel as a free gift,
excluding works. He does not wish to have a Jewish Christian church and a
Gentile Christian church.
2:3 In this meeting with Peter and James, Paul brought Titus, a Gentile. Had
Peter and James felt strongly that Christians needed to be circumcised, they
would have insisted upon it and would have tried to force it upon Titus. But
they didnt. The Gospel is for the circumcised (Paul, Peter, James, Barnabas)
and the uncircumcised (Titus). There is one church which includes Jew and
Gentile.
2:3 Here Paul introduces one of the major themes in Galatians: circumcision.
Circumcision is referred to in chapters 2, 5, and 6.
2:4-5 What Paul is talking about here is what happened in the church in
Antioch, not the churches in Galatia. It probably happened while they were
gone on their first missionary journey.
2:4 False brothers is a derogatory remark. They are Christians that are
teaching false doctrine. And they are very secretive. They have spied on the
preaching of the Gospel and have been secretly teaching something
completely different.
2:4 This secret teaching that re-introduces slavery of the Law is probably
circumcision. They are teaching you not only have to believe in Jesus but you
also have to be circumcised.
2:4 Freedom vs. slavery to the Law is another major theme in Galatians. Jesus
frees us from the Law and now these secret teachers want to bind them again
to the Law.
2:5a They (Paul, his followers, or both) stood up to the secret teachers, didnt
budge an inch, and kicked them out.
2:5b This statement is a key to the letter. The Gospel is the Truth and the
Truth is the Gospel. The Good News is that we dont have to do anything to be
saved. We dont have to cooperate with God. We dont contribute anything,
including works. Jesus won salvation through his suffering, death, and
resurrection and offers it to us free of charge.
2:6 Pauls grammar completely collapses here and it is hard to translate
because there are no verbs. Paul is very agitated at this point of dictating the
letter.
2:6 Paul now goes back to the meeting in Jerusalem. They are discussing the
incident of 2:4-5 in their meeting. And those who are influential at the
meeting would be Peter, James (Jesus brother), and John (the son of
Zebedee). Paul laid out before them the Gospel that he preached-grace
alone, faith alone, Christ alone-no works. And they added nothing to me.
They didnt say he preached the wrong Gospel or add any words or works to
the Gospel Paul preached.
2:6 Paul did not care who they were or how influential they were. The Truth is
the truth and no one was going to cause him to compromise it.

---------Quick comparison between these early meetings and the Council of Niacea
All of these meetings direct the Christian church forward in an Orthodox way.
These early meetings were of the same magnitude and influence as Niacea.
Orthodox Gospel Private Meeting (Gal. 2).
Orthodox Gospel Apostolic Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15).
Orthodox view of Jesus Council of Niacea.
---------
2:7 Paul was entrusted by God to a ministry to the uncircumcised, the Greeks,
just as Peter was entrusted by God with a ministry to the circumcised, the
Jews. There are two missions to spread the Gospel.
2:8 Paul again speaks of the two missions to the Gentiles and the Jews. Paul
specifically calls Peters ministry an apostolic ministry. He implies the same
about himself but does not say it. He seems to be deferring to Peter and his
ministry to the Jews. Yet he seeks equality for his mission and himself.
2:9 When Peter, James, and John saw that Gods grace had been given to
Paul, they had fellowship with Paul and Barnabas. That is, they sealed their
unity in the Gospel of Jesus Christ but celebrating the sacrament together. In
the early church the Sacrament was only shared with others who were of the
same confession. So this is a significant statement of the unity. So the pillars
of the church back up Paul and the Gospel that he preaches.
2:9 For the third time in three verses we see mentioned the two missions.
There is one Gospel and two missions to spread that Gospel.
2:10 Receiving the Gospel also involves concrete expressions of love. The
only thing asked of Paul is to take up a collection for the poor. But they didnt
need to tell him to do it, for he was already eager to do it. This is another sign
of unity between the churches.
2:10 The poor that they refer to are the people of Jerusalem who were
suffering through a terrible famine. They needed gifts from the Gentile
churches to survive. At the end of his third missionary journey, Paul brings
the gifts from the Gentile churches to Jerusalem. So the Gospel includes gifts
of charity. Its an extension of Christs mercy and compassion that flows
through us.

Here Paul addresses a major incident that occurred in Antioch.
2:11-14 At this incident in Antioch, Peter is there. Paul is there. Barnabas is
there. And representatives of James are there. These are the same major
players that met in Jerusalem for the private meeting and who were fully
unified (2:1-10). But this incident happens after that meeting.
2:11-12 It appears as if Paul and Barnabas left the meeting overjoyed and
returned to Antioch. Apparently Peter was not far behind. He came to Antioch
too. Peters mission was primarily to the Jews, but he had also had some
dealings with some Gentiles (Cornelius and his family). He apparently looks
forward to having fellowship with these Gentile believers. And so Peter shared
meals with the Gentiles and shared the Lords Supper with them.
2:11 Paul makes the strong statement that he opposed Peter to his face and
that Peter was condemned. To say that Peter was condemned meant that
Peter did something that caused Paul to think that he had compromised the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2:12 James is over the church in Jerusalem. So some men came from the
Jerusalem church to Antioch. It is doubtful that James sent them as his
representatives. They may have said that James sent them to look important,
but we cannot see anywhere else in scripture where James held the same
convictions as these men.
2:12 The phrase he was eating with the Gentiles in Greek indicates an
ongoing act in the past. So Peter was continually eating with the Gentiles.
This probably means he had table fellowship with them at both normal meals
and the Lords Supper.
2:12 When the men from the circumcision party came from Jerusalem, Peter
withdrew from his fellowship with the Gentiles. He no longer ate any meals
with them. The word for drew back is a military word. As we learned earlier
the Galatians were military men, so they would understand this very clearly.
The Gospel was on the move, taking ground. It was spreading out amongst
the Gentiles. And Peter was joining them on the front lines. But when these
men of the circumcision party came and Peter began to meet some
resistance, he retreated and gave up ground.
2:12 The Greek word for separated himself also indicates ongoing action.
He repeatedly over and over again kept separating himself from them. And
that word is a cultic word. It had to do with liturgy and worship. He separated
himself away from the Gentiles celebration of the Lords Supper.
2:12 The reason he separated himself from them was that he was afraid. This
is fear that comes from persecution for confessing the true faith. He was
afraid to confess the faith that had been agreed to at the private meeting
that had been held not that long ago because of the persecution of the
circumcision party.
2:12 Its possible that the reason Peter separated himself was out of fear for
his followers. Remember Paul used to be a member of the circumcision party
and he used to go around threatening, arresting, and killing people.
2:12 The reason why Paul condemns Peter is that Peter is a leader in the
church. By his actions he is showing that he is not willing to openly confess
salvation by grace through faith for both Jew and Gentile.
2:13 Peters actions affected and influenced the other Jewish Christians in
Antioch. They followed his lead. So he caused them too to retreat. His
leadership was so important that even Barnabas, who had been out on the
first missionary journey with Paul founding new churches, withdrew and
separated himself.
2:14 Peters actions did not go with the truth of the Gospel, which is salvation
by grace through faith. Since this is a public sin, Paul confronts Peter with a
public rebuke before them all.
2:14 The problem is as follows. Peter is a Jew but has been living like a
Gentile, eating Gentile foods and participating in things that make Jews
unclean. This is ok. The message is that all that is necessary is faith. But
when he withdrew and separated himself from the Gentiles, his message
changed. Now the message is that faith is not enough. You must do the works
of the Law too.
2:14 The same word is used here as was used earlier. Earlier Titus was not
forced to be circumcised. It was agreed to by Peter, James, John, Paul, and
Barnabas that faith was enough. But now Peter, by his actions, is forcing
the Gentiles to be circumcised. Peter and the rest of the Jewish Christians
were acting hypocritically (2:13).
2:14 There was a great probability that this could cause a split in the church.
There were probably hard feelings after this. It is likely that neither Paul nor
Peter knew what was going to happen to the church after this incident.
This issue will be dealt with soon at the Apostolic Council at Jerusalem (Acts
15). Barnabas came with Paul to the Council so they must have reconciled.
Peter stood up at the Council and spoke for the Gentile point of view. This was
perhaps his way of showing that he had repented and had been wrong in
Antioch.
2:15-21 This is the first deeply theological section in Galatians where Paul
reflects on what the Gospel is. It is very dense and contains the first
statement in the letter about justification by grace through faith. These
verses cover some of the theological themes covered in the rest of Galatians.
2:15 Beginning with this verse Paul, who has gotten in Peters face,
condemned him, and called him a hypocrite, now has compassion on Peter
and shows what common ground they have. He is saying to Peter. Look we
were born as Jews. I was a Pharisee. I was tops in my class. Believe me, if any
one knows the Law, I know the Law. We are Jews, not Gentile sinners (those
who nothing of the true God). God has revealed himself to us. He has lived
among us in the temple.
2:16 This is the Gospel and it is one of the most important verses in
Galatians. There is apparently some parallelism going on here. Dr. Just
provided a diagram of it for his student. Its not available to us.
2:16 The first important word is justified or sometimes its translated as
declared righteous. This is courtroom language, forensic language. As
Lutherans we believe that justification is the most important doctrine of
Christianity. The church stands or falls based on this doctrine.
2:16 Dr. Just suggests another translation other than justify or declare
righteous. God is making right what has gone wrong. What has gone wrong is
sin and its corruption of creation. The sin virus has affected the world since
Adam and Eve, causing death, tragedy, suffering, and sickness. We know that
we cannot make things right by our works because all of our works are like
filthy rags. Apparently Pauls opponents are teaching that we can. They say
that by God contributing some and by us contributing some, we can right
what went wrong.
2:16 Paul is saying that only God can make right what has gone wrong. He
does so by sending his Creator back into the world to make all things new. It
is only through him (Jesus) and the cross that he makes all things new. He
takes our shame and guilt on himself and then receives the Fathers wrath on
the cross. Its only through Jesus atonement, death, and resurrection that he
makes right what has gone wrong. It is only by faith in Jesus that we are
justified.
2:16 Paul is talking more in a cosmic sense than he is about individuals.
Christ in his faithfulness and obedience unto death gave us his life. Dr. Just
believes that most translations are wrong in translating this verse. The Greek
is ambiguous. It can mean either faith in Jesus Christ or the faith of Jesus
Christ (that is, his faithfulness unto death). The King James Version has faith
of Christ. Only Christs faithfulness on the cross of Calvary can make things
right.
2:17 It appears as if people were calling Paul as sinner because he associated
himself with and had fellowship with Gentiles. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ
is for all people including Gentiles. Since Jesus associates with Gentiles in the
Gospel, Paul asks, does that make Jesus a sinner too? Obviously not.
2:18 Paul had torn down the Law as a means of salvation. Paul says if he
builds the Law back up as a means of salvation then he is indeed a sinner.
Having table fellowship with the Gentiles is not sinful. Adding the
requirements of the Law to the Gospel is sinful.
2:19 This verse is very complicated and critical to understand. Before his
conversion on the road to Damascus Paul lived by the Law. But when he was
confronted by Jesus with the Good News, he died to the Law.
2:19 But how does he die to the law through the law? Thats hard to
understand. Later in his letter to the Corinthians Paul says that Jesus became
sin for us. He became the ultimate sinner because he took all the sins of the
world upon himself. Thats why the Father forsakes him and turns his wrath
on him. All the sins o f the world are on him. What does the Law do and
demand? The Law shows us our sins and the Law demands that sinners are
put to death. So the Law shows Jesus to be the chief of sinners and the Laws
demand for death is carried out on him. [Jesus then fulfilled the Law in two
ways, by keeping the Law perfectly and by dying as the ultimate sinner. With
the demands of the Law met, he was then able to offer the Gospel to us free
of charge. Therefore we no longer look to the Law for salvation, but to the
Gospel.]
2:20 Here Paul speaks about his baptism. He has been baptized into the
death and resurrection of Christ. Therefore when Christ died so did Paul. But
Christ was raised and now lives in Paul. This doctrine of Baptism is of
fundamental importance. Justification is for the whole cosmos where what is
wrong out there is made right through God through the cross. Baptism is how
that very reality becomes my own personal possession where Christ now lives
in me.
2:20 Dr. Just translates it differently: I live by faith. The faith of the Son of
God. Namely, his faithfulness unto death. The faithfulness unto death, the
faith of the Son of God is that he gave himself for me.
2:20 He is dead to the Law; the Law no longer defines him. Rather what
defines him is that Christ lives in him. The Gospel defines him. And that
identity was give to him in baptism.
2:21 How is Gods grace, his making right what has gone wrong, nullified? He
says that if justification came through the Law, that is, if God made things
right in the cosmos by the works of the Law (thats what the Pharisaical
Christians are saying), there would be no point to the atonement and Christs
death.

