Lesson 4
Galatians
Galatians 3:1-14

Faith or Law

Oh, Father, keep us safely within your will and the truth of your word. Open our hearts and show us the right way. Protect us from those who misunderstand the truth of your word and would persuade us to believe things contrary to your word. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Bewitched, righteousness, faith, redeemed

Galatians 3:1-14

Welcome back to Believers Bay’s 2001 study on the book of Galatians. Questions and comments should be directed to publisher@believersbay.com. Thank you. We hope you enjoy this study and it helps you to grow in Christ.

Paul was experiencing that mucky emotion that we all dread and seem unable to avoid; frustration. He had spent his life learning the deeper details of the theology and tradition of Judaism (the Jewish religion) only to discover that he had been wrong when it came to Jesus and his followers.

Paul had experienced a supernatural miracle of conversion in which Jesus spoke directly to him and then placed scales over his eyes, blinding him. God removed those scales when Paul converted to Christianity. He then went into the wilderness for three years to learn directly from God. He emerged with the truth of grace as it is applied by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul dedicated himself to sharing the truth about the freedom of the gospel with everyone but he was specifically called and anointed to minister the gospel to the Gentiles. He was even finding acceptance of his calling and ministry among the ‘greater’ apostles who had been trained by Jesus. Then the Judaizers came along and began twisting his message, confusing his converts and the Jews who had accepted the freedom he preached.

Paul has rebuked those who have sinned and is now speaking to those who have been confused by this twisted teaching. He uses common-sense logic to point out rather sarcastically that The Law didn’t bring them salvation. Their salvation came through their belief and acceptance of the message of Jesus’ gospel of freedom.

Abraham was the father of the Jewish religion. The Jews respected him almost above all other men. If not for Abraham there would be no Jewish nation and there would be no Jewish religion. Through a descendant of Abraham The Law was given to the Jews. Moses wrote down the laws and established the religion just as God instructed him.

Paul bypasses Moses and uses Abraham as his example. Abraham had faith and that is how Judaism began. It is not surprising that faith is how it reaches its ultimate goal for humanity.

Paul uses The Law to show how dependence upon The Law for salvation is an exercise in futility. He shows that The Law was not designed to bring life, but death. He shows how depending upon The Law for salvation actually brings a curse. Jesus died to take that curse away and to bring us salvation through the gospel of grace.

He was very effective in debunking the teachings of the Judaizers. He finishes this section of his letter to the Galatians by mentioning The Promise given to Abraham. In the next section we will see a comparison between The Law and The Promise.

Bewitched – having had a spell cast upon you to confuse you.

Righteousness – being in a right standing with God. Doing or being good and right.

Faith – a belief that has confidence. More than just believing; this word conveys a commitment to a person or principle.

Redeemed – paying the price to release a hostage or criminal. To be redeemed is to be released from bondage and restored to freedom through a price paid by another.

• Look for areas of your own life where you may have fallen into the trap of trusting the things you do to provide a salvation reason to God. Doing good things is great but our attitude must be that we do those things because they are good not because they may help justify why we should be allowed into heaven. If you find any of those things, turn them over to God and ask him to ‘redeem’ you from the bondage that those acts bring.
• In this section of scripture, Paul makes six references to scripture quoted in the Old Testament. You’ll find these encased in quote marks (" "). Look up the scriptures he quoted and read the text around these scriptures. Ask yourself why Paul chose these particular scriptures to debunk the fallacy of following The Law in order to be saved.