Paul is ANGRY! You can almost see his face flushed red. Typically, he greets his readers briefly and then launches into warm praise of them; but not this time. After the brief introduction to this letter, shock and dismay replace the usual warmth. A crisis threatens the Galatians, and Paul opens with a withering blast against the people responsible.

What’s the Problem? Why is Paul so upset? Paul describes no incest or idolatry here, like in the Corinthian church. Paul could foresee the outcome of the Galatians’ thinking. By unduly stressing their Jewish heritage, the Galatians were devaluing what Christ had done at the Cross. They would start trusting in their own human effort (their keeping of “the law”) to gain acceptance by God (3:1-5). If the Galatians continued their policies, the bedrock of the Gospel of Christ would crumble. Faith in Christ would become just one of many steps in salvation. Not the only one. The gospel itself would be perverted (1:6-9).

Read Gal. 1:1-5             Paul’s introduction to the letter.

Read Gal 1:6-10            Paul is mad! Can you grasp just how mad and angry he is?

Read Gal 3:11 – 21       Paul opposes Peter

                                       Verse 16 We are justified by our faith in Jesus Christ.

                                       Verse 21 Paul emphasizes that if righteousness could be gained through observing

                                        the law, Christ died for nothing.

Read Gal 3:1-5              How do we receive the Spirit?          By simply believing to the point of trusting.

Read Eph: 1:13-14        When?                     When we first believe.

Read Gal 3:6-14            The example of Abraham’s faith.

Read Gal 3:26-29          We are sons through faith in Jesus Christ!

Read Gal 4:6-7               We are God’s intimate children.

Read 2 Cor. 5:17-19     We are new creatures in Christ. With belief comes changes. The indwelling Holy Spirit inside of a believer works on us from the inside out.

Read Gal 5:16-21          Warning about living a continuous sinful active lifestyle – also, (Eph 5:5-7, 1 Cor: 6:9-11)

Read 1 Cor. 1: 30          It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Read Psalm 34 and 103

Zephaniah 3: 17             The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."