Overview
Weve come to a shift in Galatians. Chapter 2 ends his defense of his
apostleship.
He begins chapter 3 with another rebuke of them.
Chapters 3 and 4 are the doctrinal section of Galatians. In it Paul will refer to
a lot of Bible passages. In doing so Paul will be answering his opponents. We
will have to read between the lines to see what his opponents were saying
and why he responds as he does.
Pauls Rebuke of the Galatians
3:1 Paul is here a stern shepherd with a severe rebuke for is flock for even
considering following a different gospel.
3:1 Foolish. This is the same word used by Jesus to the Emmaus disciples
for them not seeing him as the center of the OT. Not just discrete passage.
Not a golden thread. But the whole OT has to do with him. Paul uses foolish
in a simpler way. The Galatians should be able to remember how Paul taught
them this very thing.
3:1 Who bewitched you? Who cast a spell on you or gave you the evil eye?
3:1 To translate in the vernacular, it's almost as if Paul is saying: You must
be on drugs. You must be out of your mind to submit now as grown men to
circumcision as a means of getting right with God. How can you possibly
think that that is a way in which God is making right what has gone wrong.
3:1 Paul tells them why they should be chastised. Here we get a glimpse of
Pauls preaching. He preached that Christ was crucified. He laid it out in all its
scandal, in all its embarrassment. This was true for the Jews for sure. But it
was also true for the Gentiles. In the Roman culture, the noble person, the
noble death, the noble virtues were highly exalted. Death on the cross was
the ultimate shame. The movie, The Passion of Christ showed this. Jesus
became the most shameful man in the world.
3:1 The Gospel that Paul preached was Christ crucified. It is the antidote for
the foolishness that his opponents preached. Pauls theology is the theology
of the cross, where everything is the exact opposite of what you might think.
Five Rhetorical Questions
Paul now asks five rhetorical questions. And these five rhetorical questions
are absolutely critical to understanding the rest of the epistle.
3:2 This is the first mention of the Holy Spirit in Galatians.
3:2 By the hearing with faith. An alternate translation is: by the
proclamation of the Gospel that elicits faith.
3:2 Hes asking, how do you receive the Spirit of Jesus? By you works? by
circumcision? By keeping the law? Or does it come by hearing the Gospel that
then elicits faith in us? Proclaiming Christ crucified is the Gospel that elicits
faith. When people hear the Gospel and believe, thats the Holy Spirit at work
creating faith so that we can believe.
3:2 This is the same thing we heard in the previous section about
justification. Works of the law or Christ's faithfulness and our faith in Christ.
Paul will return to this in v. 5.
3:3 Paul continues with this foolishness theme. The key to understanding this
is to realize that flesh refers to circumcision.
3:3 Paul is asking the question: if you've received the Gospel and believed in
the Gospel by means of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of Christ crucified, are
you now going to bring all of this to conclusion by being circumcised? Hes
asking: Is it Spirit or is it circumcision? You can't have both.
3:4 Did you bear the humility of Christ crucified on the cross in vain?
3:5 Paul continues to rebuke them. He speaks of the Spirit again. In v.2 he
spoke of the reception of the Spirit. Here he speaks of the One who gives the
Spirit. Does he refers to the Father.
3:5 The Father supplies the Spirit to you and works powers in you by the
Spirit. These are present participles. He is doing this even now.
3:5 Again he lays out an either/or. The works of the Law or the Gospel that
elicits faith? He says it very plainly.
3:1-5 Paul is brilliant. At the end of ch. 2 he puts it out there, Law or faith.
Now he comes back to that but with the addition of the Spirit. It is objective
Gospel Christ on the cross. But it is subjective too. The Gospel elicits faith.
At the beginning of ch. 3 he makes it more personal. The Spirit has been sent
to each of us.
3:1-5 These two alternatives: Law or faith are the issues of Christian history.
We see it clearly in our day. Is it completely Gods work for us (Gospel) or do
we cooperate with God to some degree (Law)? Listen to a Christian radio
station and youll see that these are still the issues.

Reflections on how Paul, Jesus, and Pauls Opponents interpret the scriptures.
Paul learned to interpret scripture in the school of Gamaliel, as a conservative
Pharisee. He interprets scripture by using proof texts. Sometimes he would
string passages together for his argument.
Jesus was closer to the Pharisees and their conservative approach to scripture
than anyone else.
Pauls opponents also learned the conservative Pharisee approach to
interpreting scripture. They had the same teachers as Paul and they learned
the same methods.
Since they had so much in common, Paul knows his opponents and how they
think and vice versa. As we read the Bible passages in Gal. 3-4 we want to try
and figure out which ones would Paul have cited to support his arguments
and which ones would his opponents have cited to support theirs. Some OT
passages found in Gal. 3-4 will be ones cited by Pauls opponents and Paul is
responding to them.
The most intense use of scripture in Gal. is in 3:6-14. We will now look at the
scriptural quotes in those verses.
3:6 cites Gen. 15:6. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as
righteousness. Probably cited by Pauls opponents.
3:8 cites Gen. 12:3. All nations will be blessed through Abraham. Note that
this Gospel message comes before Gen. 15. This is Pauls argument.
3:10 cites Deut. 27:26. Cursed is everyone who does not keep the whole Law.
This is Pauls argument.
3:11 cites Hab. 2:4. The righteous will live by faith. One of only two places in
the OT where faith and righteousness are linked. Paul uses against his
opponents.
3:12 cites Lev. 18:15. Could be Pauls verse or his opponents. The one who
does the Law will live by the Law.
3:13 cites Deut. 21:23 Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.
Six OT citations in eight verses. Paul strings them together to mount his
argument.
Righteousness of faith or under the curse of the Law?
3:6-9 The issue is the descent from Abraham. Identity is key. Whose are you?
To whom do you belong?
3:6 This passage from Gen. 15 was probably cited by Pauls opponents His
opponents will be using the covenant of circumcision with Abraham in Gen.
15.
3:6 Some people have issues with the idea of being reckoned righteous by
faith. As if his faith makes him righteous. But note that the promise came
before this. Abraham believed the promise.
3:7 Pauls opponents believe that the covenant of circumcision trumps the
promise. But Paul argues the other way. So in v.7 he goes to the question of
identity.
3:7 Paul speaks of faith. Faith here starts out as Christs faith, that is, his
suffering, death, and resurrection. And then it goes to our faith in Christ and
what he has done for us.
3:7 Our identity as sons of Abraham is tied to faith. We are like Abraham. We
have faith in the promise. Faith makes us sons, not circumcision.
3:8 The Gentiles are justified, declared righteous, by faith.
3:8 Scripture is personified; it foresaw and it preached the Gospel that all
nations would be blessed in Abraham. God is going to make right what has
gone wrong not only in the world for Jews but for Gentiles, as well.
3:8 This Gospel was preached before the covenant of circumcision was given.
Paul is bringing out the full context of Genesis so that the Galatians can
understand his argument and understand the argument of his opponents
doesnt make sense.
3:9 Paul goes back to identity. Those who are sons of Abraham are like
Abraham. They have faith and as Abraham was blessed so are all that have
faith.
3:9 Identity is important to the Jews. They said told John the Baptist that they
were children of Abraham. John responds by saying that God can raise up
children from stones. Stones there is a reference to Gentiles.
3:9 True descendants of Abraham are determined by faith and not by
circumcision.
3:10 The word under is a technical term. It means under the power of.
This is the first use out of ten times. Paul recognizes several powers: God, the
devil, the Law, the flesh. He sees the Law as a cosmic power. And if you bind
yourself to it you will be under the curse.
3:10 Pauls opponents would be scandalized by the thought that the Law was
curse.
3:10 The verse cited by Paul has to a verse Paul picked out to defend his
position. His opponents would have never picked it out. The OT is a big book
with lots of Laws. It would be impossible to keep. Even Pauls opponents
probably know this. So they encouraged the Galatians to keep the Laws the
best they could.
3:10 Paul totally disagrees. The verse he quotes say they must abide by all
things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.If you dont keep every
part of the Law perfectly, you will be under a curse. The Law and the curse go
together. Later he will say that Christ was cursed on the cross.
Volume 25 3:11-14
3:11 Paul is building his argument. If everyone who tries to keep the Law is
cursed, then how then are we justified before God? In answer, he quotes
Habakkuk where righteousness and faith are linked together. We are justified
not by the works of the Law but by faith.
3:11 This verse from Habakkuk is the only other place in the OT besides Gen.
15: 6 where righteousness and faith are brought together. Paul uses both
passages in his argument.
3:12 The statement used by Paul in v.12 might have been used by his
opponents, but Paul was happy to use it. It is from Lev. 18:15.
3:12 there is a difference between the Law and faith. Yet the Law is not bad.
The Law has its work to do and so does faith. The issue at hand is that they
dont do the same work.
3:12 If you bind yourself to the law and you want to have life by the Law then
you must live by its prescriptions. Its an either/or. Either you are fully
committed to the Law or youre not.
3:12 Trying to be justified by the Law is like being in a debtors prison. There is
no way out because you cant work to pay what you owe.
3:13 Translated as Christ snatched us out of the curse of the Law. The Law
curses us, but Christ snatches us out of the curse by becoming cursed for us.
3:13 Paul quotes Deut. 21, the most famous passage about the crucifixion in
the OT. Jesus died the most cursed death so that we would not have to.
3:13 Jesus fulfilled the demands of the Law, both in keeping the Law perfectly
(this he did in his prefect life) and in paying the full price that the Law
demands if it is violated (this he did in his death on the cross.
3:14 Now Paul tells why Christ became a curse for us. The purpose for it goes
back to the blessing of Abraham. Jesus did it so that the Gentiles might
receive the promised blessing. So the death of Christ on the cross resulted in
the blessing of Abraham coming to all nations. In other words to fulfill Gen.
12.
3:14 Paul uses a second purpose clause. A second reason for becoming a
curse for us was so that we might receive the promised Holy Spirit by faith.
3:14 Paul is a Jew and a Pharisee. But he included himself with the Gentiles,
those one time pagans and sinners-we. All receive the promised Spirit in
the same way by faith.
3:14 The word promise goes back to Abraham. God promised Abraham that
all nations would be blessed through him. And now in the curse cross of the
cursed Christ God has fulfilled that promise.
Volume 26 Gal 3:6-14

