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Sunday School Lesson Outline – Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church – 3317 Toledano Street – New Orleans, La.
May 5, 2019 --- The Gospel of Faith Foretold --- Galatians 3:1-14
Unit III – The True Gospel
Introduction: ―It seems to happen with some frequency. The phone rings, and I answer. Immediately a recorded voice informs me that I have won a two-day, two-night trip to some exclusive getaway. Just as immediately I hang up the phone. Why? Because I know that the free trip comes with a cost. There are requirements. The idyllic vacation will be interrupted by seemingly endless, high-pressure sales presentations. Some people may consider this 'cost' an acceptable trade-off for the benefits received. But it is not my idea of a relaxing vacation. There is nothing necessarily wrong with offering free gifts in order to promote one’s product or business, but sometimes the free gift is not really free at all. In fact, many people assume this is the case, and even when offered something that is genuinely free, they immediately start wondering what the catch is. This is true in the case of the gospel.‖ – BE&I (See Gift of Grace on Page 7.)
I. THE ARGUMENT FROM THE GALATIANS' EXPERIENCE -- Galatians 3:1-5
Galatians 3:1 1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
A. Message of faith (Galatians 3:1).
1. ―Paul’s primary reason for writing to the Galatian Christians was to address the problem of legalism.‖
a. ―The Galatians, who were primarily Gentiles, had been saved through faith in Christ, but certain Jewish teachers had infiltrated the churches and were teaching that faith was not enough.‖
b. ―These teachers, whom we call Judaizers, were insisting that the Gentile believers must also observe the Jewish law, even declaring this was necessary for salvation (cf. Acts 15:1).‖
2. ―Paul had no tolerance for such legalism.‖
a. ―He called this teaching another gospel (Gal. 1:6) and the proponents of it false brethren (2:4).‖
b. ―He understood that salvation comes only by receiving by faith the grace of God in Christ.‖
c. ―If it comes by the law, then Christ’s death was meaningless.‖
3. ―In the Galatians' case, the crucified Christ had been clearly set before them, and they had believed in Him.‖
a. ―They had been saved and accepted by God through faith, apart from obedience to the Law of Moses.‖
b. ―Paul called it utterly foolish to now turn away from the truth that salvation is by grace through faith.‖
c. ―Their own experience told them the teaching of the Judaizers was wrong, but many of them were acting as if they were bewitched, or under some kind of spell.‖
Galatians 3:2 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
B. Regeneration by faith (Galatians 3:2).
1. ―Paul now begins to ask his readers some searching questions to remind them of crucial truths they had already affirmed and experienced.‖
2. ―He notes, first, that they had received the Holy Spirit through faith, not through works of the law.‖
a. ―This refers to their reception of the Holy Spirit when they were saved.‖ 2
b. ―This was clearly a work of God’s grace, which they received by faith.‖
Galatians 3:3-5 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
C. Sanctification by faith (Galatians 3:3-5).
1. ―The Gentile believers in Galatia knew their salvation had come by faith in Christ, wholly apart from the law.‖
a. ―Why, then, would any of them think that they must complete their spiritual journey through their own efforts at keeping the law— that is, by the flesh?‖
b. ―The law was not a part of salvation, so why introduce it as a requirement for one who is born again and now led by the Spirit of God?‖
2. ―Sanctification is the progressive growth toward Christ-likeness empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit.‖
a. ―It is being made perfect, or mature, in the faith and cannot be effected by human efforts to obey the Law of Moses.‖
b. ―How foolish it was to 'suppose that a system [the law] which never could bring regeneration to sinners could still somehow bring about their ultimate transformation into the likeness of Christ' (Kent).‖
Practical Point 1: ―There is nothing we do can to earn our salvation.‖
3. ―In fact, if sanctification were a matter of following the law, then all that the Galatian believers had suffered for their faith would be meaningless.‖
4. ―Was their suffering for the gospel of grace that they had embraced at Paul’s preaching all for nothing? (It would be if they now turned to law 'in order to satisfy God’s righteousness, [for] they would be repudiating their former position which claimed that they looked to Christ alone' [Kent]).‖
5. ―Paul notes that the Holy Spirit who worked in and among them did not make His mighty works contingent upon their obedience to the law. (Paul’s point: sanctification, like salvation, comes through faith, not works of the law.)‖
