Questions

Scriptural Reflection
Galatians 1:1–24

The Book of Galatians

The traditional view (probably still held by the majority) is that the book of Galatians was written to the “territory” of Galatia settled by the Gauls around 3^rd century B.C. which was incorporated into a Roman province in 25 B.C. This territory includes those to the south as well, i.e. Pisidia, Lycaonia and Pamphylia etc. The Apostle Paul probably visited there on his way to Europe during his 2^nd missionary tour (source: Gordon Fee’s lecture notes).

However, during Paul’s absence, “trouble-makers” and “agitators” came from Palestine, entered into the church, and claimed that Gentile believers could not be true Christians without observing circumcision. They also challenged Paul’s apostleship apparently because he was not one of the twelve original apostles (and because he did not meet the criteria set by the Apostle Peter, Acts 1:21-22). Presumably, the naïve Galatian Christians accepted such arguments and teachings.

Paul was compelled to write to prove his apostleship (1:1–2:14), to emphasize that justification is purely through faith in Christ alone rather than by the works of the Law of Moses (2:15-5:15), and to point out that the key to a godly life is still through the Spirit, not the Law of Moses.

The Defense of His Apostleship (I)

(1) Greetings (vv. 1-5)

a. How does Paul defend his apostleship even as he opens his letter? (v. 1; see Acts 9 especially vv. 15-16)

b. As he sends his presumably standard greeting, how does Paul remind them of the following  things?

1. The time (or age) they are in.
2. The way in which they have been saved.

(2) Only one gospel (vv. 6-9)

a. What is Paul astonished about? (v. 6)

b. Why does the turning to a different gospel amount to “deserting the one who called” them by the grace of Christ? Who is this “one”?

c. Twice Paul curses those who preach a different gospel:

1. Is he being too harsh? Why or why not?
2. To you, what are the basic doctrines of the gospel the deviation from which constitutes a “different gospel”? (You might wish to consult the Apostles’ Creed.)

(3) Direct revelation from Christ (vv. 10-24)

a. What is his motive in proving his apostleship (v. 10)

b. In proving that his gospel message is a direct revelation from Christ, Paul reiterates his journey of being called into ministry:

1. What marked his life before his conversion? (vv. 13-14)
2. What does Dr. Luke tell us about the immediate post-conversion period of Paul? (Acts 9:20-25)
3. How does Paul fill in the gap between Acts 9:25 and 9:26 here? (vv. 15-18)
4. What happened after his first short trip to Jerusalem? (vv. 19-24)
5. How is it consistent with the accounts in Acts 9:26-30?
6. What is the point that Paul tries to make? (1:11-12)
7. Why is it so important to him?

(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
Galatians 2:1–21

The Defense of His Apostleship (II)

(1) The Jerusalem Council (vv. 1-10)

a. Why did Paul go the Jerusalem? (vv. 1-3)

b. What actually led to this revelation to go to Jerusalem? (Acts 15:1-2)

c. What was the specific challenge brought up at the meeting? (Acts 15:5)

d. How did Paul interpret their challenge? (vv. 4-5)

e. Who spoke up at the meeting besides Paul and Barnabas? (Acts 15:7, 13)

f. Who eventually made the decision on the matter? (Acts 15:22)

g. How did Paul view their authority (vv. 2:6, 9)

h. What was different about their ministry to that of Paul? (vv. 7-9)

i. What was still common about their ministries? (v. 8)

j. How did these pillars in Jerusalem affirm Paul’s apostleship? (v. 9; Acts 15:25-26)

k. What was the resolution at the Jerusalem Council? (Acts 15:28-29)

l. What was Paul’s version of the resolution? (v. 10)

m. What do you think of how Paul had taken the Council’s decision?