Would the Galatians have known these scriptures that Paul quoted?
It is hard to know for certain, but it is unlikely before Paul came to them that
they would have known the scriptures. So anything that they knew about the
scriptures would have come from Paul.
Paul was a rabbi, a teacher of the scriptures, so he would have been intent on
teaching them. He most likely went over the messianic import of the OT with
them, how it revealed Christ.
Even if Paul only taught them an hour at a time, if it were an intense study,
he could have conveyed quite a bit of Bible to them. They wouldnt know it
like Paul and the Pharisees but they could have grasped the basics.
If people are taught the Bible properly, they will drink it up and remember it.
Volume 27 Gal. 3:15-18)
Paul Places the Promise and the Law in the Context of Salvation History
Paul sees the historical context differently than his opponents. The giving of
the Law at Mt. Sinai is seen differently by Paul and his opponents.
We are speaking of 3:15-25. It should be divided into two parts: 3:15-18 (the
difference between the Law and the Promise), 3:19-25 (the difference
between the Law and the faith of Christ).
Two motifs: (1) the precise nature of the covenantal promise made by God to
Abraham and (2) the sharp differentiation of the promise from the law.
Paul will make a very simple point: the Law came 430 years after the
promise. Therefore the Law is secondary to the Promise.
Must have knowledge of Gen. 12, 15, and 17.
Paul will quote from Gen. 17. It has three promises: (1) God will give the land
of Canaan to the Israelites as an inheritance. (2) Covenant of circumcision.
Pauls opponents stress this. (3) The Gentiles will be blessed through
Abraham. This is the promise that matters to Paul.
The promises of land and circumcision are historically conditioned. But the
promise of the nations being bless through Abraham is an eternal promise.
That is an important thing to know in order to understand this section.
Back to the text.

3:15 Paul gives a human example that everyone can understand. Once a
human will and testament has been ratified, it cannot be annulled. Thats
still true today for us. Its the same thing when talking about Gods
covenants.
3:15 Covenant is an agreement between two parties. To ratify it, animals
were killed and cut in two. The two parties then walked between the cut
up animals. In effect they were both saying, you can do this to me if I
break the covenant.
3:15 When God made the covenant with Abraham, it was only God (as
represented by the smoking pot) that went through the cut up animals.
Thats because it was a one-sided, unilateral covenant.
3:16 When Paul speaks about the covenant with Abraham, he is building
upon this unilateral covenant.
3:16 Note the wording: promises is plural, referring to all three
promises. Seed/Offspring" is singular. The promises are made to Abraham
and one of his offspring, who is Christ.
3:16 Paul is interpreting scripture in a whole new way. Since the Christ has
come and Paul has been converted, he interprets it Christologically.
3:16 All 3 of the promises are given to and fulfilled in Christ. (1) Promised
land = heaven. Heaven is where Jesus is. (2) Christ was circumcised on
the 8th day, thereby ending circumcision. (3) Christ died to bring salvation
to all people.
3:16 The promise goes from Abraham to Christ. If you go from Genesis to
the NT, what do you skip over? The Law. The promise finds its end in
Christ, not in the Law of Moses.
3:17 The Law was not given for a long time (430 years) after the promise.
It has no effect on the promise. It does not add to or annul the promises.
3:18 For the first time Paul uses the language of inheritance. The
inheritance comes by the promise and not the Law.
3:18 The Law is not opposed to the promise. It has a different function
than giving out an inheritance. (1) The Law cannot give life. Only the
promise can. (2) The Law points us to the promise. (3) The law closes
every door of access to God except Christ's faith and our faith in Christ.
3:18 The inheritance was gifted to Abraham by a promise. It was given
free of charge, not earned.
3:18 The promise was about God making right what had gone wrong. The
Law doesnt do that; it cant.
3:18 Christ is the true heir of the promise. And if we are united with Christ
by faith then we receive the same inheritance promised to Abraham and
fulfilled in Christ.

Relationship between Galatians and Romans
Galatians is his first letter. There is a growth and maturity that takes place
from this time to the times that Romans was written.
Letters were written within a different context. Paul knows the Galatians well
since he established the church. Paul has not met the Roman congregation.
Both letters cover many of the same topics. But Romans is more detailed and
systematic. In Romans Paul expands upon the relationship between Abraham
and Christ and has a profound section on justification by grace through faith.
A lot of what you hope Paul would say in Galatians he says in Romans.
Romans is the midrash of Galatians. In Romans he explains it thoroughly.
In this section Paul answers the question: Why did God give the law? And
what is the relationship between the law and the promise?
3:19 The law was added Paul says. It was added because This has been
interpreted in 4 different ways. (1) The law actually produces sins. This
interpretation is Ok, but not the best. (2) Shows people their sins a mirror.
(3) Restrains sin a curb. (4) A remedy for transgressions. This is very wrong.
This is what Pauls opponents believe. They believe the promise was good but
God added the law in order to provide a remedy for sin, as a means of
salvation.
3:19 The Law was added for a certain amount of time, until the Offspring
came, until Christ came.
3:19 Paul says that the Law was put in place by angels working through a
mediator, Moses. To Paul the Law was good because it came from God
through the angels. The Judaizers fancy themselves as angels, as
messengers, bringing the Law to the Galatians.
3:20 The Law was communicated through a mediator, but the promises
needed only One to communicate them. Yahweh communicated them directly
to Abraham. This implies that the Promise is greater than the Law.
3:21 The Law and the Promise do not do the same thing. They do different
things. The Law is unable to give life, to justify, to make right what is wrong.
If the Law could give life, then righteousness and salvation would come from
the Law. It was never Gods intention of giving the Law to make right what
has gone wrong.
3:22 The Scripture (the Law) locked up everything in the prison (the cosmic
power) of sin (not the Law). The Law shows us our sin and locks us up in jail,
in a jail we cant get ourselves out of. We cant make ourselves right with
God.
3:22 Faith in Christ or Christs faithfulness. Christs saving work on the
cross would be given to those who believe.
3:22 Paul gives two clear alternatives. The Law which imprisons or the way of
faith which gives salvation to those who believe.
3:23 Paul is now going to explain this imprisoning. The Law imprisoned
during the OT (before faith came, before Christ came). Anyone who lives
under the Law will be imprisoned.
3:23 Faith came apocalyptically. It was revealed apocalyptically just like Christ
was revealed in the incarnation. Faith is a metaphor for Christ.
3:24 The word here is pedagogus is the word for education. A father gave his
young child over to a pedagogue who was then responsible for him. To the
young child the pedagogue was an imprisoning jailer. The young child was no
better than a slave. Thats what the Law does. And it does it so that we might
be declared righteous by faith.
3:24 The Law imprisons us and we are stuck in jail until Christ comes and
frees us. He is the faithful One who gives us faith by which we are declared
righteous. He makes right what was wrong.
3:25 We are no longer under the power of the enslaving and imprisoning
jailer now that faith has come, that the Gospel has come, that Christ has
come. Faith in Christ frees us from the Law.
3:25 Is salvation through Christ alone or through Christ and the works of the
Law? Pauls answer is Christ because the Law imprisons. So if the Law
imprisons then why would we want to go back to prison?
3:25 Pauls point has been this to the Galatians. Before I came you were
slaves to sin. But I preached Christ to you and set you free. So why would you
put yourselves under the Law, which is just another type of enslavement? You
are going from prison to freedom to back to prison.