II. THE ARGUMENT FROM ABRAHAM -- Galatians 3:6-9
Galatians 3:6 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
A. The faith of Abraham (Galatians 3:6).
1. ―After setting forth the issue in relation to the Galatians’ own Christian experience, the Apostle Paul now develops a scriptural argument for the gospel of grace as opposed to the Judaizers’ false gospel of the works of the law.‖
a. ―He points to Abraham, whose faith was accounted to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:6).‖
b. ―The Bible declares Abraham righteous on the basis of his faith alone.‖
2. ―The law, which came many years later, had nothing to do with his acceptance by God.‖
Practical Point 2: ―Our righteousness is determined by our faith, not our works.‖
Galatians 3:7-9 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
B. The children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7-9). 3
1. ―It seems the Judaizers emphasized the necessity of being connected to Abraham, especially through circumcision, the identifying sign of God’s chosen people. (Thus, they taught that Gentile believers became children of Abraham and therefore heirs of the promises to Abraham through circumcision and obedience to the law.)‖
2. ―Paul declares that those who are of faith— that is, those who (like Abraham) simply trust the Lord— are the true children of Abraham.‖
a. ―Faith, not race or the law, is the requirement for salvation.‖
b. ―Just as Abraham was saved by faith, so were the Galatian believers, and so are we today. (If works were required, no one could be saved, for imperfect people cannot perfectly meet God’s righteous requirements.)‖
c. ―Paul cites Scripture to show that God’s plan was always to justify the heathen through faith.‖
3. ―The promises to Abraham from the very beginning foresaw that God’s blessing would come on those who were true heirs of Abraham by faith.‖
a. ―While it is true that Abraham’s physical descendants would be specially blessed by God, His blessings were not limited to them.‖
b. ―The initial promises to Abraham, which are at the core of what we call the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Gen. 12:23), included the assurance that in Abraham shall all nations be blessed. (The word for nations here [ethnos] is the same word translated heathen earlier in the verse.)‖
Practical Point 3: ―All nations are blessed because of Abraham.‖
III. THE ARGUMENT FROM THE LAW -- Galatians 3:10-12
Galatians 3:10-11 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
A. The curse of the law (Galatians 3:10-11).
1. ―Those who are of the works of the law stand in contrast to those who are of faith (vs. 9).‖
2. ―Paul quotes Deuteronomy 27:26 to show that the law condemned anyone (under the curse) who did not keep it in its entirety, and keeping the law perfectly is not possible.‖
Practical Point 4: ―It is impossible to uphold everything that is written in the law.‖
3. ―The apostle again asserts, No man is justified by the law in the sight of God.‖
a. ―As proof, he cites Habakkuk 2:4: The just shall live by faith.‖
b. ―The just refers to those who have been justified by faith, and they thus live by faith…not by the law.‖
Galatians 3:12 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
B. The opposite of faith (Galatians 3:12).
1. ―The Judaizers argued that while faith is, in fact, necessary, it must be accompanied by law keeping.‖
a. ―Paul states that the two principles are opposites and cannot be mixed.‖
b. ―Faith says that man must live before he can do, but law says that man must do before he can live.‖ 4
2. ―Those who want to live by the law are bound to keep it all, and this is something they cannot do. (This is why faith— and faith alone— is the only way to receive God’s gracious gift.)‖
Practical Point 5: ―The law points out our failures; faith brings a right standing with God.‖
IV. THE ARGUMENT FROM CHRIST'S REDEMPTION -- Galatians 3:13-14
Galatians 3:13 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
A. The redemptive work of Christ (Galatians 3:13).
1. ―The redemptive work of Christ also argues for the gospel of grace that Paul and the apostles consistently preached the Galatians. (Since we cannot fully and perfectly obey the law, we stand under its curse of condemnation.)‖
2. ―Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.‖
a. ―Deuteronomy 21:23 affirms that anyone who is hanged on a tree is cursed before God.‖
b. ―By dying as our Substitute on the cross, Christ delivered us from the curse the law pronounced on us.‖
