CHRIST HAS MADE US FREE GALATIANS _HELEN POCOCK_ CHAPTER 3 LIVE BY GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT, NOT BY YOUR OWN EFFORTS V1 You Galatians are foolish. You behave as if someone has used magic powers to lead you away from the truth. You heard clearly how Jesus Christ died by means of a cross. V2 I want you... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul could hardly believe what the Christians in Galatia had done. He had told them the truth about Jesus Christ. They had understood about Jesus’ death and what it meant. But then they did not continue to follow the truth. Paul was rather severe with the Galatians. ‘Foolish’ refers to someone who i... [ Continue Reading ]
Most of the Christians in Galatia were not *Jews. They did not know the *Jewish laws. But they had received the Holy Spirit. It happened when they trusted Christ. God gave the Holy Spirit to the Christians because they trusted Christ. They could not earn the Holy Spirit. They did not have to work ha... [ Continue Reading ]
The actions of the people in Galatia were not reasonable. They could not start their Christian life in one way and then continue it in a different way. They could not have both the Holy Spirit and the *Jewish laws. The Christians in Galatia wanted to become more mature. But they could not do that by... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul was probably referring to wonderful experiences, like the *miracles that God did (verse 5). Paul did not believe that the Christians would forget them. Experiences like that affect people deeply.... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is similar to verse 2. But Paul also mentioned *miracles. *Miracles are wonderful events that are not usual. A *miracle does not happen in a natural way. God makes it happen. For example, Jesus made blind people able to see again (Matthew 9:27-31). That was a *miracle. Paul was emphasisin... [ Continue Reading ]
You can read about Abraham in Genesis Chapter s 12 to 25. Abraham believed and trusted God. Because of that, God accepted Abraham. Abraham did not try to make himself good by his own efforts. God had not given his laws at that time. So God accepted Abraham because Abraham simply trusted God (Genesis... [ Continue Reading ]
All the *Jews come from Abraham’s physical family. The *Jews are proud of this. They often say that Abraham is their ‘father’ (for example John 8:37-39). But Paul said that Abraham’s true family behave like him. Now God accepts everyone, *Jews and *Gentiles, who trusts Jesus Christ. So Abraham’s fam... [ Continue Reading ]
The ‘*Scripture’ refers to the part of the Bible that we call the *Old Testament. In Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18, you can read what God promised to Abraham. Abraham lived about 2000 years before Jesus was born. So, a long time ago, God decided what he would do in the future. And he ke... [ Continue Reading ]
In this verse, Paul was referring to the false teachers. The *Jewish laws are not bad. God gave his laws to the *Jewish people for a purpose. The laws teach God’s holy standards to people. They show people how to live in the right way. But they cannot make people good. Paul referred to Deuteronomy 2... [ Continue Reading ]
There is only one way to have a right relationship with God. Each person has to trust God. Paul referred to Habakkuk 2:4. Habakkuk is a book in the *Old Testament. Jesus had not been born at the time that Habakkuk wrote this book. But the writer emphasised that people should trust God, not the *Jewi... [ Continue Reading ]
A person has to work hard to obey the laws. He has to concentrate on the laws. The laws affect every part of his life. But he can do it all by his own effort. That person can obey the laws, although he may never trust God. But we do not please God by means of our own efforts. Instead, God wants us t... [ Continue Reading ]
Most Bibles translate the word ‘judgement’ as ‘curse’. To ‘curse’ is the opposite of to ‘bless’. (See my note on verses 8-9 for the meaning of ‘bless’.) A curse is a judgement with a suitable punishment. Nobody has obeyed all God’s laws. We have all *sinned. Therefore, we all deserve God’s punishmen... [ Continue Reading ]
