So I started taking a course on Galatians from Macedonia Baptist College. The textbook is Be Free by Warren Wiersbe. There’s question at the end of every chapter. Though we are not required to do this, I thought I might go ahead and answer these questions. I’m trying to go as quickly as I can so don’t expect full explanations of every though or perfect spelling and grammar please.

Chapter 1 Questions

What were the Galatian Christians doing that caused Paul to write this letter?

Paul says that he “marveled that they were so soon removed from him”. Ultimately, a departure from doctrine, from faith, from grace is a departure from the Savior’s side; a departure from the presence and fellowship of Christ. I wonder, however, which is the cause and which is the effect. For it can be said that a departure from fellowship with the Savior will lead to a departure from doctrine and things as such. The Bible does admonish us that the Spirit will indeed guide you into all truth. I would say that a departure from truth is indicative of a departure from the leading of the Holy Spirit. And he does address that later: (Galatians 3:2-3) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

But what were they actually doing? They were doing what they decided. They were behaving what they believed. They were practicing their principles. The letter to the Galatians does not tell us much directly what they were doing. Here is what Paul directly deals with:

1. (Galatians 1:6-9) They were receiving doctrine that was contrary to what Paul had originally preached to them.
2. (Galatians 3:2,5,10) His question concerning the “the works of the law” and his discourse on “law” gives us the indication that they were trying to justify themselves by the works of the law, as they did before Christ.
3. (Galatians 3:10) They were continuing in the law.
4. (Galatians 3:19) Paul asks Wherefore then serve the the law? Compare this to what Paul says in Chapter 1:10 Fo if I yet pleased men, I should not be a servant of Christ. The Galatians were serving the law and not Christ.
5. (Galatians 4:9) They were turning again to the weak and beggarly elements, They were desiring bondage over liberty. They were observing days, and months, and times, and years.
6. (Galatians 4:16) They were so zealously affected by false teachers that they have turned their loyalties against Paul and Paul considered himself an enemy to them.
7. (Galatians 5:2) They were trusting in circumcision.
8. (Galatians 5:15, 21, 26) The results of living under the law and not in the Spirit: bite and devour one another; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, etc…; desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying on another.
9. (Galatians 6:7-8) They were sowing to the flesh, attempting to mock God, and deceiving themselves.
10. (Galatians 6:12-13) They were constrained to be circumcised.

What stands out to me is that Paul addresses works of the flesh. It’s as if he’s saying The proof is in the pudding. He says that the people that constrain you to follow the law don’t follow the law themselves. He quoted what he said to Peter: If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compel lest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

He sees the the heavenly pattern. You’re saved by Him. You stay and fellowship with Him. And you’ll live for, serve and please Him. But instead the Galatians are saved by Him, but then depart from Him. And as a result, they’ve gone back to the law and consequently gone back to sin; serving the law, and settling into sin. They’ve done as the church of Ephesus in Revelation has done: They’ve left their first love. It’s not so much that Paul does not believe that the law should be fulfilled. But there is a weak element to the law: the flesh.

Romans 8:3-4 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

So Paul establishes in Galatians again that there is no justification in the “works of the law”. The law is fulfilled in us by Jesus’ death on the cross and manifested in our life by sweet Holy Spirit.

How was Paul qualified to give the Galatian Christians advice and help?

Warren Wiersbe gives the outline:

1. His ministry. Wiersbe deals with Pauls apostleship, his founding of the Galatian churches
2. His message. The problems of the Galatians were direct contradiction to the message of the Gospel.
3. His motive. Paul sought to glorify God whereas the Judaizers sought to boast in the flesh.

I want to add 4) His maestro. Paul was an apostle, yes. But the authority lies in who made him an apostle. It was not of man, or by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father. The same one that raised up Jesus from the dead had made him an apostle.