Overview of 3:26-29; 4:1-7
3:16, 26-27 If you read 3:16 and then continue reading at 3:26, it seems to
flow. So 3:17-25 seems to have been almost an interlude. And now Paul is
going to pick back up with the inheritance of Abraham and what it means to
be a child of Abraham.
3:26-29 Dr. Just believes that here Paul is combining scripture and a
baptismal text used by the church. So here he is interpreting scripture and a
liturgical, baptismal text.
3:26-29 He begins with them as son (v. 26). He ends with them as heirs (v.
29). Now, that's a very important point. So the new identity, the new person
in Christ is son and heir.
4:1-7 He talks about the heir of an estate being a slave (v. 1). He talks about
being a son through adoption (v. 3). He talks move about being sons and
heirs (v. 6). So he uses the sonship/heir all the way through here. And that's
why I think this is a discrete section.
3:26-29 A very briefly at the first four verses here, Verses 26 through 29.
Christ is used 5 times. Jesus is used twice.
Faith is only used once (v. 26).
There's no mention here of circumcision. There's no mention of justification.
There's no mention of the law. What is at the center here is baptism.
And 4:3-7 references the incarnation and atonement and then our baptism
into Christ.
3:26-29 Back to the text.
3:26 The theme of the first four verses of this section is incorporation into
Christ.
3:26 Jesus is the Son and we are his sons through faith. He makes this basic
statement and then he explains what that means and how that happens.
3:27 We become sons in baptism.
3:27 See the language concerning Christ? Faith in Christ Jesus (v. 26).
Baptized into Christ (v. 27). There's really a sense of Communion here with
Christ. That mystical union between us and Christ. Christ in us, we in Christ.
3:27 Speaks about Christ as a kind of coat or clothes. This reminds us of the
wedding parable where they are wearing the right garment to enter into the
wedding feast, the garment of Christ, the baptismal robe.
3:27 One of the reasons we think Paul is interpreting a baptismal formula
here is that in the early Christian churches when people were baptized they
were baptized in the nude and then when they came out of the water they
immediately put on a white robe and anointing oil. The robe symbolized
putting on the righteousness of Christ. They were clothed in Christ and
became a Christ to the world because of the unity with Christ. This is one of
the earliest statements ever on baptism.
3:28 Paul now lists pairs of opposites. These exist because of sin.
3:28 Baptism begins a new creation where these distinctions and opposites
dont exist. The passage stresses complete unity.
3:28 Many people who support women's ordination use this passage in
support of it. But it has nothing to do with women's ordination. It's about
baptism. And they use it in women's ordination to talk about equality. But
this isn't about equality. This is about unity in Christ. That when we are in
Christ, our identity is not slave or free, Greek or Jew, male and female. Our
identity is Christ.
3:28 Make note that passages like this are used in a different cultural context
to give a meaning that was never intended. In reality, he's simply describing
that because of baptism, putting on Christ, we are now one in Christ. What
defines us more than anything else is not our race. Not our sex, our gender.
Not our economic status or social place. What defines us is our baptism. Our
unity in Christ.
3:28 As kind of a side note, notice that the word nor is used twice and the
word and is used once. Dr. Just suggests that the distinctions made by
nor will not exist in heaven. But that we will still be male and female in
heaven. The male and female distinction existed before the fall into sin. It did
not come about because of sin.
3:29 Here he summarizes and restates his main point in a different way.
3:29 He's saying if you are of Christ, if Christ has become your clothing, if you
are connected to Christ in baptism, then you are seeds (plural). Heirs
according to the promise.
3:29 This is the conclusion to his Abrahamic argument. Our identity is found
in the Abraham to Christ connection. Thats why the Law is not referred to
here.
3:29 So what he's saying to us very clearly is this: We are the true children of
Abraham. We are the seed of Abraham. We are heirs of promise. Why?
Because we've been joined to Christ, the Seed. And he is our -- he is our
union with God. And if we are united with Christ, then we are united with
Abraham. And we are the true children of Israel.
4:1-7 Might be considered the climax of the letter. This is where he speaks of
being sons and heirs of God, children of Abraham.
4:1-2 In these verses Paul uses a human example and applies it to the
church.
4:1 Child means infant or small child. He is an heir, yet he is treated as a
slave by the pedagogus. So that language of imprisoning jailer is now being
echoed here in a little different way.
4:2 To be under someone is to be under their power. In a human sense the
date set by the father might be 18 or 21. In terms of salvation history the
date is that set by the Father when he will save the world.
4:3 Paul now makes the parallel to the era of faith. We were infants under or
enslaved under the power of the elementary principles of the world. These
are cosmic powers. We were under the power of sin, the power of death, and
power of the devil and maybe even under the power of the Law and the
power of the flesh.
4:4-5 At the end of ch. 3 it spoke of us being held in slavery by the
imprisoning jailer until the time of faith came or until Christ came. He has just
paralleled that in 4:3. And he continues the parallel here.
4:4-5 The fullness of time is the time appointed by the Father. He sent his
Son to redeem or snatch or grab us or rescue us from the power of
the Law. He sent his Son apocalyptically at the incarnation. The Son invaded
and broke into this world and that changed everything. The Creator came to
his creation to make everything new again.
4:4-5 The Son comes humbly. He come born of a woman and he come under
the power of the Law. And it will be the Law that kills him on the cross. But he
goes this way in order that he can redeem us from the power of the Law.
4:4-5 He redeems us so that we might be adopted as sons of God. In that day
someone who was adopted was between a slave and a true son. But with
Jesus and the adoption he brings that all changes. Those adopted are
adopted as true sons with all the rights and privileges to an inheritance as a
natural son.
4:6 This is parallel to v. 4, except here it is not adopted sons, but rather
sons. In v.4 it says God sent his Son. Here it says God sent the Spirit of his
Son. You cannot separate the Son and His Spirit. They always go together.
Also note all three persons of the Trinity.
4:6 He sent the Spirit into our hearts. We tend to think of the heart as the
place of feelings and emotions. But in the Bible the heart is the essence of
the person It encompasses the whole person, including his mind and soul.
When we are in Christ, his Spirit is in our hearts.
4:6 In the early church when you were baptized, you went down some steps
into a pool. You were then buried with Christ 3 times (3 days in the tomb) in
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then you come up out of the
water. Its your resurrection with Christ. And the first words you say are,
Abba, Father. Now you can truly call him Father because he has made you
his son. And now you can pray the Lords Prayer.
4:6 So we have two apocalyptic events. The first is the incarnation, where the
Father sends the Son who breaks into the world redeem his creation. The
second is like it but on a smaller scale. The Father sends the Spirit into us at
baptism to redeem us. The Son is sent to rescue the world and the Spirit is
sent to rescue us individually.
4:7 This verse is a summary of the whole section. You are no longer a slave,
but a son. And since you are a son, you are an heir.

Paul speaks about his distress (4:8-20).
Paul switches gears here. He goes from talking about sublime theology back
to these people who have lost their way. So in this section Paul is in deep
distress.
Verses 8 and 9 he describes the distress. And it's very, very graphic
language we're going to see.
Then Verse 10 is the cause of the distress. Something that surprises us a

little bit.
And then he goes back to saying in Verse 11, his distress.
Then he has a request for them in Verse 12. And again it's an interesting
request. It's one you don't expect.
Then in Verses 13 to 15, he recollects here how they received the Gospel in
Galatia. The personal experience he had with them. And he appeals to it.
It's a remarkable moment.
And then Verses 16 and following he goes back to his distress. Not over what
has happened. But what might happen in the future.
Pauls Distress
4:8 Paul will be speaking to a then and now situation. First he describes what
the Galatians were like before he came.
4:8 Before Paul came they were pagan sinners who worshipped idols. Dr. Just
relayed an experience he had while in India where he went to a temple where
people were worshipping idols. He said he thought about this passage from
Paul. In this experience Dr. Just could visibly see that these people were
enslaved to these idols and the devil.
4:9 The wording that Paul uses here is probably no mistake. By saying it this
way, he is making it clear that we cant know God, its God who knows us.
Once we are known then we can know.
4:9 To turn back is to repent. They want to turn back to these impotent
spiritual things that they once were enslaved to.
4:9 These weak and worthless elementary principles of the world are those
cosmic powers. Hes talking specifically about the Law and circumcision.
These are your new idols that will enslave you. And they oppose the power of
God.
4:9 These principles are worthless and impotent. They cant grant life. He is
playing off of circumcision here. When you are circumcised you are rendering
yourself spiritually impotent.
4:10 They used to do this when they worshipped the sun and moon, etc. Now
they do it by following the old Jewish calendar. If the calendar focused on
Christ, it would be ok. But it doesnt. So they go from one enslaving calendar
to another.
4:11 Paul brings his fears back up.
4:11 Paul describes himself as one who is giving birth. He is in labor giving
birth to these congregations. He expects when they are born that they will be
alive in Christ but now he is thinking that he might not. They may be still
born.
4:11 In another sense Paul is like a parent of a child that has gone astray. He
has given birth to these churches and pointed them in path of life, but they
choose a different way, a way that enslaves them. What distress this parent
goes through. In a sense they are going back to their old way of life of
enslavement, not to paganism, but to the Law.

Background
Paul has presented his sublime theology and his pastoral distress. He now
wishes to reconnect with them.
Paul goes back to when they first met. A guess at this would be the Stoning of
Paul at Lystra (Acts 14:19ff).
Text
4:12 Mutual imitation. I have become like you; you become like me. An
exchange of places. Paul became like them to win them over to Christ. Now
he asks them to be like him, one in Christ through faith.
4:12 Before you did me no wrong. Everything was fine between us. But now
there is animosity. They are turning on Paul.
4:13 Paul goes back to when he first met the Galatians. Paul apparently
describes a sickness or the beating he took at Lystra. Whatever it was, that
was the occasion of when he first preached the Gospel to them.
4:14 Even though his condition was bad, the Galatians did not despise Paul.
Literally that means spit him out. Instead they received him as an angel or
Christ himself.
4:14 Here is what Dr. Just believes Paul is speaking of. Paul was laying beside
the road beaten to a pulp, to the point of death. Paul was a pathetic, horrible
person. He was in a shameful condition but the Galatians welcomed him in.
They received him as a messenger of God despite his weakness.
4:14 Christs sufferings were seen in Pauls sufferings. When they saw Paul in
his shame and suffering they saw Christ. Pauls body preached the Gospel to
them. In weakness they saw the Gospel.
4:15 If Paul had been beaten, his eyes probably would have been swollen and
bleeding. They would have given him their eyes if they could have.
4:15 As solidiers they would have seen such sights before. They could have
rejected him for it, but instead they embraced him.
4:15 Paul is basically saying, Dont you remember me? Dont you remember
how you first welcomed me even in my weakness? Dont you remember the
Gospel I first preached to you?
4:16 Paul now asks them if they hate him because he told them the truth of
the Gospel.
4:17 They are being sought after by Pauls opponents but they do not have
good motives.
4:16-18 The Judaizers seek out the Galatians to proclaim their false gospel.
They threaten to exclude them if they are not circumcised and follow the law.
They make it out to be a kind of exclusive club. They want those Galatians to
come to them and beg them to let them in to this new relationship with God.
4:19-20 Paul uses the childbirth imagery again. He speaks tenderly with
them, wishing he could be there and change the harsh tone of the letter. The
harshness is partially because he is at his wits end with them.
4:20 Paul wishes to be present with them. His opponents are there and
therefore have an advantage.
4:21-31 Paul speaks here about their identity. Who are they?
4:21 Being under the Law here is negative; it enslavement. Paul is
speaking ironically and sarcastically. If you want to be under the Law, why
dont you listen to it? Lets listen to Moses and see what he says about
living under the Law.
4:22 He begins an allegory and it comes from the scriptures, the Word of
God.
4:22 Two sons, one from a slave (Gen. 16:15) and the other from a free
woman (Gen. 21:2,9). Slavery and freedom will be the major topics.
4:23 Son of slave woman (Hagar) was born of the flesh. Son of Promise
was born of the Promise.
4:24 He speaks allegorically. The two women point beyond themselves.
This is also typological.
4:24 Two covenants. Only 1 covenant in Genesis and that is the one to
Abraham.
4:24-25 The second covenant is from Exodus, the covenant at Mt. Sinai. It
begets churches that are in slavery. Paul equates the slavery of Hagar and
Ishmael to that of those who live under harsh demands of the Law. And
the present day parallel is to Jerusalem. It is enslaved with its children.
4:25 Pauls opponents have made it a point to say that they were from
Jerusalem. And they would claim Abraham and Sarah as their parents. But
Paul says, No!, they belong with Hagar and Ishmael.
4:25 So it appears as if the opponents have been speaking proudly of the
fact that they are seeds of Abraham; they received the Law at Mt. Sinai;
their home is Jerusalem. But Paul turns the tables on them.
4:24-25 The opponents claim that they are part of the Law observant
descendants of Abraham and Sarah and that they are the free people.
While the Gentiles are the lawless descendants of Hagar and they are
slaves.
4:24-25 But Paul says the free people are those who hear and believe the
Gospel alone. And the ones who try and keep the Law are slaves. The
opponents have twisted scripture and Paul is straightening them out.
4:26-27 What Paul says here is absolutely opposite of what Jews thought.
Their greatest blessing was to have children. To not bare children would be
a curse. Elizabeth had the bitterness of being barren. But she had great
joy when she finally bore a child.
4:26-27 Paul looks back to Isaiah. When Israel had God as her husband
she was like a fertile woman having children. When she left her husband
in unfaithfulness she was barren. When they were unfaithful they were
breaking Gods Law.
4:26-27 Apparently Pauls opponents were saying that the Galatians were
like unfaithful Israel because they did not keep the Law and submitted to
circumcision. This might appear to be true, but in reality they are bearing
children. By the power of the Holy Spirit new churches are being born
through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
4:26-27 The heavenly Jerusalem that Paul is a part of is very fertile. Many
churches are being born to her according to the Promise. But the earthly
Jerusalem which trusts its obedience to the Law is desolate. She has no
husband and is barren. God is present with the heavenly Jerusalem, not
the earthly Jerusalem.
4:28 Of the two women, you who believe in Christ without the works of the
Law are free and born of the Promise like Isaac.
4:29 Just as Ishmael the slave persecuted Isaac the one born of the Spirit,
so now even now the Pauls opponents who are slaves to the Law are
persecuting the Galatians, the children of the Promise.
4:30 The fact that they are being persecuted shows that they are children
of the Promise. That is what happened to Isaac. As Sarah cast out Hagar
and Ishmael, so now Paul urges the Galatians to cast out the Judaizers
who are persecuting them.
4:30 Those who submit to the Law under the persuasion of the Judaizers
will not be inheritors of Abrahams promises. Only who are free will.
4:31 Paul concludes by saying that those who live by faith in Christ alone
are children of the free woman like Isaac was.
4:31 Paul and his opponents read and understand Gen. 16 and 21 in very different
ways. Paul is saying, Up until this point I have shown you how the law enslaves,
how the law brings us to our knees. How the law is an imprisoning jailer. And if
you go that route, you are under the law and are children of Hagar and Ishmael.
But if you go with the Gospel that I've preached, the Gospel of freedom, then your
mother is the heavenly Jerusalem. You are free because you believe in the
Gospel, the pure Gospel, of Christ crucified and risen from the dead without any
law added,without having to do anything to cooperate with God for your
salvation.
Chpts. 3 4 This has been a powerful argument from Paul. His preaching
has brought forth children who are not slaves of the Law but who have
been freed by Christ. The freedom of the Gospel is the heart and soul of
the Christian faith.
Volume 35 Gal. 5:1