You can read God’s promise in verse 8. Everyone will receive these good things from God, as they trust Christ. God will forgive them. God will change their lives. And they will receive the Holy Spirit in their lives. THE LAWS AND GOD’S PROMISE V15 Brothers and sisters, let me explain this from or... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul called the Christians in Galatia ‘brothers and sisters’. They all belonged to the same *spiritual family. And Paul wanted to persuade them that they should believe the truth. So he chose something that they were familiar with. The Galatians understood how people made a legal agreement. When the... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul then explained about God’s agreement with Abraham. God made his promise with Abraham several times. But that promise was not for all of Abraham’s *descendants. It was for one particular *descendant, who had not been born at that time. That person was Jesus Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse continues what Paul was saying in verse 15. Nobody and nothing could change God’s agreement with Abraham. God did not change what he promised. God gave his laws to Moses. But those laws could not change God’s earlier agreement with Abraham.... [ Continue Reading ]
The false teachers said that the Christians in Galatia needed to obey the *Jewish laws. But God’s blessing does not come as people obey the laws. (‘God’s blessing’ means the good things that God gives to his people.) Instead, people can have a right relationship with God because of God’s promise to... [ Continue Reading ]
The Christians in Galatia may have wanted to know why God gave his laws. God’s laws show what God’s holy standards are. Those laws clearly describe what is right and wrong behaviour. Before God gave his laws, people had *sinned. But they did not realise how much they *sinned. They had no standard to... [ Continue Reading ]
This is a very difficult verse to understand. Nobody is sure what it really means. God’s laws went from God to the *angels. The *angels gave them to Moses. Then Moses gave the laws to the people. But God made his promise directly to Abraham. So Paul probably meant that God’s promise is better than h... [ Continue Reading ]
God’s laws would be opposite to his promises if people could receive *spiritual life by means of the laws. But people do not receive *spiritual life when they obey God’s laws. The function of God’s promises is to give people *spiritual life. The function of God’s laws is to show people what *sin is... [ Continue Reading ]
People in the world are not free. Their strong desire to *sin controls them. *Sin is like a prison. People cannot be free from their *sin even if they try very hard. But Jesus Christ can free people from their *sins. When people realise this, they trust Jesus. Then they will receive the good things... [ Continue Reading ]
People could not trust Jesus until he came to this world. Before that time, people had to obey the *Jewish law. The law showed people how much they *sinned. The law was like a judge. It showed people that they were guilty. But the law was also like a prison guard. The law could not free people. Peop... [ Continue Reading ]
In those days, rich families had slaves. Some of the slaves would look after the young children in the rich family. The slaves took the children to the children’s teachers. And the slaves guarded the children on the way. The slaves also trained and controlled the children. When the child became an a... [ Continue Reading ]
The law had a purpose in the past that would not last. When people trust Christ, the purpose of the law ends. The Christians in Galatia thought that they also should obey the law. They thought that this would help them to make more progress. But Paul had clearly explained that this was wrong. People... [ Continue Reading ]
‘God’s sons’ refers to an adult son that is able to receive his father’s property. In those days, only sons could receive such a gift. But Paul was not referring only to men. He was contrasting the adult child with the young child in verse 24. An adult does not start to behave like a child again. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
*Baptism shows that a person has become a Christian. It shows that the person has a new relationship with Jesus Christ. The act of *baptism does not make a person a Christian. It expresses what has already happened to the person. The Christian completely unites himself or herself with Christ. To ‘pu... [ Continue Reading ]
The only way to become God’s son (verse 26) is to trust Jesus Christ. Nobody has an advantage over anyone else. *Jews and *Gentiles have different nations and religions. Slaves and free people have a different rank in society. Slaves feel less important than free people. In many societies, men consi... [ Continue Reading ]
God had given his laws to the *Jews. But now everyone can receive the good things that God promised to Abraham. *Gentiles do not need to obey the *Jewish laws. And they do not need to become *Jews. They just need to trust Jesus Christ. And the *Jews need to trust Jesus Christ too. GOOD NEWS ~ the g... [ Continue Reading ]