Am I accountable for sin in the lives of my fellow believers?
We’re on our final session of the study of the book of Galatians and Paul has left us in a pickle. [Read more…]
Bible Study Network
A growing network of women are studying the Bible together. You’ll find Bible resources, study aids, devotionals, prompts, service ideas and everyday applications as well as ideas for starting your own online or onsite group.
Faith Expressing Itself In Love: Galatians Bible Study
If all I need for salvation is faith in Christ and I don’t have to follow a bunch of rules, does that mean I can do anything I want?
Reaching Adulthood: Galatians Bible Study Session 4
How did your relationship with your parents change when you reached the legal age for adulthood?
My mom was cool. I didn’t have a specific time curfew when I was a teenager but I was expected to tell my folks when I would be home. After I turned 18, I was out one evening helping to judge 4-H record books. My ride didn’t drop me off at home until 12:30 a.m. The only one up waiting for me was the cat!
The next morning, I apologized to my mom for being so late and for not letting her know. She shrugged. “You’re 18. I knew where you were and I figured you were responsible for yourself.”
This week, we’re looking at Galatians 3:24-4:31.
Paul compares coming to faith in Christ to that of a child reaching adulthood.
Think about your life as a child.
- What rules did you have?
- Why did your parents make those rules?
- Who would eventually inherit your parents’ money, possessions, and property?
- If your parents died while you were still underage, when would you receive your inheritance? Would you receive it right away or would you have to wait till adulthood?
Read Galatians 4:1-7.
Paul compares the law of Moses to the rules a child is under before he/she reaches the legal status of adulthood.
Coming of age was a big deal in Roman society. When a boy turned 16 or 17, he put aside his childhood toga to don the white toga of adulthood. It was on that day that he was considered a Roman citizen with all the rights and privileges of citizenship.
- How is a child like a slave?
- How is a child different from a slave?
I love Galatians 4:4,5!
But when the set time had fully come,God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
What does it mean that Christ came at “the right time?” Why is it hard for us to wait for God’s timing?
Put this verse in your own words. How does Jesus’ entry into the world compare to the “coming of age” of a Roman young man?
When we accept Christ’s redemption in faith, it’s as if we have moved from the boundaries of childhood into adult citizenship. What rights and privileges do we now have?
How does this change impact our relationship with our Heavenly Father?
How does this change impact our relationship with other believers? (See Galatians 26-29.)
Read Ephesians 2:13 and Ephesians 5:8. How else is life different for those who have put their faith in Christ?
Life Application
For many years, I lived under my mother’s expectation that I would sew all my own clothes. I took sewing in 4-H. At that time, it was cheaper to make our own clothes and Mom constantly pointed out what better quality our hand-made clothes were as well. But after age 18, I was busy with college, I hated sewing, I couldn’t see well to sew, and there seemed to be higher priorities in life. Still, I lived under a layer of guilt that Mother would disapprove of me if I did not make my own clothing.
At age 27, I decided the time had come to stow that expectation elsewhere. As an adult, I could make my own decision whether to sew or not to sew. I never made anything for myself again. Yet my mother’s “law” taught me to be frugal and to be aware of the quality of the clothes I bought, principles I have used in making my own decisions.
All of us cling to rules or expectations our parents laid out for us. It’s an unhealthy adult who still lives under the rule of their parents, even long after their parents are gone. Paul describes these as “weak and miserable principles.”
Think About This
- How can we become enslaved by the observance of certain holidays? Do you feel enslaved by the celebration of Christmas or Thanksgiving? By the controversy over Halloween? What do you need to change in order to approach the holidays with a sense of faith and freedom?
- Which rules, habits, or expectations have you observed yourself or other people doing because they were trying to please their parents? What is unhealthy about this?
- What other societal/church expectations do we find ourselves pressured to keep? Tempted to press on others?
- How does Christ free us from those expectations? If we are living as citizens of the Kingdom with full rights and privileges and a promised inheritance, how will that affect the way we live?
What one attitude can you change this week to help you begin to live in freedom?
New Believers and the Law: Galatians Bible Study Session 3
What were you like when you became a new believer in Christ? What was different? How did you act?
New believers in Christ are so refreshing.
They’re excited, on fire, ready to embrace this new life. They’re aware of the difference between the old sinful life and the new forgiven life. They dance with joy at the freedom of forgiveness they are experiencing. They’re bold in sharing with their friends and family about faith in Christ.
New believers are also very gullible.
So eager to please God and lacking the experience or savvy of who and who not to listen to, they become prime pickings for false teachers who want to lure them away with extra expectations. New believers can lack the security, especially when the first major temptation comes along, that yes, they are truly saved. Discouraged they become vulnerable to anyone nearby who can tell them how they ought to be a better Christian.
That’s the problem the Galatian new believers had.
No wonder Paul asked, “Who has bewitched you (Galatians 3:1)?”
Today we’ll take a look at Galatians 3:1-23 where Paul describes how faith in Christ as a conduit to a right standing with God was God’s plan from the beginning and how faith in Christ is the only way to have a relationship with God.
Have you known anyone who accepted Christ and then a few months later got swept away into a cult or different theology? What happened? Why was that person susceptible? What could have prevented it?
Read Galatians 3:1-5
What is the tell-tale earmark that you are a Christian?
Paul lists three ways you can tell you are a Christian and that you have received the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the place God has taken in your life:
- You see changes in your behavior, character, and outlook
- You witness the power of God through you and around you.
- You experience tension and opposition to your faith.
Paul uses these earmarks as part of his argument – did you experience these new things because of your new belief? Or did this come as a result of following a set of laws?
The answer is of course, because of your new faith in Christ.
Next argument: Didn’t God put the law in place first? Shouldn’t we obey this Mosaic law that has been around for centuries?
What is Paul’s answer?
Read Galatians 3:6-9
What promise did God make to Abraham?
What standard did God use to judge Abraham’s righteousness?
Read Galatians 3:10-14
Paul deals with the basic weakness of the system of law.
Who does God bless?
Who deserves God’s curse?
Who has never sinned?
Define righteousness.
Define redeemed.
Who took the curse that we deserve? Why?
Read Galatians 3:13-23
Paul goes back to the example of Abraham and the promise God made to him.
Describe a contract. Why does Paul compare a human contract to the contract God made with Abraham?
Which came first – the law of Moses or the promise of Abraham?
What was God’s intended purpose for the law he gave to Moses?
Does the system of law work?
What does this mean to us?
Think back over your Christian life. Have you ever felt insecure about your salvation? Did you ever wonder whether you really were a Christian? If you did wonder that, what would be tempting to do?
How does one know they are a Christian? How do you know you are still a Christian? What can you do to make yourself a “better” Christian?
Is belief in Christ all there is to Christianity? Is it just that simple? What do you think?
My husband and I once counselled a couple who faced a diagnosis of cancer. My husband, trying to be encouraging, reminded the woman that she and her husband had faith in Christ and they could both have the confidence that ultimately, fi death happened, they would experience eternal life with Christ. With the voice full of doubt, the woman responded, “Well, I hope so.”
Why might she have said that?
Have you encountered people who are insecure in their faith, who wonder if they are a Christian?
Based on what we have learned in this chapter, how can we bolster the confidence of believers who might doubt their standing with God?
Jesus took upon Himself the curse of God that you deserve. The punishment for what you’ve done wrong and failed to do right has already happened. You are forgiven by God. All you have to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the One who willingly chose to die in your place. If you have accepted what Christ has done for you, there’s nothing more you can do to cause God to accept you or love you any more than He already does. Nothing else that you do will get you any closer to the Father. He already loves you lavishly! Isn’t that wonderful?