New Section (Gal. 5-6)
Gal. 5:1 is a hinge. It takes us from the arguments in chpts. 3 and 4 and move
us forward to the themes of chpt. 5. Chpts. 5 and 6 are a totally different
section of Galatians. The previous section (Gal. 3-4) is called the exegetical
section and the next section (Gal. 5-6) is called the paranetic section. In this
new section Paul exhorts the Galatians. He will use many imperative verbs.
5:1 is a wonderful pivot. Paul has spoken much about being slaves to the Law.
Now he speaks about the opposite of that - freedom.
5:1 Another way of translating this is In the realm of freedom. Freedom is a
realm. It's a condition. It's a space. It's like grace. Where Christ is present,
there is freedom. We have been freed and made new in Christ. Freedom is
the Gospel as it's lived out in concrete ways in congregations that are in
Christ.
5:1 What are we freed from? It's freedom from fundamental powers like sin
and death and law and flesh. In this space, God is making right was has gone
wrong. Freedom is the realm in which justification is happening.
5:1 Paul gives an imperative, a command: Stand firm. This is similar to
Jesus words for when he comes again: Stand firm and look up because your
salvation is near. In this realm of freedom do not submit yourselves to the
yoke of slavery of the Law.
5:1 Slavery or freedom. Do they now want to exchange freedom for a slavery
of circumcision, a slavery of living under the law, of having to make oneself
right with God by their works?
5:1 in the next two chapters is Paul is going to describe what daily life looks
like in a world that has been set free through the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ.
Volume 36 Gal. 5-6

Overview of Gal. 5-6
This section is the pastoral section of the letter.
As Lutheran Christians we exalt in the freedom of the Gospel. But we get
nervous when we talk about the life of sanctification because we dont want
to emphasize the Law too much. As we read Gal. 5-6 we should imagine that
the Galatians too are uncomfortable with this.
Pauls opponents are probably saying that even though Paul is a brilliant
scholar, he has made it too simple for the Galatians. They live in the world
and they need the Law to live. They might have said something like, Paul is
like a seminary professor who is out of touch with the real world. We are from
the real world and we give you good solid practical advice. So dont listen to
him, listen to us.
Paul knows what they are saying and so he responds by saying that it is the
other way around. He knows what real life is. Real life is defined by Christ.
Real life is only found in Christ. Im going to talk to you now about what it
means to be a pastor in Christ's church. Let me show you what the world
looks like in which God is making right what went wrong. He is freeing the
world that is under the yoke of slavery.
In their world you have the Law and its demands. In my world you have Christ
and his gifts. Life in the Christian church is one of love, the fruit of the Spirit.
Love is the Christians pattern of life, a way of life as a response to Gods love
first shown to us in Christ.
The Theme of Love

