Galatians 4:8-20 “Earlier, before you knew God personally, you were enslaved to so-called gods that had nothing of the divine about them. But now that you know the real God – or rather since God knows you – how can you possibly subject yourselves again to those paper tigers?” (V. 8-9 the Message) “Paper tigers”… … Read More
Pastor’s Blog
Compare and Contrast
In today’s passage we will observe again Paul’s emotions towards the Galatian church. Often times when observing the Bible you will not only notice tones and emotions but also comparing and contrasting. Let’s observe the tone of this passage. “O foolish Galatians” (vs.1); “Who has bewitched you?” A question we should ask ourselves is why … Read More
Galatians 3:15-25
Application Paul never viewed the Law as an enemy of God’s plan for salvation (vs. 21). Rather, the Law was put in place to reveal sin and guard God’s people until Christ came (vs. 24). So what are we to do with the Law today? Is it pointless? Is it merely a throwback to a … Read More
Interpretation
In Galatians three and four, Paul highlights the error of trying to earn righteousness through relying on the Law instead of God’s promises. He parallels the unchangeable nature of man-made covenants like a will to the covenant that God made with Abraham. Wills cannot be altered and neither can God’s way of imputing or gifting … Read More
Finishing
Galatians 3:1-14 We all start in the same place: SIN. No one saves themselves. Only our faith in Jesus. But like the Galatians, we become complacent with walls believing they’re just a part of life we have to learn to accept, “I’m stuck in this job, with this addiction, with my past, I’ll never be … Read More
The Child
When studying the Bible often times there are analogies leads us to what God is wanting to say to us. As we look at chapter 4 of the book of Galatians we will see such a thing. How can Gentiles inherit the promises God gave to Abraham? Some people said that Gentiles ought to keep … Read More
Galatians 2
Application I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. – Galatians 2:20 Many of us don’t seem to learn a lesson the first time. This seems to be the case with the apostle Peter, who still had trouble accepting differences in Gentile eating customs even after the … Read More
Galatians 2
The first half of Galatians 2 addresses the fact that adding anything to salvation through faith in Christ voided God’s work of grace. Paul now opposes Peter because he’d stopped fellowshipping with the Gentiles who were Christians by grace through faith in Christ alone. Peter knew the truth that Jesus alone justifies, but his racism … Read More
Conjunction, Conjunction, What’s Your Function?
Galatians 2:11-21 You may remember going to grammar class growing up, learning about the different parts of a sentence. In the English language, conjunctions are words or phrases that form relationships between one thought/idea/subject to another thought/idea/subject. Read the passage above in the NIV translation, then see if you can spot some of … Read More
What’s Your Status?
Galatians 2:1-10 In Galatians 2:1-10, we find Paul on his way to meet with “those esteemed as leaders”. He was concerned the gospel was being twisted and would cause division in the church. Let’s focus on verse 6, “As for those who were held in high esteem – whatever they were makes no difference to … Read More