Life Group - Galatians Chapter 3

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

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

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.