5:6 faith actively working through love. This the issue not circumcision or
uncircumcision.
5:14 Love is acted out when we love our neighbors.
5:22 Love is a fruit of the Spirit.
6:2 Show love by bearing each others burdens. The Law of Christ is to love.
6:14 In the new creation the love of Christ is expressed in faith where we are
loving our neighbors.
As we go forward note that:
Paul is going to be talking about the future of the Galatian churches.
Paul is going to be primarily addressing communities and not individuals.
Because of our individualistic culture we tend to miss this. And thats really
true about all of Paul epistles.
So when Paul speaks about the fruits of the Spirit he is speaking to the
corporate community.
Text
5:2-12 Paul is going to use several different easily identifiable images from
common life in the next few verses. For instance, v4 losing your footing and
falling, v7 running a race, v9 leaven. The world that Paul will talk about is
post-cross and post-law and is a world defined by Christ, not by the law.
5:2 An alternate translation is: if you make circumcision the center of your
reality, then Christ avails you nothing. This is either Christ or circumcision.
This is high stakes. There are two mutually exclusive ways to choose from.
5:3 Paul has said this before. You cant pick and choose which laws you will
keep. If you go with the Law you must keep the whole thing. If they pick the
Law then its kind of like being locked up in debtors prison. You have no way
out. Thats the future reality if they go the way of circumcision.
5:4 Severed here probably refers to circumcision. If you wish to be justified
in this way then you are cut off from Christ. If you do this youve lost your
footing and are falling away from Christ. When you fall you lose touch with
reality. For instance, if you fall in love, you lose your sense of reality. Likewise,
if you fall away from Christ, you lose your connection to him, you lose touch
with reality. Real life is a life connected to Christ.
5:5 Paul speaks of hope. Hope is the future reality. In the future there will be
righteousness. In the future there will be heaven. In the future we will be with
Christ completely. We have this hope when we live by the Spirit by faith. We
look forward to this hope when all things will be made right in Christ. There is
no barrier that can keep us from this hope. Even sin and death cannot keep
us from this hope.
5:6 For in Christ Jesus thats baptismal language. For the baptized,
circumcision and uncircumcision are not an issue. The issue is faith
expressing itself in love. Remember love is charity. Love is giving. Love is
gift and forgiveness and mercy and compassion. That's the life of Christ.
That's what the Christian is in the world. That is what faith is. Simply being
Christ in the world.
5:7 Here is the race imagery. The truth is the Gospel. Obey the truth of the
Gospel. An alternate translation is: You were running well. Who has
prevented you from being persuaded by the truth of the Gospel? The answer
of course is the Judaizers.
5:8 The Judaizers have hindered them but they have not called them. It is
God the Holy Spirit who calls people by the Gospel to saving faith.
5:9 The Judaizers Law is like leaven in bread. They have infected the whole
loaf. Its like being pregnant. You cant be just a little pregnant. Its the same
way with the Law. Its all or nothing.
5:10 Paul is speaking of the future of the Galatians. He believes that the
power of Christ will overcome the persuasion of the false teachers.
5:10 Pauls view is the truth; it is scriptural; he represents Christ.
5:10 Paul singles out the leader of his opponents. Everyone knows who it is
but Paul does not name him. He is troubling them with his perverted gospel.
5:11 Apparently some say that at least on occasion Paul still preaches
circumcision. We remember an incident earlier where he did so. But he did so
in order not to create a barrier for the Jews, not because it was required to be
saved.
5:11 Paul says that if he were preaching circumcision then he wouldnt be
persecuted. But in fact he is being persecuted. He is saying, You know what I
am preaching. I am preaching the scandal of the cross. We're going to see in
these two chapters that the problem the opponents have with Paul is that the
cross of Jesus Christ and the preaching of that cross is too prominent in what
Paul is saying.
5:12 Paul is basically saying, I wish that the knife would slip and it would
castrate you. He is speaking to his opponents who preach the false gospel.
5:12 Castration is what pagan priests do. Paul is saying if you go the route of
circumcision, that is like castration among the pagan priests. If you go that
route, you are no different than a pagan.
5:12 He wants them to see that ultimately to be a Christian is to be someone
who is completely and totally committed to the truth of that Gospel and not
some salvation by works.
We have here a slight shift in the argument in Galatians. The first part,
Verses 1 to 12, is mostly as we indicated things about the future. But now we
see the section in which we really intensely engage in pastoral guidance by
means of a series of imperatives in which Paul is giving some admonitions to
the congregation.
5:13-17 (Imperatives)
V. 13 Do not allow the flesh, Become servants to one another through
love.
V. 14 Love one another.
V.15 Watch out
V. 16 Walk by the Spirit.
We begin to see this section of exhortation. In which Paul is commanding
them to live like Christ.
Text:
5:13 Paul is introducing a new concept the flesh. He is talking here about
the flesh being a power, being under the power of the flesh. The flesh is a
super human power in which sin is at work in us, as it was in their former way
of life when they were pagans.
5:13 Instead of translating it: as an opportunity for the flesh, Dr. Just would
translate it as: not to let their flesh become a military base of operations in
their congregations? And remember that the recipients of this letter are
soldiers. So they will understand it. He is basically saying, don't create a
camp now in your congregation where the flesh is going to run wild. Don't
return now to what you were before.
5:13 What Paul is going to be doing here is he's going to be equating the life
of the flesh, namely, in sin with all its vices, to a life living under the law with
all its righteousness as being equivalent. He is going to contrast a
congregation which has the fruits of the Spirit with one where the flesh runs
wild.
5:13 The words that Paul speaks here are words of pastoral guidance, are
about daily life in a world where Christ is making right what has gone wrong,
and a daily life in which the rages between the flesh and the Spirit and
between faith and the Law.
5:13 The realm of freedom, freedom in the Gospel, freedom in Christ,
freedom from the Law. Sometimes in freedom people can resort to sin in the
flesh because they feel they have this freedom. So he says do not let the
flesh run wild. You can see the same sort of thing in Rom. 6: Shall we sin so
that grace may abound?
5:14 The essence of what the life of Christ is like is But serve one another.
Serve one another through love as Christ served us through the cross. Now,
this is the language that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to
serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And we're going to see how
he's going to describe how that is.
5:14 This is the antidote for the flesh. Serving one another in love. Love is
the antidote for the flesh.
5:14 The whole Law is brought to its perfect completion or fulfillment. Is
brought to its end. To what it was intended to be in one saying. This is
Leviticus 19:18: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Now this future
indicative is the strongest kind of imperative. This is not an option. If you are
in Christ, if you are baptized, you love your neighbor as yourself. Because
Christ loved us, his neighbors, to the point of death, even death on the cross.
5:14 Here you can see that the law is good. Christs love fulfilled it. That is
what was intended from the beginning. Those of us who are in Christ live a
life of love. For us the Law is not a burden and not longer condemns us.
Rather the Law shows us how to love as Christ loved.
5:14 Sublime theology that shows how justification and sanction are together
on Christ.
5:15 That's what happens in Pharisaical behavior when you're living
according to the law. People are measuring themselves according to the law.
When the law is the way of life, it creates this kind of enmity between people.
5:15 We've anticipated it in the first 12 verses. But as Paul is want to do, he
eases us into the argument. And then he gives us the punch. And here is the
punch.
Summary
So just to very briefly summarize here, we are freed from the cursing law. We
are freed from sin. We are freed from the elements of the cosmos. And now
Paul says we are free from the flesh. But in that freedom, don't let the flesh
take over. Because the flesh destroys community life. Instead, serve one
another in love as Christ served us by giving up his life for his neighbors on
the cross.
Overview
This is a very, very misunderstood part of Paul. This isn't about moral
behavior. That is not what Paul is talking about. He is talking about what it is
that constitutes a community in Christ. And he's talking about really in many
ways how a community is formed in Christ. he is now giving concrete
expressions of it.
Remember what I said before: Paul is being accused by his opponents of
being a seminary professor who doesn't get it. Who doesn't know what real
life is like. Even though Paul may have been an intellectual and a theologian
par excellent, Paul understood that the only world that is real is the world in
which Christ is present. Everything else is false. And that's a very hard thing
for some people to recognize. Especially in our culture. They have no idea
what real life is.
Real life is found when Christians gather together around the real presence of
Jesus Christ. Where his love is being giving as a gift in Word and sacrament
to the people of God.
That's real life. And that creates community. And that community has
certain characteristics. And what he does here very simply is says that this
community is a community in which the Spirit is alive and well. The
communities that are not of the Spirit are communities of the flesh. Or as
we're going to see, communities of the law. But for Paul a community of the
flesh and a community of the law are one and the same thing.
Text:
5:16 This begins the second section of the pastoral part of chapter 5.
5:16 Literal translation: walk around in the Spirit. And so do not bring to
completion the [impulsive] desires of the flesh. It's a desire that we cannot
help.
5:16 And what he's saying is daily conduct in the Galatian congregation, in a
Christian congregation, that is formed in Christ by his Spirit is a community in
which the Spirit reigns.
5:16 If we listen to and follow the Spirit, we will not bring to completion the
impulsive desire of the flesh. But that's hard for us. Because the impulsive
desire of the flesh sometimes gets a hold of us and we do sin.
5:17 This verse speaks of two orbs of power: Flesh and Spirit. And they are
at war with one another. These are two supra human Apocalyptic powers.
5:17 Paul portrays this war in this way. When you're baptized, you become a
foot soldier on the front line of this Apocalyptic battle. Now, oftentimes we
think it's the flesh that's desiring war on the Spirit. But it's just the other way
around.
5:17 The Spirit that's declaring war on the flesh. The flesh is in control of the
world. In Baptism the Spirit apocalyptically invades us and changes us and
enlists us to fight. And later Paul will tell us about the armor the Spirit gives
us to fight with.
5:17 The Galatian soldiers would understand war. Yet this is a cosmic war
between Christ and Satan. In his death on the cross Christ won the victory. In
his weakness he triumphed.
5:17 The flesh and the Spirit battle. The flesh wants to keep you from doing
what is right. This is similar to what Rom. 7 says.
5:17 From the moment of our baptism we are at war. Many newly baptized do
not understand this. They think that life will be better now that they are in
Christ. But once the Spirit snatches them out of Satans kingdom, Satan is
angry and he goes after them. On our own we cant win the battle. We need
Christ.
5:18 If you are led by the Spirit and sense you are Christians, you are. Then
Paul pulls a surprise and shifts gears. You expect him to say flesh, but
instead he says, You are not under the law.
5:19 Now Paul switches back to the flesh. What is Paul doing?
5:18-19 Being under the power of the Law or of the flesh amounts to the
same thing. Those who live under the Law often experience gross outbursts
of sin. Dr. Just gives an example of this when he discusses a movie he has
seen called "Chocolat." When we live under the Law our sin either goes into
the closet or is shown in gross outbursts. Another example would be the TV
evangelists. They are all about the Law and then you find out they are not so
righteous.
5:18-19 So what Paul is saying to the Galatians is this: If you live under the
law like these Pharisaical Christians are telling you to do, or if you live like a
pagan with all these gross outbursts of sin, it's basically the same thing.
Basically Paul is saying that his Pharisaical opponents are no different than
gross pagan sinners.
5:19-21a This is the flesh run wild. This is the marks of a community who are
under the influence of sin/flesh. This kind of fleshly outburst, this impulsive
desire of the flesh that's expressing itself in the context of the community,
these are powers that destroy community of life. And what you see here is a
total loss of control. Chaos.
5:19-21a we live in a fairly civilized environment. But most of the history of
the world has not had that. In Luthers time the barbarians were absolutely
out of control. The Romans were fairly civilized compared to them. This kind
of behavior is the kind of behavior you see in a world gone wild. You can still
see evidences of this in our world. Many times, many places. Think of what
happened when the hurricanes hit. People just lose control.
5:21b Those who engage in this regular practice of these outbursts of sin will
not inherit the kingdom of God. This is unusual for Paul. He rarely mentions
the kingdom of God. Jesus mentions it frequently. So by referring to it, Paul is
tying in to all of Jesus teachings and parables about the kingdom.
5:21b The kingdom is all about Christ. He is the king who was crowned on the
cross. In this kingdom everything happens in the opposite way that one would
expect, opposite of the world. Christ came in love, humility, and service. This
behavior is the opposite. It is a behavior of serving ones self and not others.
A community that is constituted by these fleshly outbursts are communities
that are destroyed.
5:22-23 These verses contain the marks of the community that are led by the
Spirit. This community gets its life in Christ.
5:22-23 Notice that he doesn't call them works. He calls them fruit. This is
again an echo of the language of Jesus. These are fruits that are all given to
the community in baptism.
5:22-23 The Law in a negative sense is there to prevent gross outbursts of
sin. But when you have the fruit of the Spirit, the Law in the negative sense,
is not needed. If the Spirit is there and Christ is there ruling his kingdom, the
Law is not needed. Christ has fulfilled the Law. Christ enables us to love. And
then all the other fruits flow out of his love.
5:22-23 We probably dont spend enough time talking about self control. A
community constituted by the Spirit in love is a community that is controlled.
It's not out of control. An example of a church getting out of control is some
voters meetings. Sometimes the fruit of the Spirit does not flow at these
meetings.
5:24 Paul speaks profoundly here and brings us back to the cross. Those who
belong to Christ win the victory over the flesh and its impulsive desires. But
the victory is not their own; it is by the Spirit.
5:24 We belong to Christ and crucify the flesh in our baptism. When this
happens we are freed from the grip of the flesh and are free to love and bear
the fruits of the Spirit in our community.
5:24 In baptism we die and rise with Christ. We have life in Christ. These
fruits of the Spirit are not moral imperatives, kind of laws by which we live.
He says very clearly: Of such things there is no law. This is being. This is
identity. This is who we are in Christ. This is our character. And we bear it
joyfully because Christ is in us and Christ lives through us.
Volume 40 Gal. 5:25 6:5
5:25 This is a general introduction to the last part of the letter.

5:25 Paul lists now what are called hortatory subjunctives (like imperatives).
5:25 Even though he uses a conditional clause, what he states is a fact: If we
live by the Spirit and we do Since the Spirit gave us life, let us walk by the
Spirit.
5:26 In this verse Paul contrasts life in the Spirit with Pharisaical self
righteousness. What he describes is life under the law and therefore under
the power of the flesh, as well.
5:26 The word for Conceited translated literally is vain glorious, a life
where we glory in our own vanity, completely inward focused on ourselves.
5:26 This life is made up of self righteous behavior in which the law becomes
the standard and breaking the law is what causes division in congregations.
This is what Paul sees in his opponents as they bring their theology to the
Galatians. It's not constituted by Christ. It's not constituted by love.
Now/Not Yet Both/And, Sinner and Saint

