Galatians Lesson 2 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Galatians

Lesson 2

Text: Galatians 1:1-5

Salutation: Vs.1-5
1. Paul, An Apostle,
  1. Introduction,
    1. Paul opens his letter to the Galatians with a simple but direct address.
      - First he lets them know who he is,
      - Second His position, or his authority,
      - Third, he qualifies his authority, by where it comes from.
    2. We won’t spend a lot of time on who he is, it is pretty clear here, it is Paul.
      - But, I will say it is necessary to state that it is from Paul.
        
        Remember it was Paul on his mission trip that established the churches in Galatia, so he is or at least should be instantly recognizable as someone who they would want to hear from.
      - Paul has earned the right to be heard,
        
        Paul spent his time in the field doing the work, building relationships, sacrificing, getting involved.
        
        The letter would not hold as much weight with the people if another such as John Mark wrote it. Why, because he didn’t spend the time in the field doing the work.
        
        The reason I point this out, is we have earned the right to be heard by some people, friends, family, co-workers.
        
        There are people in our lives that we have invested time into, and we should have the right to be heard. However if we never use that right it is on us, not them.
    3. Second, Paul was an Apostle,
      - The term Apostle simply means one who is sent,
        
        So in Paul’s introduction He is saying, this is Paul writing, but I am sent.
      - So to be an apostle, was to be an Ambassador,
        
        but one cannot simply go into a forging country, and state they are an ambassador, without meeting certain qualifications and criteria.
      - First, the Apostle was to be a witness of the Resurrected Christ I Corinthians 9:1
      - Second, they must have been chosen, not of man but of the Holy Spirit Acts 9:15
        
        See I Corinthians 9:1 & Acts 9:15
    4. The Third thing here is Paul was sent by God,
      - Paul was not mamma called and daddy sent, he was sent by God,
        
        Philippians 3:12b. “…I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”
    5. Question: Knowing this, how important do you think the content of the letter is? How would the original reader view it?
  2. Paul was not alone,
    1. Paul understood the importance of community, He knew that no man is an island unto himself,
      - in fact he wrote to Romans and said “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.” (Romans 14:7)
      - II Peter 1:20&21 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
    2. So Paul writes that he is with his brethren, indicating that he is not a lone wolf so to speak.
      - He is writing not only as a Apostle of God, but he is accompanied by others.
        
        Most likely here he is with the church of Ephesus.
    3. But so far, lets put it in context:
      - A friend who has earned the right to be heard,
      - A Man with Spiritual authority,
      - One sent from God,
      - and One who is in good fellowship with or sister churches,
        
        has a message for us…
      - what is our response?
2. Grace and Peace to You,
  1. The title page,
    1. Paul begins every one of His New testament letters with a greeting of grace.
    2. I think it serves to caption the rest of the letter.
      - Paul is going to say some tough things, but He want’s them to know that the intent is Grace and Peace.
      - We should examine our motivation for instructions to anyone, is it to make them feel bad, or to hurt their feelings, or is it to encourage them, to train them, to lift them and help them grow.
        
        Is it for Grace, or simply judgment? Even when we speak of Judgment, it should be for the purpose of helping people avoid it.
  2. Grace,
    1. the UN-Merritt favor of God to you.
      - The giving of good things that we do not deserve, Yet God does, because He loves us.
  3. Peace, (Shalom) (I-ray-nay)
    1. rest, to be set at ease.
    2. every thing that is written beyond this point is for the purpose of bring Grace and Peace.
      - However we all know instruction can be hard, and what someone means for good can be misconstrued and taken the wrong way.
        
        We should have an attitude that others have good intentions toward us,
        
        We assume “Good Will”
  4. From God the Father, and Jesus Christ,
    1. remember last study when we looked at the people that made up Galatia:
      - European people, Asians, Jews, gentiles,
      - people with all sorts of backgrounds, and come from many different religions.
    2. Paul wants to assert right up front, who he is writing on behalf of.
      - So he gives a brief rundown to clarify “God”
      - not just some pagan god, but God the creator, the father of Jesus Christ.
      - The Same Jesus that died for our sins,
      - for the purpose of delivering us from this evil world.
      - Which by the way is the will of the Father.
        
        Lets narrow down who I’m talking about: as of right now, I could be speaking about anyone in this room, but I want to speak of a man. (narrowed it down) a man who is younger (narrowed down more) who is married, has kids, and opened the church last night for the girl scouts.
        
        By adding information to the description we narrow it down to who we are speaking about.
        
        This is exactly what Paul was doing, that way he was very clear about who he was speaking.
  5. The Gospel Message is Key,
    1. God the Father of Jesus Christ,
      - John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
    2. Who Gave Himself,
      - John 10:17&18 “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
    3. To Deliver us Form this Evil World,
      - John 15:18&19 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
    4. Which Is the Will of God,
      - II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
      - I Timothy 2:3-5 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

the first thing Paul is going to speak about is how some have been taken away form the gospel that was showed to them. So it is important to set the correct tone to the beginning of this letter.