(2) Peter’s visit to Antioch (vv. 11-16)

a. Since Peter was “an apostle to the Jews” (v. 8), what might be his reason for visiting Paul and Barnabas in Antioch?

b. Peter did eat with the Gentiles at the beginning. What does this show about Peter’s view of Gentile believers?

c. Upon seeing “certain men from James (the leader of the Jerusalem church)” Peter began to withdraw from the table of the Gentiles: Why?

d. What impact did his action have on others? (v. 13)

e. How did Paul choose to confront Peter? Should he have done that? Why or why not?

f. In what way did Peter “live like a Gentile”? (Note that “Gentiles” in the mind of pious Jews are synonymous with “sinners”.)

g. How has Peter’s action (apart from his hypocrisy) violated the message of the gospel? (vv. 15-16)

(3) Dying to sin with Christ (vv. 17-21)

a. Why is Peter’s action not compatible with having been justified in Christ? (vv. 17-18)

b. What is the relationship between having “died to the Law” (v. 19) and having been “crucified with Christ” (v. 20)

c. For whom do we now live and how? (vv. 20-21)

d. What might be the motivation for Paul to live for Christ? (v. 20b)

e. How has Peter’s action nullified Christ’s work of atonement? (v. 21)

(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
Galatians 3:1–29

After His defense of his apostleship, Paul now confronts the Galatians about their continuous reliance on the Law of Moses

3:1-5—The Work of the Holy Spirit

(1) 3:4 alludes to the suffering of the Galatian believers: For what have the first-century believers suffered?

(2) By what did they receive the Holy Spirit in the first place?

(3) What is the goal of believers after conversion?

(4) How should we achieve our goal (of sanctification)?

a. By our own effort? or

b. By the Holy Spirit?

(5) Is Paul justified in calling the Galatians fools? Why or why not?

3:6-9—The Example of Abraham’s Faith

(6) When did God credit Abraham with righteousness? (v. 6: Gen. 16:1-6)

(7) When did Abraham and his family observe circumcision? (see Gen. 17:9ff)

(8) What does the implication of this promise “All nations will be blessed through you (Abraham)” have to do with the justification of the Gentiles? (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18)

(9) How do Gentiles become the children of Abraham? (vv. 7, 9)

3:10-14—The Law Cannot Justify

(10) Since the Law of Moses does say that “The man who does these things (i.e. the Law) will live by them” (v. 12; Lev. 18:5), why then does Paul say that “all who rely on observing the law are under a curse”? (v. 10; Deut. 27:26; Jas. 2:10)

(11) How did Christ take the curse of law from us? (v. 13; Deut. 21:23)

(12) How can we receive His redemption and the promised Holy Spirit? (vv. 11b, 14b; Hab. 2:4)

3:15-25—The Covenant and the Law (Note that the following discussion by Paul is based on God’s promise to Abraham and his “seed” in Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 24:7.)

(13) Why does Paul have to point out that the promises were spoken to Abraham’s seed ("seed" is singular)? (v. 16)

(14) When was the Law of Moses introduced? (v. 17)

(15) If a human covenant cannot be set aside (v. 15), can the Law set aside God’s covenant?

(16) The purpose of the Law of Moses (vv. 19-25)

a. Why was the Law “added”? (v. 19)

b. Before the coming of the seed, what was the condition of the whole world (including us)? (vv. 22, 23)

c. Now that the seed, Christ, has come, what has happened to the promise? (vv. 22b, 25)

d. What, therefore, is the function of the law? (vv. 24, 25: Note the original Greek words in both verses are that of guardianship of a child.)

e. In what way is Christ the “mediator” of the Law? (v. 20)

3:26-29—More than Abraham’s Children

(17) Why are we who believe “sons of God”? (vv. 26-27)

(18) Why is there no more difference between Jews and Gentiles in Christ? (vv. 28-29)

(19) What is the message to you today? How may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
Galatians 4:1–20

In the last chapter, Paul was using the analogy of guardianship (in the original language) to explain the purpose and function of the Law of Moses (3:23-25), and now he further elaborates on this analogy:

4:1-7—The Law is the Guardian

(1) What is the role of the Law as the guardian? (v. 2)

(2) Who were we under the Law? (v. 1)

(3) What kind of slave were we? (v. 3)

(4) When did our status change? (vv. 4-5)

(5) What role does the Holy Spirit play in our attaining the status of sonship? (v. 6)

(6) As sons, what are we heirs to? (v. 7; 3:29)

4:8-11—Slaves No More

(7) To whom were we formerly slaves? (v. 8)

(8) The opposite of slaves should be children, and yet Paul says we now know God, or rather are known by God. (v. 9)

a. What is meant by “knowing God”?

b. What is meant by being “known by God”?

(9) Slaves of another kind: (vv. 9b-11)

a. Why does Paul call the observing of special days etc. weak and miserable principles?

b. Why does Paul call such observance slavery?