In the very first verse of Chapter 6, Paul recognizes that even though Christ is
in us, even though our communities are marked by the Spirit and the fruits of
the Spirit are to live in us, we still live in a fallen world. That we are still
infected with the virus of sin. And we still are broken people.
This is a very important concept to understand. And this is really in many
ways what separates Lutherans from others. Because we live in a now/not
Text
yet life. We now have the fruits of the Spirit. We now live in a community of
the Spirit. We now live with Christ in us. But not yet in its total completeness
and fullness. That's not going to happen until Christ comes again in the
second coming in judgment.
We still live in a world that is broken. Original sin still is in their bodies. They
still have outbursts of the flesh. Envy. Even sins that we would consider to
be somewhat horrendous public sins: adultery, stealing, murder, breaking of
the Ten Commandments. As Jesus said, we not only do it in our actions, we do
it in our very thoughts.
Luther used to talk about it in this way: That we are at the same time saint
and sinner. That there is this tension. And here is I think a key to Lutheran
theology.
We get into trouble theologically when we see it as either/or. Paul knows the
real world in which we live is a world in which Christ is present with his gifts.
And the Spirit is reigning. And that the triumph is already here in Christ. But
we also know we live in a world broken by sin. So it's never an either/or. It's
always a both/and. Lutherans live in a both/and world. That is something that
we cannot understand.
We are plagued by the impulsive desires of the flesh. And sometimes they
break out. Even in communities constituted by the Spirit. Even among us
who are Christians.
6:1 Listen how this is just dripping with not only pastoral care but pastoral
insight into the character of what we are as human beings.
6:1 Paul is referring to one of the fruits of the Spirit here gentleness. Use
gentleness to restore somebody who has fallen away into a sin.
6:1 Caught in any transgression: each and every one of us at various points
in our lives see that the impulsive desire of the flesh breaks out. Sometimes
it breaks out in action, where we affect people. More often than not, it
happens in our minds. It happens in our discontent or in the hidden life that
we live. It happens in the way in which we feel about people or we hold in
resentments or we hold in lust or whatever into our own minds.
6:1 You who are spiritual: You are marked by the Spirit. The Spirit is living
in the community, which means you are merciful, forgiving, compassionate,
and loving. It does not mean you live a morally perfect life. You're
characterized by these fruits of the Spirit of Christ.
6:1 Dr. Just gave an example of being forgiving and compassionate. A
teenage girl in an inner city congregation became pregnant. She came to her
pastor, confessed her sin, and received absolution. She was free. Yet she had
to deal with the consequences of her sin. The pastor and the teenage girl
decided to announce what happened in church. The focus was on her
absolution and restoration to the congregation. He announced it in
gentleness and the congregation restored her in gentleness.
6:1 The fruits of the Spirit are not a moral code. They are characteristics of a
community that is living out the Gospel in the way in which Christ lived out
the Gospel. Namely, it is a community that is characterized by forgiveness,
love, mercy and compassion.
6:2 Paul shows that he understands people. He, too, was plagued by the
impulsive desires of the flesh. He recognized this reality.
6:2 This is one of the theme verses for our deaconess program. Because this
is what they are, deaconesses are servants of love and mercy. Love and
mercy of Christ. That is what all Christians are to do, is to bear each other's
burdens.
6:2 You know Luther had a beautiful example of this when he talked about the
Lord's Supper. He said: When you come to the Supper of the Lord, what you
do is you come with all your sins, with all your burdens, with all your
transgressions, all those impulsive desires of the flesh that have plagued you
all week, all the darkness, all of the demons that are plagued you. And you
come forward to the altar and you lay them all there for Jesus to bear. You
just lay them there. And then you receive that extraordinary refreshing gift of
forgiveness and love and mercy in eating and drinking the very body and
blood of Christ shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. But when you're there
at the altar, you pick up the burdens of those who are marked by the Spirit,
those in the congregation who are bringing their burdens forward. And you
help them as a member of the community in Christ to bear the burdens.
That's what Paul means here. Bear each other's burdens.
6:2 The law of Christ is now the law fulfilled in love. In Christ on the cross.
Serving one another in love. Bearing each other's burdens. Restoring in the
spirit of gentleness those who are broken. That which Christ wills and
graciously bestows is what is given in the law of love. Through us, as we are
manifesting Christ in the world bearing each other's burdens.
6:3 Paul is always responding to the context in which he is with his
opponents. He of course here is speaking about his opponents and their
perfectionism. This is not what this whole coming of Christ and his Spirit is
about.
6:4 This is the Gospel work. And that Gospel work is bearing each other's
burdens and thus, fulfill the law of Christ. Each one, each individual is going
to be examined according to his own Gospel work.
6:4 You can't boast in your neighbor's faith or his love or his acts of mercy
and compassion and his forgiveness. It has to be based on you yourself, in
how you have responded to Gods grace.
6:4 Paul is always talking about community. But at the end of the day, our
salvation is based on our own confession of faith, our own manifestation of
Christ in the world, our own Gospel work. Our own bearing the burdens of
others. Each one of us has to do that individually.
6:4 we're not boasting in our own, we're boasting in what Christ is doing
through us. It's not our work. It's the work of Christ.
6:5 You bear each other's burdens but at the judgment of God when you
stand before God, you must bear your own load. Namely, you must testify
there to your faith in Christ and the concrete expressions of that faith as you
have lived Christ out in the world by bearing each other's burdens. And thus
bringing to fulfillment over and over again the law of Christ.
6:6 Surprisingly Paul mentions the catechetical instructors that he left behind.
He taught them and they now teach the congregation.
6:6 This admonition of Paul, not only to the Galatians but particularly in light
of the opponents, is a very significant one. Again, we have to read between
the lines here. But what it seems to be that is happening in this congregation
is this: That the catechetical instructors that Paul left behind are not being
supported by the teachers who are his opponents. So you've got two teachers
going on. Paul's teachers. And now these opponents who are teaching. And
they are cutting out these catechetical instructors by not supporting them
financially. And it appears as if some of the Galatians are going along with
that.
6:6 This is simply what Jesus said when a laborer is worthy of his hire, that
you've got to support those who preach and teach the truth of the Gospel in
your congregations. What's at stake is the truth of the Gospel.
6:7 It's very clear that he's talking about support for the catechetical
teachers. Financial support. So that the truth of the Gospel might be heard.
If they go, so goes the truth of the Gospel. And he says the way in which you
sow, you're going to reap. If you don't sow by supporting them, you are not
going to reap what is the fruit of the Spirit that comes from the truth of the
Gospel of preaching Christ crucified, Christ risen from the dead.
6:8 He illustrates the support of the teachers by continuing to use the
sowing/reaping imagery. He's talking there about his opponents. They sow
circumcision. From it they will reap corruption.
6:8 The one who reaps by the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, will reap out of that
Spirit of Christ eternal life. Corruption versus eternal life.
6:8 Think of the teachings of Jesus. You know, laying up for yourselves
treasures in heaven. As opposed to those treasures in which moths can
destroy and rust can destroy. Eternal life is what you will reap if you sow from
the Spirit by supporting these catechetical teachers who bring the truth of
the Gospel, what you will receive is eternal life.
6:8 Jesus talks much about money. And how money is very important as an
expression of who it is that we are and what it is that we do.
6:8 The lovers of money is what he accuses the Pharisees of being. Love of
money is being exhibited among his opponents whereas Paul is encouraging
the Galatians to live out the spirit of love by loving the catechetical teachers
and showing that in tangible expressions of support for them.
6:9 Doing good is namely the fruits of the Spirit.

6:9 In due season looks to the future. Eternal life from the last verse is
both the future and right now. It's that now/not yet tension.
6:9 Sometimes in this world we get weary. We get weary of living out the
christological life. Thats what's happening in the Galatian congregation.
They know what Paul said. But these opponents are so much beating on
them, the world is beating on them, that they are tired. They are weary.
They are warriors on the front lines of that Apocalyptic war. And they are
worn out.
6:9 Due season is the critical time of salvation. That is when we will reap.
6:10 Alternate translation: Let us continue over and over again to do good to
everyone. To live out the fruits of the Spirit to everyone.
6:10 Household of faith - It begins at home. It begins in the church. It
doesn't end there. Because this life of love is lived out among the whole
world. But it begins in the church.
6:10 By the household of faith, perhaps Paul is speaking of the Jerusalem
church. The fact that they are broken by a famine. They need Paul to take
up the collection for them. That there is real tangible expressions of need
there. And let's not grow weary in taking up that collection for them, as well.
6:10 I think Paul here is showing very clearly that one of the ways in which
the impulsive desire of the flesh and living under the law can wear down a
church is that they cease to see that the Gospel is expressed in concrete
expressions of mercy. Deaconesses are a good example of this. They not only
bring Gods word to people but also carry out acts of love.

Overview of Epilogue 6:11-18
What surprises me here is that he returns to that theme of circumcision. Paul
is returning to a theme that you think he has said enough about it. But it is
still such an issue that he feels he needs to address it one more time.
In this final part of the letter is also one in which he returns to Christ crucified.
And in a way he introduces a new concept or at least a new way of speaking
of that concept new creation.
It is a surprise to a certain extent is that he doesn't return to what we think of
as one of the major themes of Paul's letter to the Galatians justification by
grace through faith.
Text
6:11 This letter was most likely dictated. That's one of the reasons why the
grammar is sometimes a little bit tough.
6:11 Paul is going to handwrite these last words. And I think you can see as
we go through them how carefully crafted they are.
6:11 And I find when I receive a handwritten letter from someone, it is a very
poignant experience. Because when you write something with your own
hand, it reveals something of you. Your personality comes out. And you can
see the care that somebody takes in sitting down with a pen and in their own
handwriting, writing out a personal note to you.
6:11 there is something very intimate and personal about that. I think that's
what's happening here. I think Paul had a very large handwriting because of
his eyes. And that's what was so distinguishing about his handwriting. Paul is
saying, I'm going to write to you in my own hand because it's very
personal. I write as your pastor, who founded you, who loves you, who
preached the truth of the Gospel to you. Here are my final words.
6:12 He goes now into circumcision and you can see that he is still agitated.
The opponents of Paul want to make a good showing in the flesh. Now, the
flesh here is of course a reference to circumcision. And in order for them to do
that they compel them or force them. As I said, that's present. Over and over
again they are doing this. So it's persistent.
6:12 And the reason is for this persistent compulsion is that they is are
embarrassed by the cross of Christ. They do not deny the death and
resurrection of Jesus but they would rather preach circumcision than the cross
of Jesus Christ.
6:13 Those who are circumcised and who are obsessed with circumcision do
not keep the Law. They do not do what they preach. They are hypocrites.
6:13 Paul is ridiculing his opponents for relying on dead foreskins and for not
doing what they preach.
6:13 Now there is another thing going on here. In the Dionysian phallic
parades there would be almost a worship of this particular area in the human
male anatomy.
6:13 So Paul is comparing the focus of his opponents and of pagans to the
cross of Christ. The Creator of all things, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the
Father sent the Word Jesus into the world to recreate it in his death and
resurrection. To compare circumcision and dead foreskins to the work of the
Holy Trinity as it's accomplished by Christ and the cross and his resurrection
is for Paul the absolute essence of absurdity. And the reason his opponents
do it is that they are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ and preaching Christ
crucified.
6:13 Now, this puts on the table right here at the end of this epistle two
diametrically opposed preachings. Preaching circumcision or preaching Christ
crucified. And now that he's introduced this concept of circumcision and
crucifixion into the end of his letter, he is now going to move it to a climax
that is absolutely shocking.
Volume 43 Gal. 6:14

The Old World Under the Law and the New World Under the Cross
Is it the flesh of circumcision or the flesh of the Son of Man, the circumcised
One, that is more important?
Text
We need to pause here for a moment at the end of this letter and see how
Paul is coming back to Christ crucified, what in fact the cross means, and
what it means then to boast in the cross of Jesus Christ.
For Paul the cross is that cosmic event in the history of the world in which
God steps onto the scene in order to make all things right that have gone
wrong. Lets unpack this.
The cross is for Paul a cosmic event. It is an Apocalyptic event because it
affects the whole creation. Everything is different after the cross. And here is
where God is in fact acting on behalf of fallen humanity that is infected with
this virus of sin to make right in the cross what has gone wrong because of
our sin. The cross then is a watershed event in the entire cosmos. And what
Paul has been saying throughout this letter is it's not the law that is the
cosmic event. It's not Mt. Sinai. It's not the delivery of the law to Moses by
angels on Mt. Sinai. But it is the cross of Jesus Christ that is the watershed
event.
What the cross is is that defining moment in which the loss of one cosmos,
namely, the world of the law, is lost to Paul. And there's the birth of a new
cosmos. And that is the birth of the new creation.
At the very beginning we said there are two questions Paul is asking. What
world do we live in? And what time is it? Well, the world we now live in is the
world of the new creation. That is a world now that has been given birth to
because of the cross of Jesus Christ.
And when that cross comes, the world I used to live in before, says Paul, the
world under the law, the world of keeping the law, the world that I learned in
my Pharisaical training at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem, that world dies.
It is crucified in the cross of Christ.
In the new creation we see a world in which faith is actively being
demonstrated in love. This is where love is the normative reality. This is
where we're loving our neighbors as ourselves. We're bearing each other's
burdens. Fulfilling the law of Christ over and over and over again. This is the
world I now live in. This is the map that he has been giving them up until this
time. And it's defined, Paul says, by the cross of Jesus Christ.
6:14 Usually when we boast we boast in some personal accomplishment. Paul
is not going to boast in anything that he did or had anything to do with.
6:14 He's going to boast in a crucified man who is the Son of God. He is
going to boast in an object from the world's perspective of great shame and
horror. He's going to boast in something that is outside of him. And
something that only comes to him by grace through faith. That is what he's
going to boast in. He is going to boast in something that from the world's
perspective is the ultimate scandal, the ultimate horror. Now, that's an
extraordinary statement to make.
6:14 Lets look a little more at through whom the world is crucified to me
and I to the world. Paul sees that his identity now is formed through the
cross. Up until the cross, his identity was as a faithful law abiding Jew who
kept the law and saw that his way of salvation, his way to God, was through
keeping the law. Especially with things we've been saying over and over
again: Circumcision, Sabbath, food laws, purity laws, kinship laws, table
fellowship laws.
6:14 The law life collided with Christ on the cross. (Remember Galatians 2
and 3?) And it killed Jesus. There Jesus is cursed because he is the sinner.
Cursed by the law. That is the defining moment for Paul. And it's there that
the world, his former world of Judaism, is crucified in Christ. And if that's
crucified in Christ, then so is Paul himself. Paul is crucified in that cross of
Christ, which is just another way of talking about what happens to him in his
baptism.
6:14 Pauls final words to the Galatians about the cross of Christ are the
center of his preaching. This is Pauls first letter. We know what he will say to
the Corinthians, I will know nothing except Christ crucified. Thats intriguing
because right before Corinth, Paul was in Athens and he mentions nothing of
Christ crucified. I think he learns something from that. That even when
you're with pagans, you've got to preach Christ crucified. So when he gets
with pagans in Corinth, he says: I'm going to know nothing but Christ
crucified to you. The crucified Christ is what Paul preached and what is
evident in his own body.

