Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join
us in this verse -by -verse study through the
Word of God. In this lesson of Life Group, we're
going to be looking at Galatians chapter 3. Let's
begin. O foolish Galatians! Paul begins with
saying foolish, and he's meaning here that they're
just not using their mind or they're not comprehending.
And he says, O foolish Galatians, who has cast
an evil spell on you? This meaning that who has
convinced you to believe their evil and false
teachings? And continuing in verse 1, for the
meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear
to you as if you had seen a picture of his death
on the cross. He's saying that he has carefully
and clearly explained to them what Jesus accomplished
on the cross, and he feels like they should understand
it by now. Verse 2, let me ask you this one question.
Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the
law of Moses? Of course not. You received the
Spirit because you believed the message you heard
about Jesus. How foolish can you be? After starting
your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you
now trying to become perfect by your own human
effort? The Galatians were deceived into thinking
that spiritual growth or maturity could be achieved
through works of the flesh. Instead of continued
simple faith in Jesus and abiding in Jesus. Under
law, man is attempting to be righteous, to grow
in righteousness, and to earn or deserve the
kindness and favor of God. But we know under
grace, man becomes completely righteous and enjoys
the kindness and favor of God through believing
and receiving. Verse 4. Have you experienced
so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain,
was it? Here Paul is saying, have you had such
wonderful spiritual experiences and is all this
for nothing? And he's wondering if all these
gifts of the Spirit they had received would not
have lasting value since they were trying to
live by the law instead of faith. Verse 5, I
ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit?
and work miracles among you because you obey
the law? Of course not. It is because you believe
the message you heard about Christ. The Holy
Spirit empowers us in response to our faith,
and miracles take place according to our faith.
But the Galatians have been deceived into thinking
that real spiritual riches are obtained by pursuing
God through a works relationship. Let's pick
up in verse 6. Here we see that Abraham was declared
righteous because of his faith. The law of Moses
did not come into existence until approximately
600 years after Abraham was counted righteous
because of his faith. Verse 7. are those who
put their faith in God, as opposed to trying
to keep a set of rules, Paul is saying here.
Verse 8, what's more, the scriptures looked forward
to this time when God would declare the Gentiles
to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed
this good news to Abraham long ago when he said,
all nations will be blessed through you. So all
who put their faith in Christ share the same
blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
So here we see Paul is describing that Abraham
was declared righteous because of his faith.
And now he's saying everyone can be declared
right with God and be qualified to receive the
same blessings God promised to Abraham and his
descendants all through faith. Picking up with
verse 10. And when we start talking about a curse
being attached to the law, we have to go back
to Deuteronomy 27 and 28. And Paul is referring
to this and telling, The people of Galatia, he's
saying, since it is impossible for you to perfectly
keep the law of Moses, and you still insist on
trying to be right with God by keeping the rules,
instead of placing your confidence in the finished
work of Jesus to justify you, you're subjecting
yourself to the curses of breaking the law. And
here's a sample list of the curses of breaking
the law. Your towns and fields will not prosper.
Your gardens will fail from lack of rain and
insects. Your livestock will be stolen. You will
live in poverty and lack. Your children will
be taken away as slaves. You will be defeated
and oppressed by your enemies. You will experience
confusion, frustration, diseases, fever, plagues.
inflammation, boils, tumors, madness, blindness,
and panic? Well, those are listed among the curses
of the law. And Paul is telling the Galatians,
if you want to live by the law, then you're going
to subject yourself to the curses of the law.
Picking up in verse 11. So it is clear that no
one can be made right with God by trying to keep
the law. For the scriptures say, it is through
faith that a righteous person has life. This
way of faith is very different from the way of
law, which says it is through obeying the law
that a person has life. Here we see that God
never intended the law to be the way we find
our approval before him. He knew we could never
keep the law. So God instituted a system of sacrifice
along with the law. And the entire sacrificial
system looked forward to what Jesus would accomplish
on the cross for us. Picking up verse 13. But
Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced
by the law when he was hung on the cross. What
an amazing verse. Here we find that... Jesus
has redeemed us from the curse of the law. He
bought us out and brought us out from being a
slave to sin and from being subject to the curse
of the law. So we see that Jesus has actually
redeemed us from our towns and fields not prospering,
our gardens failing, our livestock being stolen.