Paul had the gospel, yes. But the authority lies in who gave him the gospel. After he got saved on the Damascus road, he conferred not with flesh and blood, nor did he commune with the other apostles, but he went into Arabia. I believe he went up to Mount Sinai as Moses did; and as Moses was given authority and the word of God, so was Paul. Pure speculation? Yes. But Paul said he didn’t receive the gospel of men, neither was he taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.

Also, throughout this letter to the Galatians, you get the sense that Paul is saying Been there, done that. And it doesn’t work. The reason Paul had the authority to admonish the Galatians concerning the law is because he was an expert on the law and the law had played out in Paul already. (Romans 7) Once again, the proof is in the pudding.

He said Wherefore the law was our school master to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Christ was Paul’s master (his maestro). But he was brought to him by another master, the school master of the law. Paul had graduated and was qualified to reprove.

I want to add 5) His metamorphosis. Paul said Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am… Paul had undergone such a transformation from the law into grace. He wanted all to be as he was: free from the curse of the law. The trouble that Paul had gone through. The stature he had lost. The pains he had endured. To allow such contradiction was to be changed in vain. To have learned in vain. To exist in vain. They frustrated him and God and grace. And something had to be said.

Grace is God’s unearned favor and activity in our lives. How does Galatians 1:4 reflect God’s grace?

Galatians 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Let me address this in Paul’s life. It means much for Paul to say this.

Paul, who knew full well what it took to take away sin, said this. A student of the law, a Pharisee, who knew the requirements of God in order than sin may be atoned, said he gave himself for our sins. He knew that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. He knew that almost all things are purged by blood. And Paul, being a sinner himself, full of sin, even the murder of Stephen, says in confidence of God’s loving grace, that he gave himself for our sins. Paul believed in God’s grace.

Paul, who was evil in his religion and worldly in his heart, said this. Paul proclaims his own deliverence. He admits where he was in saying this. He was delivered by God into grace. To Paul, grace is a place. He says Him that called you into the grace of God. Elsewhere he says, (Rom 5:2) into this grace wherein we stand. To be saved is be delivered from one place to another place; from an evil world to a place of grace.

Paul, who was so mistaken as to God’s will said this. Paul thought at one point that God’s will was to kill Christians, to persecute and waste the church. Paul has since learned that God’s will is not to destroy those that trust in him, but to forgive them and deliver them. To be so utterly wrong about God and his will, but then to be forgiven and delivered and to be accepted and included into God’s will is the grace of God.

“You cannot mix grace and works.” How does one exclude the other?

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Paul, in Romans, makes it clear absolutely that you cannot mix the two; grace and works. But as to how does one exclude the other must be explained. I think maybe Paul is saying in Romans 11:6 that simply by definition, we cannot have it both ways. Grace is unmerited favor. Works is merited payment. You can’t obtain God’s salvation by both. It’s one or the other. It’s one or hypocrisy. It’s beyond sense to be saved by both. They exclude each other by definition. Or maybe as Paul has said in Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

How does one exclude the other? By the law of faith! You are what you believe. If you want to mix them. By all means go ahead, but you will not do that by faith in Christ. The law of faith excludes works in salvation. You either believe and trust in the grace of God, or you trust on the merit of your own works.

Why is grace important, not just for salvation, but throughout the Christian’s life?

We are saved by grace, but also kept by his grace. Staying saved is only by the grace of God. We need grace every day of our life. Paul thought so. You’d be hard pressed to find one thing in the New Testament that Paul desires for God’s people more than grace.

Grace is important because the king is important. The king is the most important in the kingdom. The king has all authority. The king rules and reign. And for the Christian, grace is king. Long live the king! Grace reigns in the life of the saint. Only by grace can we live a victorious Christian life.

Romans 5:17 …they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

There is no Christian life outside of grace. Important? Yes. But more accurately, it’s necessary. It’s paramount. It’s vital. We need grace. It’s not they which receiveD abundance of grace shall reign. It’s they which receive abundance of grace shall reign. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

What does it mean to ‘fall from grace”?

