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Galatians
“ Y O U C A N ’ T B E A C H R I S T I A N U N L E S S . . . ” What if you
were taught that you couldn’t be a Christian unless you mutilated yourself, submitted daily to a beating, or ate repulsive foods? What if you
had to submit to ridiculous exercises or equally ridiculous teachings?
What if . . . ?
“You can’t be a Christian unless you become
What you will be
Jewish first,” certain people were teaching the
reading about
Galatians. “You must be circumcised, and you
1:1– 2:16
must follow certain specific laws and regulaPaul summarizes the
problem: People are moving
tions. These are the qualifications for being a
away from the true gospel
Christian.”
2:17– 3:18
These false teachers were called Judaizers.
Salvation is by faith alone
They were Jews—sometimes Jewish Christians—
3:19 – 4:31
who thought there had to be more to becoming
What the law can and cannot
a Christian than simply believing in Jesus. That
do for us
seemed too easy. Paul had run into these people
5:1-15
in many churches throughout the Roman provThe freedom the gospel
ince of Asia. Some were sincere—they honestly
brings
could not understand the simplicity of the mes5:16 – 6:10
sage of salvation, that it was a gift from God to be
What a changed life should
be like
freely accepted. Others were less sincere—they
understood the message but did not want to
6:11-18
Paul’s final appeal
embrace it. They preached their own gospel, that
salvation had to be earned by obeying certain
rules. You had to qualify for eternal life. This gave them the authority to determine those qualifications, giving them power and status in the church. These
false teachers were convincing, and they were hard at work in the churches of
the province of Galatia.
Paul wrote this letter to the believers in Galatia to respond to the false teachers and their teachings. “You are saved by faith alone,” he wrote. He went on
to say that the gospel of Jesus Christ has set people free from the demands of
the law of Moses (as found in the Old Testament) and all the other regulations
that had been added to it over the centuries. Christ offers salvation as a gift;
all we have to do is accept it. No tests, no background checks, no trial periods,
no to-do list. Simply accept it, believe that Jesus did all the work for you, and
you are immediately free—free to be changed inside, free to live a new kind of
life, free to be welcomed into heaven by God himself.
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