Galatians 3:14 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
B. The blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:14).
1. ―Galatians 3:14 tells us the purpose of Christ’s redemption.‖
a. ―He died so that the blessing of Abraham might come to Gentiles, as well as Jews, through faith in Jesus Christ.‖
1.) ―The blessing of Abraham is justification— being declared righteous by God (cf. vss. 8-9).‖
2.) ―Apart from Christ’s death, which paid the debt of sin, no one could be declared righteous.‖
b. ―Christ’s redemption also secured the promise of the Spirit through faith.‖
1.) ―The H. Spirit is received and comes to dwell in a person when that person exercises faith.‖
2.) ―This blessing is not the result of law keeping but the result of personal faith in Christ.‖
2. ―The Apostle Paul was confronting a very real threat to the churches in Galatia and beyond.‖
a. ―The legalism the false teachers were promoting appealed to human pride in being able to accomplish by one’s own efforts acceptance with God.‖
b. ―Such teaching, however, would lead only to frustration and spiritual bondage.‖
3. ―Paul countered the Judaizers with a series of arguments that assured his Galatian readers that the gospel of salvation by grace through faith— which they had heard from him and believed— was, in fact, the truth of God.‖
a. ―We must not get lost in the details of Paul’s arguments.‖
b. ―The basic truth Paul argues for and we must grasp is this: we are saved through faith, and we are to live by faith. (Legalism is the attitude that we must do things in order to be accepted by God.)‖
Practical Point 6: ―Christ’s work on the Cross fulfilled God’s law and secured our redemption.‖
Compiler: Rev. Kenneth E. Thompson From: Bible Expositor and Illuminator, Union Gospel Press, Cleveland, OH: Standard Lesson Commentary NIV, Standard Publishing Company, Cincinnati, OH; Power Bible CD, Online Publishing Co., Wordsearch 9 Basic Edition, Wordsearch Bible Software, Austin, TX.
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Sunday School Lesson Text With NIV And Interlinear
May 5, 2019 --- The Gospel of Faith Foretold --- Galatians 3:1-14
Ga 3:1 ¶ O (o) foolish (anoetos) Galatians, (Galates) who (tis) hath bewitched (baskaino) you, (humas) that ye should (peitho) not (me) obey (peitho) the truth, (aletheia) before (kata) whose (hos) eyes (ophthalmos) Jesus (Iesous) Christ (Christos) hath been evidently set forth, (prographo) crucified (stauroo) among (en) you (humin)?
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. (NIV)
2 This (touto) only (monon) would (thelo) I learn (manthano) of (apo) you, (humon) Received ye (lambano) the Spirit (pneuma) by (ek) the works (ergon) of the law, (nomos) or (e) by (ek) the hearing (akoe) of faith (pistis)?
2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? (NIV)
3 Are ye (este) so (houto) foolish (anoetos)? having begun (enarchomai) in the Spirit, (pneuma) are ye (epiteleo) now (nun) made perfect (epiteleo) by the flesh (sarx)?
3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (NIV)
4 Have ye suffered (pascho) so many things (tosoutos) in vain (eike)? if it be yet (eige) (kai) in vain. (eike)
4 Have you suffered so much for nothing-- if it really was for nothing? (NIV)
5 He therefore (oun) that ministereth (epichoregeo) to you (humin) the Spirit, (pneuma) and (kai) worketh (energeo) miracles (dunamis) among (en) you, (humin) doeth he it by (ek) the works (ergon) of the law, (nomos) or (e) by (ek) the hearing (akoe) of faith (pistis)?