Definition of Justification
Luthers favorite epistle because it speaks clearly of justification by grace
through faith. He speaks of it throughout.
He does not speak of justification here at the end because he wants to place
the atonement of Jesus and his resurrection in a larger context. In the
context of creation itself.
Instead of declare righteous, justify could be translated as making right
what has gone wrong.
This alternate translation fits better with this final theme that Paul brings
forward as kind of the culminating climatic theme of his epistle. And that is
new creation.
Text
6:15 This is a profound statement and must be read in context. After all of the
talk throughout the letter of circumcision and the Law and circumcision in
terms of the Law, that is not what Paul considers important. Circumcision and
uncircumcision really don't matter. What really exists is not circumcision or
uncircumcision. But what really exists, what really matters, is new creation.
New creation.
6:15 new creation is the language of the Apocalyptic. Of this divine invasion
in which God in Christ enters the world as the creator to make all things new.
And if you look at justification language as making right what has gone
wrong, that is much more understandable in the context of a creation that
has been infected with the virus of sin in which what was created good has
now gone terribly wrong. And that what God is doing is entering back into
that creation, the one who created everything in Genesis. The one who spoke
and brought it into being now is back in creation as the incarnate one, Jesus
Christ, speaking and acting and dying to take that creation that was infected
with the virus and making it new. Not making up a new one. But taking what
is broken there and making it whole. And making it new. That's what
matters. And that's what exists says Paul.
6:15 The image of a creation made new is something that I think resonates
more with people than the forensic language of the courtroom which is what
justification is usually associated with. I think in Romans the language of the
courtroom is much more explicit. But here I think Paul wants us to think in
creational terms. Now, why is that?
6:15 Every human being can identify with the fact that things are very, very
wrong. . And therefore we want newness. We want wholeness. We want to
be able to know by faith that somebody has come into this world and made
things right.
6:15 In his shameful death Jesus takes all that is wrong, all that is broken,
upon himself. And by giving up his life for this creation, he restores it to what
it once was.
6:15 Adam and Eve were created fully human without sin. And when they
sinned, they ceased to be fully human. The way in which we see what our full
humanity really looks like is when somebody without sin comes into this
world and shows us what it means to be fully faithful and obedient to the
Father. Even to death. Death on the cross. What we see in Jesus is
somebody who is fully human. What we see in Jesus is somebody who has
restored the new creation.
6:15 You and I are not born fully human because we are born with sin. But
when we are baptized, when we are joined to Christ, when we are joined to
his sinless flesh, that's when we become fully human. To be baptized is to be
fully human. To be baptized is to live in the new creation. To be baptized is
to bear the fruits of the Spirit in this new creation that manifest the one who
is fully human through our own acts of charity, love and forgiveness.
6:15 All that really matters is what Christ has done through the cross of
Calvary. He has brought in a new creation.
6:16 The new creation is the norm, the rule and guide for Christians. To walk
by to live by.
6:16 Paul gives a Jewish blessing. Peace is wholeness. It is health. It is
wellness. It's relational integrity. It's having reconciliation with God. It is
what we yearn for. Peace is received in the liturgy. It is received throughout

the liturgy and is the last word we hear-and give you peace.
6:16 Paul doesnt use the word for grace but for mercy. It involves healing
that which is broken. Mercy is the number one characteristic of Christians,
being merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful.
6:16 Instead of translating it as peace and mercy be upon them, and upon
the Israel of God, Dr. Just would translate it as, peace and mercy be upon
them, that is upon the Israel of God. Those who live in the new creation are
the Israel of God.
6:16 Think about what Paul is saying. These Gentiles are now the Israel of
God. Not because they are circumcised. Not because they kept the law.
Simply because God's grace is upon them. They believe that Jesus is the
Savior of the world.
6:16 The Judaizers would say, Wait a minute, we are the Israel of God. We
have the marks of circumcision. Paul says no. Gods blessing is upon those
who live in the new creation. They are the Israel of God.
6:16 The Christian church which gathers around the Word and Sacrament live
in the new creation and have peace and mercy. The Christian church is the
Israel of God. And it's not because we follow certain laws or because we have
a certain heritage or because we're circumcised or because we have certain
blood lines. It is simply because Jesus has engrafted himself into us by
baptism in faith so that we have communion with him like the branches into
the vine. And because he is our brother, God is our Father, and we are his
children. We are sons. Sons of Jesus Christ. Sons of Abraham.
6:16 The new Israel of God includes the Gentile Galatians and Paul, a Jew who
was converted. It includes all those who believe that Jesus is the Christ. Christ
came to save all people. We are all one in Christ.
6:16, 18 Wouldnt it be natural to end the letter without 6:17? It would read
like this: Peace and mercy be on you that is the Israel of God. The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ with your Spirit, brethren. Amen. But there is a verse
in between. Paul has been sparring with his opponents the whole letter. And
verse 17 is one last powerful punch. He is still wondering what it is that's
going to happen here in Galatia. So he is making a final statement about all
the things that he has been talking about. And he does it in such a succinct
beautiful way.
6:17 Paul is basically saying: Listen. I've had it. I'm the Apostle Paul. I
have come here. I have preached the truth of the Gospel. You have strayed
away from it. Some of you have listened to these opponents. Not all of you.
But some of you have. They have abused my position there as the founding
pastor. They have taken you away from the Gospel. The truth of the Gospel
has been compromised. Ive had it. He has said everything he has to say.
He is commending it to the Holy Spirit so the truth of the Gospel might come
out. Therefore dont bother him with this anymore.
6:17 Paul is saying: Look at my body. Beaten. Whipped. Tortured. You
picked me up at the side of the road as if I were half dead. You know, you did
not despise me or spit me out as he says when I was in this weakness. But
you know the scars on my body. Look at them. Look at the marks of Jesus.
6:17 This is what he's saying: The injuries that I have on my body were
inflicted by the same powers that crucified Jesus. So my body is a testimony,
flesh, my flesh, with its scars on it, with its stigmata, my body preaches the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because if you look at my body, you will see a sign of
the present activity of the redeemer. Not because of who I am. But because
of what I've preached. I said before: I will boast in nothing but Christ
crucified. I will preach Christ crucified. For preaching that I have been
stoned. I have been whipped. I have been scourged. I have been beaten to
the point of death. And those marks that I now bear in my body are a sign of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because I have suffered with my Lord. I have
been in a sense co-crucified with him in baptism. And that has led to this
suffering.
6:17 His opponents boast in the marks of circumcision. Paul boasts in the
marks caused by his preaching of the Gospel. The preaching of the cross
leads to persecution. This shows that he is the true apostle of the crucified
Christ.
6:18 Paul ends with grace, gift. The gift of Christ is peace and mercy. The gift
of Christ is for them to see that in this new creation he is making right what
has gone wrong Its all about Christ and him crucified.
6:18 We don't know what happened after this. That's one of the great
mysteries. Whether the Galatians turned to Paul or if they went with the
opponents. As I mentioned earlier on, we know that circumcision ceased to
be an issue in the church after the Apostolic Council. And a part of that was
the letter that he wrote to the Galatians. I would like to think that Paul's letter
moved the Galatians by the Spirit to return to confessing the true faith.
6:18 Throughout the rest of Paul's missionary journeys, his preaching Christ
crucified defined him. And we as Lutheran Christians today, we acknowledge
that not only is justification by grace through faith at the heart of our faith,
but when we actually engage in preaching justification, what we preach is the
theology of the cross. As pastors, we bring people into Communion with the
sufferings of Christ. We help them to interpret their sufferings through the
sufferings of Christ.
6:18 To use the language of Paul: Let us never grow weary in preaching
Christ crucified. Let us never grow weary in showing that in the theology of
the cross and in the sufferings of Christ is our hope of righteousness. Now
may the peace and mercy of God be upon you, the Israel of God. And the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit, brothers.

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Volume 13-Gal.

Volume 14-Gal. 1:6-10

---------More about Pauls opponents:

Volume 15 Relationship of Galatians to Romans

Volume 16 Gal. 1:11-17

Volume 17 - Gal. 1:18-24

Volume 18 - Gal. 2:1-3

Volume 19 Gal. 2:4-6

Volume 20 Gal. 2:7-10

Volume 21 Gal. 2:11-14

Volume 23 Gal. 3:1-5

Volume 24 Gal. 3:6-10

Volume 26 Gal 3:6-14

Back to the text.

Volume 28 Gal. 3:15-18

Volume 30 Gal. 3:26-29

Volume 31 Gal. 4:1-7

Volume 32 Gal. 4:8-11

Then Verse 10 is the cause of the distress. Something that surprises us a

Volume 33 Gal. 4:12-18

Volume 34 Gal. 4:21-31

Volume 35 Gal. 5:1

Volume 36 Gal. 5-6

The Theme of Love

Volume 38 Gal. 5:13-15

Volume 40 Gal. 5:25 6:5

5:25 This is a general introduction to the last part of the letter.

Now/Not Yet Both/And, Sinner and Saint

Volume 41 Gal. 6:6-10

6:9 Doing good is namely the fruits of the Spirit.

Volume 42 Gal. 6:11-13

Volume 43 Gal. 6:14

Volume 44 Gal. 6:15-16

what we yearn for. Peace is received in the liturgy. It is received throughout

Volume 45 Gal. 6:17-18

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