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G A LAT IA N S 1
page 1058
Galatians has been called the charter of Christian freedom. Through Christ’s death
on the cross, we have been freed from the penalty and curse of sin. We have been freed
from the demands of the law. We are free from the taskmasters of sin and the law, free
to serve a new master, Jesus Christ. But this is willing service, service performed in a
spirit of joy, for we do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit that now indwells
us produces dramatic changes inside—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Old Testament law still has value in that it
points out proper guidelines for living, restrains people from evil, and reveals our sin to
us. It helps us realize that we are all sinners and that it is impossible through ourselves
and our works to please God. Thus the law paves the way for us to welcome the Savior.
If we long to be free, truly free, that desire will point us to Christ. Only through him
and his gospel can we be truly free from sin, free from the demands of the law, and free
to serve our Lord with the kind of life we want and he wants us to have.
Key verses in Galatians
2:16 “Yet we know that a person
is made right with God by faith
in Jesus Christ, not by obeying
the law.”
2:20 My old self has been
crucified with Christ. It is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me.
So I live in this earthly body by
trusting in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me.
3:3 After starting your new lives in
the Spirit, why are you now trying
to become perfect by your own
human effort?
4:4-5 But when the right time
came, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, subject to the law. God sent
him to buy freedom for us who were
slaves to the law, so that he could
adopt us as his very own children.
5:1 So Christ has truly set us free.
Now make sure that you stay free,
and don’t get tied up again in
slavery to the law.
5:13 For you have been called to
live in freedom, my brothers and
sisters. But don’t use your freedom
to satisfy your sinful nature.
Greetings from Paul
This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not
appointed by any group of people or any
human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and
by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
2 All the brothers and sisters* here join me in
sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.
3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ*
give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for
our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order
to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.
5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
1
There Is Only One Good News
6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon
from God, who called you to himself through
the loving mercy of Christ.* You are following a
different way that pretends to be the Good News
7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being
fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth
concerning Christ.
8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or
even an angel from heaven, who preaches a differ-
Instead, use your freedom to serve
one another in love.
5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit
produces this kind of fruit in our
lives: love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. There
is no law against these things!
6:14 As for me, may I never boast
about anything except the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of
that cross, my interest in this world
has been crucified, and the world’s
interest in me has also died.
ent kind of Good News than the one we preached
to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If
anyone preaches any other Good News than the
one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval
of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my
goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Paul’s Message Comes from Christ
11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not
based on mere human reasoning. 12 I received
my message from no human source, and no one
taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.*
13 You know what I was like when I followed
the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted
God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. 14 I was
far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the
traditions of my ancestors.
1:2 Greek brothers; also in 1:11. 1:3 Some manuscripts
read God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1:6 Some
manuscripts read through loving mercy. 1:12 Or by the
revelation of Jesus Christ.