5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? (NIV)
6 ¶ Even as (kathos) Abraham (Abraam) believed (pisteuo) God, (theos) and (kai) it was accounted (logizomai) to him (autos) for (eis) righteousness. (dikaiosune)
6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (NIV)
7 Know ye (ginosko) therefore (ara) that (hoti) they which are of (ek) faith, (pistis) the same (houtos) are (eisi) the children (huios) of Abraham. (Abraam)
7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. (NIV) 6
8 And (de) the scripture, (graphe) foreseeing (proeido) that (hoti) God (theos) would justify (dikaioo) the heathen (ethnos) through (ek) faith, (pistis) preached before the gospel (proeuaggelizomai) unto Abraham, (Abraam) saying, (hoti) In (en) thee (soi) shall (eneulogeo) all (pas) nations (ethnos) be blessed. (eneulogeo)
8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." (NIV)
9 So then (hoste) they which be of (ek) faith (pistis) are blessed (eulogeo) with (sun) faithful (pistos) Abraham. (Abraam)
9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (NIV)
10 For (gar) as many as (hosos) are (eisi) of (ek) the works (ergon) of the law (nomos) are (eisi) under (hupo) the curse: (katara) for (gar) it is written, (grapho) Cursed (epikataratos) is every one (pas) that (hos) continueth (emmeno) not (ou) in (en) all things (pas) which (ho) are written (grapho) in (en) the book (biblion) of the law (nomos) to do (poieo) them. (autos)
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (NIV)
11 But (de) that (hoti) no man (oudeis) is justified (dikaioo) by (en) the law (nomos) in the sight (para) of God, (theos) it is evident: (delos) for, (hoti) The just (dikaios) shall live (zao) by (ek) faith. (pistis)
11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." (NIV)
12 And (de) the law (nomos) is (esti) not (ou) of (ek) faith: (pistis) but, (alla) The man (anthropos) that doeth (poieo) them (autos) shall live (zao) in (en) them. (autos)
12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." (NIV)
13 Christ (Christos) hath redeemed (exagorazo) us (hemas) from (ek) the curse (katara) of the law, (nomos) being made (ginomai) a curse (katara) for (huper) us: (hemon) for (gar) it is written, (grapho) Cursed (epikataratos) is every one (pas) that hangeth (kremannumi) on (epi) a tree: (xulon)
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (NIV)
14 That (hina) the blessing (eulogia) of Abraham (Abraam) might come (ginomai) on (eis) the Gentiles (ethnos) through (en) Jesus (Iesous) Christ; (Christos) that (hina) we might receive (lambano) the promise (epaggelia) of the Spirit (pneuma) through (dia) faith. (pistis)
14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (NIV)
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Gift of Grace -- Paul uses still another argument to show that it is faith and not works of the law which puts a man right with God. In the early Church converts nearly always received the Holy Spirit in a visible way. The early chapters of Acts show that happening again and again (compare Ac 8:14-17; Ac 10:44). There came to them a new surge of life and power that anyone could see. That experience had happened to the Galatians and had happened, said Paul, not because they had obeyed the regulations of the law, because at that time they had never heard of the law, but because they had heard the good news of the love of God and had responded to it in an act of perfect trust.
The easiest way to grasp an idea is to see it embodied in a person. In a sense, every great word must become flesh. So Paul pointed the Galatians to a man who embodied faith, Abraham. He was the man to whom God had made the great promise that in him all families of the earth would be blessed (Gen 12:3). He was the man whom God had specially chosen as the man who pleased him. Wherein did Abraham specially please God? It was not by doing the works of the law, because at that time the law did not exist; it was by taking God at his word in a great act of faith.
Now the promise of blessedness was made to the descendants of Abraham. On that the Jew relied; he held that simple physical descent from Abraham set him on a different footing with God from other men. Paul declares that to be a true descendant of Abraham is not a matter of flesh and blood; the real descendant is the man who makes the same venture of faith. Therefore, it is not those who seek merit through the law who inherit the promise made to Abraham; but those of every nation who repeat his act of faith in God. It was by an act of faith that the Galatians had begun. Surely they are not going to slip back into legalism—and lose their inheritance.
This passage is full of Greek words with—a history, words which carried an atmosphere and a story with them. In Gal 3:1 Paul speaks about the evil eve. The Greeks had a great fear of a spell cast by the evil eye. Time and again private letters end with some such sentence as this: "Above all I pray that you may be in health unharmed by the evil eye and faring prosperously" (Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri, No. 14).
In the same verse he talks about Jesus Christ being placarded before them upon his Cross. It is the Greek word (prographein,
In verse 4, (Gal 3:4), Paul talks about beginning their experience in the Spirit and ending it in the flesh. The words he uses are the normal Greek words for beginning and completing a sacrifice. The first one (enarchesthai,
In verse 5 (Gal 3:5), he speaks of God giving generously to the Galatians. The root of this word is the Greek choregia (compare
Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT). 8