From poverty and failure, from our children being
taken away as slaves, from being defeated and
oppressed by our enemies. He's redeemed us from
confusion, frustration, diseases, fever, plagues,
inflammation, boils, tumors, madness, blindness,
panic, and so on. We are redeemed from the curses
of the law. Let's continue in verse 13. Here
we see Jesus took the curse we deserved upon
himself on the cross. Our sins, the paycheck
of our sins, the curses deserved for our sins,
Jesus took all of that upon himself on the cross.
Verse 14. Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed
the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised
to Abraham. Here it just keeps getting better
and better. Not only did Jesus redeem us from
the curse, he also qualified us for the blessing.
What are the blessings? Well, if we go back to
Deuteronomy, the blessings are... The Lord will
guarantee his blessing over everything you do.
You will be established as God's holy people.
Everything you do will prosper. Your children
will be blessed and prosper. Your gardens and
livestock will prosper. You will always be on
top. You will lend and not borrow. You will always
have victory over your enemies. And he also includes
the blessings of Abraham. What were the blessings
of the... Blessings of Abraham. He told Abraham
that he would bless him, that he would be a blessing,
that the whole earth would be blessed through
him. So in Christ, we receive those blessings,
a promise that the Lord will bless us, that we
will be a blessing to others, that the whole
earth will be blessed through us. Continuing
in verse 14. so that we who are believers might
receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
We know from Scripture that God, the Holy Spirit,
He's the one who takes the things of God, God's
blessings, His grace gifts, His great and precious
promises. The Holy Spirit takes those things
and then He manifests them in our lives. According
to our faith. Picking up in verse 15. Dear brothers
and sisters, here's an example from everyday
life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an
irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.
Here Paul is talking about a covenant, and covenants
made between men stood firm once they were made,
meaning no one could cancel them or add to them.
And Paul uses this example to communicate the
idea of how much more serious it is when God
makes the covenant. Verse 16, God gave the promise
to Abraham and his child. And notice that the
scripture doesn't say, to his children, as if
it meant many descendants. Rather, it says, to
his child, and that, of course, means Christ.
In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.
Paul is saying that this promise is referring
to one specific descendant of Abraham. And to
be clear, he's making sure you understand that
it is Jesus who is that seed or that child. Verse
17. This is what I'm trying to say. The agreement
God made with Abraham. could not be canceled
430 years later when God gave the law to Moses.
God would be breaking his promise. And we know
God always keeps his promises. And God's promise
to Abraham and Jesus were not canceled at Mount
Sinai. The unchanging nature of God's covenant
with Abraham is an important principle. It was
a one -sided covenant that was promised forever.
There were no ifs in Abraham's covenant. There
are plenty of ifs in the covenant of Moses. The
Mosaic covenant was a two -sided covenant with
both parties obligated to uphold it. This means
that the promise of blessing stands eternally
to Abraham and his descendants. And the same
promise of blessing, then, is available for everyone
who puts their faith in Jesus. Verse 18. So here
Paul is saying that if the inheritance offered
to Abraham was on the basis of law, it might
not be permanent, because it would depend on
Abraham keeping the law. But since the inheritance
was offered on the basis of promise, God's promise,
it stands forever. Jews in Galatia were building
their case quoting Moses or the law, but Paul
is responding by referring to Abraham and referring
to the promise. The false teachers were appealing
to centuries of tradition and the proud history
of the law of Moses. Paul, though, is appealing
to the grander covenant between God and Abraham,
which is centuries older. Verse 19, why then
was the law given? Paul is saying this because
understanding the purpose of the law helps us
embrace our freedom from it, from the law. Continuing
in 19, it was given alongside the promise to
show people their sins, but the law was designed
to last only until the coming of the child who
was promised. So here we see that the purpose
of the law God's holy standard was given for
three reasons. First, so that we would not destroy
ourselves before Jesus came. Two, so we could
recognize our inability to keep the rules. And
three, so that we see our need for salvation.
Continuing in verse 19, God gave his law through
angels to Moses, who is the mediator between
God and the people. Now, according to ancient
Jewish tradition, the law was delivered to Moses
on Mount Sinai by the hands of angels, and Moses
became the mediator between God and his people.