To fall from grace means absolutely nothing. This is an oxymoron that Paul uses to explain grace and salvation and the love and care of Christ. Paul does not believe that you can fall from grace any more than he believes that Christ can be crucified again (afresh).

Paul uses such contradicting terms in Galatians 5:4 fallen from grace and Hebrews 6:6 fall away to demonstrate the ludicricy and ridiculousness of turning from grace. He uses the ridiculous to reprove. It’s almost like a joke.

However, the real key to understanding Galataians 5:4 is Galatians 5:3 For I testify again to EVERY man that is circumcised… Every man that trusts in the law is bound to the curse of the law. So in essence, Paul is demonstrating and establishing the end of the law in order to appeal to those who have been saved by grace. He’s saying, this is where you’ve been delivered from. This is the end of living under the law. But, we who are saved by grace, expect and hope for better things. You are either one or the other. Paul is admonishing to simply commit to what they are.

What are the differences between living by grace and living by the law of Moses?

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. Living by the law of Moses is utter failure and condemnation. It’s weakness.

God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh….. That the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us…. Living by grace is glorious victory and freedom. It’s strength.

It’s day and night. That’s why Paul was so frustrated by the Galatians. Even Moses could not fulfill the law of Moses. Jesus said Be angry and sin not. Moses got angry and sinned. He was denied access to the promised land. Moses failed the law of Moses. But in Jesus, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…

• Weakness vs Strength
• Condemnation vs Justification
• Veil vs Access
• Failure vs Victory
• Flesh vs Spirit
• Man vs God
• Death vs Life
• Cursed vs Blessed

However, who lives under the law of Moses but Jews themselves. And even they don’t follow the law. There is no sacrifice presently in their religion. What is much overlooked is that all are under the law. All live by the law of Moses, though they know it not. Anything that is not the grace of God is the law of Moses. Why would anybody care about the law of Moses? Most don’t. But that does not mean they are no under the law of Moses. Therefore, the same differences apply not just to Jews, but Gentiles also.

The Judaizers’ altered gospel wasn’t the gospel at all. What are some altered gospels that are common today? What changes do they make to the gospel?

Paul lays down much regarding the gospel in the first few verses of the letter to the Galatians. There are elements of the gospel he addresses. These elements are what are changed or perverted.

1. The power of the Gospel (vs 1, who raised him from the dead)
2. The people of the Gospel (vs 2, all the brethren… the churches)
3. The promise of the Gospel (vs 3, Grace be to you and peace…)
4. The purpose of the Gospel (vs 4, Who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world…)
5. The person of the Gospel (vs 5, To whom be glory..)

The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And that is rarely missing from other gospels. What they change are these secondary elements of the gospel.

The power of the Gospel for example: The power to raise the dead; to give life to that which is dead. We see the power of the gospel in our eternal security. We see how others change the power of the gospel when they call into question God’s power to take and sinner a pass him from death to life.

The people of the Gospel for example: People nowadays insist that the local church and the brethren are not necessary. They can worship God and carry on as a Christian without them. But the Bible says (1 John 3:14) We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

And so forth. Every element of the gospel seems to be messed with and perverted but the three primary elements of his death, burial, and resurrection.

How can the desire to “please men” ruin a Christian?

I would say that if a Christian desires to please men, he’s probably already ruined. I recall again what Paul said: I marvel that ye are soon removed from him that called you… If one seeks to please men, this must be a result of a lack of fellowship with the Lord, or an abundance of fellowship with man and the world. If you spend enough time with the Savior of the world, you’ll want to see the world saved. How can you ever know what pleases somebody unless you spend time with that somebody. Therefore a desire to please men comes from an inordinate time with and location to men.

What questions do you have about living grace?

I don’t really have questions about grace. But rather, I question my own ineptitude in trusting and living by it. If the victorious life of grace is so far superior to the law of Moses and work and power of the flesh, then why in the world do we live in defeat? Why in the world are we not shouting and praising God every second of the day for the amazing grace he’s bestowed upon us.