Galatians – Falling Back

After hearing Paul preach, the people of Galatia were convinced. Jesus was the promised Messiah whose kingdom had come to earth. He was the One whose life, death, and resurrection had saved them from sin. Overjoyed by God’s grace, they were eager to believe and belong to the God they had formerly thought was only for the Jews.

And Paul was equally pleased. He had labored long and hard in the southern towns of Galatia establishing churches in the solid truth of the gospel. When he left for other missions work, he felt certain they would stand strong.

But Satan’s schemes were craftier than he thought. Converted Jews came to town, subtly changing the truth Paul had planted. Though they agreed that faith came by grace, they contended that righteousness came from the law. The more closely you follow sacred Hebrew law, they argued, the better standing you’ll have with the God of the Jews.

The Galatian Gentiles were easily fooled. Didn’t it make more sense to work for righteousness instead of rest in it? They began to think. And so they strayed from the truth, turning to tradition and ritual to make them right with God.

Paul was horrified. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel,” Paul wrote, “which is really no gospel at all!” Concerned that they could so easily be led astray, Paul wrote the Galatians a letter explaining the law’s impotence to produce inner righteousness. God intended it to show us our sin and our need for His saving grace, not as a means to achieve righteousness through our own effort.

He even referred to Abraham as case in point. The Father of the Hebrew people didn’t earn his blessing through effort. It was God’s gift to him, received when Abraham simply believed God would fulfill His promise. We, too, are declared fully righteous when we trust Jesus alone to cover our sins and make us right with God. More than that, we are set free from sin to live holy lives through the power of God’s Spirit living in us.

But the key is always Christ. Without Him, Paul reminded us, we can do nothing.

The Ephesians

What was happening in Galatia that caused concern for Paul? Read Galatians 1:6-9.

What was Paul’s purpose in writing Galatians?

What is the difference between good works and faith?

Will just being a good person lead you to eternal life?

What does faith mean to you?