Verse 20, Now a mediator is helpful if more than
one party must reach an agreement, but God, who
is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his
promise to Abraham. So we see that the Israelites
needed a mediator between them and God, but we
don't need a mediator now. The law was a two
-party agreement brought by mediators, but salvation
in Jesus is by faith, and it's received by a
promise. Verse 21. Is there a conflict then between
God's law and God's promises? Absolutely not.
If the law could give us new life, we could be
made right with God by obeying it. Here we see
that the law is not something evil opposing God's
promise. The problem with the law is found in
its inability to give righteousness since no
one can keep it. Verse 22. But the scriptures
declare that we are all prisoners of sin. And
here Paul, he's painting a picture of imprisonment.
like the bars of the cell or sin keeping us confined
and condemned. And the law put us in prison because
it pointed out our sinful condition, all of our
faults. The law cannot help us because it is
the law that put us in prison in the first place.
Verse 22. So we receive God's promise of freedom
only by believing in Jesus Christ. And here we
see that only faith in the one who perfectly
kept the law and took our punishment upon himself
can free us from our imprisonment to sin. Picking
up with verse 23. Before the way of faith in
Christ was available to us, we were placed under
guard by the law. We were kept in protective
custody, so to speak, until the way of faith
was revealed. Now Paul is showing us another
way to see the law. He's saying that we could
see it as guarding us under protective custody.
Now what does it mean to be under protective
custody of the law? It meant that the law showed
us the best way to live. It showed us what is
right and wrong. It provided a foundation. for
civil law verse 24 let me put it another way
the law was our guardian until christ came it
protected us until we could be made right with
god through faith we need to understand that
the ultimate purpose of the law is to bring people
to jesus the messiah If someone presents the
law in a way that does not ultimately point people
to faith in Jesus, they're not presenting the
law properly. Verse 25. And now that the way
of faith has come, we no longer need the law
as our guardian. Here Paul uses the illustration
that the law is a personal guardian for us. And
we need to understand that when we enter a relationship
with God through faith, we no longer need a guardian
over our lives and behavior. Though we remember
what the guardian taught us, though we respect
our guardian, the law, well, now we don't live
under it anymore because we live under Jesus
by faith. Verse 26. For you are all children
of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now in
traditional Jewish thinking, your standing before
God was measured by your obedience to the law.
And here Paul says that we can be considered
sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Through
faith alone. To be sons of God. means that we
have a special relationship with God as a loving,
caring Father. It is a place of closeness, a
place of affection, a place of special care and
attention. Verse 27, And all who have been united
with Christ in baptism have put on the character
of Christ. As believers, we've been baptized
in Christ. We've been fully immersed and completely
covered with Christ. Continuing in verse 27,
Paul says it's like putting on new clothes. So
we need to understand this. How we dress has
an impact on how we think and act. How we dress
also has an impact. on how we appear to other
people. And Paul is saying our appropriate clothing
for each day is to put on Christ. People should
see that you belong to him just by looking at
your life. See, we aren't simply associated with
Jesus. We are identified in him. If he's a son
of God, so are we. If he stands righteous before
God the Father, so do we. If he has free access
to the throne of God, so do we. If he has victory
over spiritual powers and darkness, so do we.
We aren't just associated with Jesus. We are
in Jesus. Verse 28. There is no longer Jew or
Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. We need to understand
that Jewish men during this time, when they woke
up, they would thank God every day that they
were not born a Gentile, that they weren't born
a slave, that they were not born a woman. And
now, Paul is saying, look, none of that matters
anymore. It's not about being a Jew or a Gentile.
It's not about being slave or free. It's not
about being a man or a woman. We are all one
in Christ Jesus. All dividing lines have been
erased. When we are identified with Christ, we
are all one in Christ. Verse 29. And now that
you belong to Christ, you are the true children
of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise
to Abraham belongs to you. Since all Christians
belong to Jesus the Messiah, all Christians are
spiritual descendants of Abraham and heirs of
God's blessings and promises to Abraham. Thank
you for joining us for Life Group. Allow God's
Word to build your faith and transform your life.