4:12-20—Paul’s Appeal

(10) What does Paul ask the Galatians to become? Why? (v. 12)

(11) Based on what does Paul make his passionate appeal? (vv. 13-15; note that we are not sure what illness is Paul talking about)

(12) What seems to have changed? Why? (vv. 16-17)

(13) How does Paul liken his pain to? (vv. 19-20)

(14) What is the most important message to you and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
Galatians 4:21–5:12

4:21-31—Getting Rid of the Slave Woman—Paul now uses Hagar and Sarah and their respective sons as an illustration of the superiority of promise over the Law (see Gen. 21:8ff)

(1) How does Paul point out who Hagar and Sarah were respectively? (v. 22)

(2) What was the difference between the births of their sons respectively? (v. 23)

(3) What does Paul liken the birth of Hagar’s son to? (vv. 24-25)

(4) What does Paul liken Sarah and her son to? (vv. 26-28)

(5) What happened when Hagar’s son, Ishmael persecuted Sarah’s son Isaac? (vv. 29-30; see Gen. 21:8ff)

(6) What is the implication of this analogy to us? (v. 31)

5:1-6—Freedom in Christ—Paul goes on to speak about the exercise of our freedom in Christ

(7) What has Christ set us free from? (v. 1; see Rom. 6:6-7)

(8) Can this freedom be extended or applied to freedom from the slavery of the Law? Why or why not?

(9) What does the continued observance of circumcision signify? (v. 4a)

(10) What is the implication of such observance? (v. 3)

(11) What does such observance do to Christ’s redemptive work? (vv. 2, 4b)

(12) How do we gain righteousness through Christ? (vv. 5-6)

(13) Why is circumcision irrelevant in gaining righteousness?

(14) Why is faith necessarily expressed in love? What does it mean? (v. 6)

5:7-12—The Agitators

(15) What have the agitators done to the Galatian believers? (v. 7)

(16) How harmful is their persuasion? (vv. 8-9)

(17) How will God deal with them? (v. 10)

(18) Why does Paul refuse to preach circumcision anymore? (v. 11)

(19) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
Galatians 5:13–6:5

Throughout Paul’s affirmation that righteousness does not come through the observance of the Law, but through faith in Christ, he has repeatedly and prominently highlighted the role of the Holy Spirt in the process (3:2, 3, 5, 14; 4:6, 29; 5:5). Now, he urges the Galatian believers to live out the reality of their lives in the Spirit. Vv. 5:13-15 and 6:1-5 act as an “inclusio” with their emphasis on “each other”, sandwiching the section that contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. As a result, we shall first consider the “inclusio”.

5:13-15—“Each Other” (I)

(1) Since we have been credited with righteousness through our faith in Christ and are no longer under the slavery of the Law, how may such a wonderful truth be abused? (v. 13) Why?

(2) Paul sums up the essence of the Law:

a. Since we are no longer under the Law, has the Law then been abolished? (see Jesus’ comment in Matt. 5:17-18)

b. How can loving one another sum up (the original word can also mean fulfill) the entire law? (see Matt. 22:37-40)

c. How does the church in Galatia act in opposition to this “sum” of the Law? (5:15)

6:1-5—“Each Other” (II)—How to love our neighbor as ourselves:

(3) Why does Paul seem to address these words to those “who are spiritual”? (v. 1)

(4) When someone in the church is caught in a sin, what normally do people in the church do?

(5) What does Paul ask us to do?

(6) In seeking to restore a wayward believer:

a. Why does Paul ask us to be gentle?

b. Why does Paul also warn us to be careful?

(7) In 5:14, Paul says that loving each other fulfills the “entire Law”; now in 6:2, what practical expression does he draw our attention to?

(8) In 6:3-6, Paul shows us our basic problem in mistreating each other:

a. Why do we tend to think too much of ourselves? How can we overcome this sin? (v. 4)

b. If we honestly test and examine ourselves, what “pride” can we take in ourselves?

c. If we often boast of someone (not out of humility, but out of envy), what’s wrong with us? What will this lead to?

(9) The “burdens” in v. 2 refer to very heavy loads; the “load” in v. 5 is like a traveler’s pack (Fung, p.291):

a. What kind of burden needs to be shared?

b. What kind of load do we need to carry on our own?

5:16-26—Works of the Flesh versus Fruit of the Spirit

(10) We know the conflict between our natural desires and those of the Spirit within us.

a. How can we overcome our flesh? (vv. 16, 18)

b. How then can we “live by the Spirit” and be “led by the Spirit”? (see Jn. 15:5)

(11) Works of the flesh (vv. 19-21): Paul highlights 15 vices that can be grouped into four categories.

a. Immoral works: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery (or lewdness)

b. False gods: idolatry, witchcraft

c. Relational: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition (or rivalries), dissensions, factions and envy

d. Lacking self-control: drunkenness, orgies

Since Paul is addressing believers, honestly examine yourself and highlight those to which you are most vulnerable.

(12) Fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22-25): These nine virtues can be grouped into three categories.

a. Why does Paul use the singular to refer to the “fruit” of the Spirit?

b. Since all nine virtues can be seen in the life of our Lord Jesus, let’s consider each by asking two questions:

1. How does our Lord exhibit this virtue or character?
2. How may I express it in my life?

Virtues Inherent in Christ:

- Love (Gal. 2:20)

- Joy (Jn. 16:24; 17:13)

- Peace (Jn. 14:27; 16:33)

Virtues Extended to Sinners:

- Patience (1 Tim. 1:16)

- Kindness (Lk. 6:35)

- Goodness (Matt. 5:45; 7:11)

Virtues In the Face of Trials:

- Faithfulness (Heb. 2:17; 2 Tim. 2:13)

- Gentleness or meekness (Matt. 11:29; Isa. 53:7)

- Self-control (Matt. 27:41-44)

(13) Paul ends this section with these questions:

a. Why does he say, “Against such things there is no law”? (v. 23) Is he insinuating that the Galatians are selective in their choice to obey the Law?

b. Why does he end by talking about “each other” again? (v. 26)

(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
Galatians 6:6–18

While Paul now ends his letter with what seems to be miscellaneous exhortations, the attack on circumcision is still unmistakable.

6:6—“Love Your Neighbor” (Cont.)

(1) While the pericope on loving each other seems to have concluded (in 6:5), what does Paul add in this respect as a last word? (v. 6)

(2) Why?

6:7-10—Reaping What We Sow

(3) In the previous chapter (5:19-21), what has Paul warned us about regarding the serious consequence of yielding to our sinful nature? (5:21)

(4) What does he now again warn us of in this respect? (6:7, 8a)

(5) In urging us to sow to please the Spirit (vv. 8b-10), Paul reminds us that we shall reap eternal life:

a. Isn’t that a fact for all true believers? (see Jn. 3:16; 6:47)

b. What does this reminder seek to do?

(6) Apart from eternal life, what might the harvest be that we will reap if we do not become weary in doing good? (v. 9; Lk. 6:35; Eph. 6:8; 1 Pet. 2:12)

(7) What might be the things that might cause us to be weary, especially when doing good to “those who belong to the family of believers”? (v. 10)

6:11-16—The Folly of Circumcision

(8) Paul’s letters are usually scribed by secretaries. Why does he choose to pen this letter by his own hand? (v. 11)

(9) While Paul wants to impress them with his own handwriting,

a. What do those “agitators” seek to do with their “good impression”? (v. 12a)

b. How do these false teachers avoid persecution for the cross of Christ by teaching circumcision? (v. 12b)

c. How does Paul point out the hypocrisy of these false teachers? (v. 13)

d. What kind of boasting can these false teachers make concerning the preaching of circumcision?

e. What is the only thing that Paul boasts about? Why? (v. 14)

f. As far as the Galatian believers are concerned, what should be the most important thing to them? (v. 15; see 2 Cor. 5:17)

6:16-18—Final Greetings

(10) This final greeting is special for these reasons:

a. Paul extends it to those who follow this rule (rule is the English word for “Canon”). What is he referring to? Why does he call it a “rule”? (see the verse immediately preceding—v.15)

b. Why would he also address the “Israel of God”? Does it carry any special meaning in light of the main message in this letter?

(11) V. 17 indicates that Paul has been plagued by troubles:

a. Can you recall what he has been defending in this letter?

b. What are the “marks of Jesus” that he bears in his “body” that should stop people from attacking him? (v. 17; see 2 Cor. 11:23-30)

(12) As we come to the end of this very passionate letter, can you recall three things that have spoken to you most?

(13) How may you apply them to your life?